The holidays are over, the snow is melting, and we can hear the birds singing again. That can only mean one thing: it’s time for spring sports! The 2022 season promises to be better than ever, and you can get in on the excitement by trying out for these sports: Baseball, Golf (Girls), Lacrosse (Girls and Boys), Soccer (Boys), Softball, Tennis (Boys), and Track & Field. Tryouts/Team Selection will be on February 28.
For many, spring sports seem to have taken the biggest hit from COVID. When the pandemic came to town in March of 2020, it ended everyone’s season early. This year, athletics are looking to get back on track.
Soccer coach Mathew Wheatley said, “I am most excited for our young team to get to take the field and work hard each game. I am excited to get to go outside every day for practice and work with great young men from Timpview,”. In terms of COVID technicalities, he shared, “We won’t be doing weekly testing this year, but we try to be very conscious of health. We also don’t take playing for granted since our season two years ago was canceled.”
Jeffery Ward, the golf coach, is looking to keep his players focused: “coming off the State Championship from last year I want the team to…end up with the same result this Spring.”
Lacrosse, however, might have the biggest uphill battle, having lost 18 seniors from last year. Lacrosse is one of the fastest growing sports in America, and The Utah High School Activities Association sanctioned it as an official high school sport beginning with the 2019-2020 academic year. New players are joining, but this isn’t without some enormous pressure on the team.
Coach Taylor Redd is worried the most about this season, explaining, “the biggest impact we have felt and will continue to feel is the void in leadership and the changes in culture.” Redd continues, “We had a special group last year. One of the best senior classes I’ve been fortunate to coach…they worked hard, they cared for everyone on the team down to the last freshman.”
Coach Redd also sees hope in overcoming such an enormous loss of players, noting, “Fortunately, we have some great guys stepping up to fill those shoes.” And as for COIVD, Redd is not worried at all, “We’re in season 3 of dealing with COVID. So while there are lots of precautions we still have to take, most of them feel pretty familiar now.”
Whether you want to be a player or spectator, get out and support our amazing teams this spring. You won’t want to miss it!