By Sarah Linthicum

Sports Editor

Pictured Above: Coach Holly with Hammond’s Lacrosse Team

With the fall season in the books, Hammond athletes and coaches have begun preparing for the exciting upcoming spring season. Tryouts officially began on April 17, and the season will continue throughout May, and finish up in June. Seeing as Hammond was able to have a safe and successful fall season, athletes and coaches can remain hopeful for a successful spring season as well. 

Girls JV Lacrosse Coach, Mrs. Holly shares she is looking forward to, “just being together especially since we missed out on our last season.” This season is especially rewarding after athletes and coaches unfortunately were unable to participate in a spring season this time last year.

Mrs. Holly further shared that in their off-season the team had been participating in, “weekly Google meets where we’ve played Jackbox games, done mindfulness art, wrote thank you notes to people working, and looked for volunteer opportunities and more.” She explained that weekly workouts were also sent out to athletes along with their Google meet check-ins. 

Senior varsity softball athlete, Jordan Rodriguez, says the biggest difference in practice this season was the merging of the Varsity and Junior Varsity teams. “We had to take some time to adjust, and make sure everyone knew what to do on their part. Overall, I liked how smooth we kept practice moving along, and nothing ever got in the way.”

Outdoor Track Coach, Mr. Wright shares that he is, “just happy to have the spring season back. Just being out there with the athletes and running around makes me happy.” He continued to share that a big challenge his team has faced amidst COVID-19 is the constant change in scheduling. He shares that staying flexible and communicating with all the coaches will help to overcome this obstacle. 

Senior varsity lacrosse athlete, Nhi Nguyen shares she is, “most looking forward to being able to hangout with friends, and being able to feel like a team again.” She continued to explain that she’s had to adjust to wearing a mask while playing lacrosse. She says, “it’s optional but out of good consciousness, of course I wear it and it definitely feels like suffocation.” 

Safety being the top priority, COVID-19 will be an obstacle that all athletes and coaches will face. Mrs. Holly shares they expect to have fewer students coming out to play whether it be for safety reasons, or other commitments outside of school. In anticipating this she says, “we are being as flexible as we can while being as fair as we can. We also are only having one team to allow for flexibility.” Most coaches have combined their junior varsity and varsity athletes to ensure each team has enough players to fully participate in the spring season. 

Senior varsity baseball athlete, Ryan deLeon explains that, “the first time out there together was highly anticipated. We had all been doing a lot in the off-season just craving to play again.” He further shares, “I would say we haven’t let the virus slow us down or make us any less of a team as far as our chemistry goes.” 

Pictured Above: Hammond Baseball

Seeing as many athletes missed out on their spring season last year, it is important that they are able to celebrate this season. Mrs. Holly mentions that, “we are doing our senior night at the Oakland Mills game early in the season. We are also going to recognize the other players who were not able to join us for the season for various reasons but have been with us for years.” Mr. Wright also shares that he and the rest of the track coaches are planning an event to recognize the seniors and all the athletes at the end of the season.

The uplifting success of the fall season can allow coaches and athletes to remain hopeful and positive for a successful spring season. Everyone has been working extremely hard to prepare for this season, and it is encouraging to see it possible.