After a year of cancellations and postponements due to the pandemic, Hall high school spring sports are finally back, with athletes eager to compete and showcase their talents.

The spring season has always been highly anticipated for high school students. With the warmer weather and longer days, students eagerly prepare to hit the fields, courts, and tracks. This year, Hall high school spring sports have been met with excitement, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced the previous seasons to be canceled or shortened.

Baseball, softball, track and field, tennis, lacrosse, and golf are just some of the popular sports students are participating in this spring. While teams are in the early stages of their seasons, there have been some predictions for their records this year. 

With girl’s lacrosse predicting they are going to lose more than win, and the boy’s baseball team predicting they will finish above .500, the Hall program is ready to perform this year.

Senior Captain of the girl’s lacrosse team, Hayden Smith believes that their inaugural season will be a tough one losing more games than winning. The usual rival Conard isn’t someone they have their eyes on, the Glastonbury Guardians. “Glastonbury, they’re pretty strong this year” said Hayden Smith.

As we get a glimpse of some of the competition this year the Glastonbury Guardians are a team to look forward to on the girls lacrosse’s calendar. 

In baseball, several pitchers have thrown no-hitters, and some hitters hit multiple home runs. Teams are working exceptionally hard to improve their standings in their respective conferences, with hopes of advancing to the playoffs.

Varsity Sophomore Baseball player, Calvin Cianflone is going into the year excited to have fun and play the game he loves most. “I think we’ll be like .500 at the end of the season.” The bar is set high this season in hopes of winning the State Championship.  

Track and field events have been filled with record breaking performances. Runners have been pushing themselves to new limits, with some breaking school records or even conference records. “Hall’s strength will once again be on the track with distance events this spring,” Scott Sampietro said on WeHa.com back in 2019. 

With the track and field’s eyes honed upon breaking more records and making state competition nothing is easy in any high school conference. 

While athletes are certainly the stars of the show, it’s important to recognize the hard work of the trainers. Transitioning from the imposed COVID-19 protocols for spring sports, high school sports are becoming “normal” again. Here at Hall high school we have athletic trainers who day in and day out provide our players with care. 

Athletic trainer Mrs. Allen explains why she chose to become an Athletic trainer, “I realized in high school that I wanted to do something in the medical field. ” Helping student athletes is what drove Mrs. Allen’s ambitions on becoming a helper.

Besides the players playing, it is important to look at the helm: the coaches. Without their personal flare to the team and coaching strategies high school teams wouldn’t be able to compete at such high levels.

Men’s Lacrosse head coach Brookbanks, has always had a love for the sport and is a former graduate of Hall High school. “I really love the game of lacrosse and love helping others… I wanted to give back to the community.” Experience and expertise is important while coaching a high school team, many coaches don’t get the recognition they deserve.

Despite the challenges of the pandemic for the past few years, high school spring sports are finally back. Students are relishing the opportunity to compete and represent their schools. As the season progresses, we can expect more thrilling performances from these talented athletes.