The bell will ring on Wednesday Dec. 22, signalling the end of the school day and students will flood through the doors, saying goodbye to school for the next 11 days. They’ll prepare themselves for hours of lounging and spending time with their family and friends.

      However, for student-athletes this isn’t always the case. Many winter sports continue to practice despite the long break from school. While there are definite benefits from keeping their muscles moving, there are some downsides.

      “Sometimes you’re asking kids to skip out on family time to come to practice,” said first-year girls basketball coach Gina Klennert.

      Klennert said it can be hard for kids to come to practice because they’d rather be spending time with their family and friends. Winter break is a time where many students celebrate Christmas and other holidays, so naturally they want to celebrate. It can create distractions at practice because they don’t want to be there.

      “You get a little more distracted,” said Alli Christenson, sophomore basketball player.

      Another issue that comes up is the time of practice. Riet Lony, junior wrestler, said sometimes the practice schedule conflicts with the work schedules of athletes who also have jobs. Klennert also stated having practice without having school first can mess up the routine for some athletes. They are used to going to school for most of the day before practice, whereas sometimes over break you are coming into practice after waking up 30 minutes prior.

      “Getting up early is a huge issue for me,” Christenson said.

      While sometimes the players want winter break to be a time of relaxation and fun, there are also some clear reasons to practice over break. Practicing over break helps players stay on track and improving. It keeps the athletes from coming back from the break not being ready to play.

      For many athletes, these winter practices aren’t a huge issue. According to Lony, winter break practices are better because you don’t have to go to school. For Christenson, it’s not a huge commitment either because she wants to be there and she wants to keep improving.

      Go out and support the hardworking student-athletes over this winter break. Teams in action include wrestling, girls basketball, boys hockey and girls hockey.