School sports can be fun and competitive, including bonds that can be made with students teammates. Students playing the same sport can develop even greater bonds and a strong connection towards the team. Sophomore Gavin Dougherty states, “ I play football I enjoy it since it keeps my mind busy from other things going on.” 

     Sophomore Kaitlyn Mengel said, “I love connecting and building bonds with my teammates who are all amazing and I love to watch them and myself improve through the seasons.”
    Although there may be great things that can occur when playing a sport, it can get costly super fast, which comes down to the price to play the sport and the amount of money required to buy different equipment pieces. Different sports stand out to what is required to play them, such as Ice Hockey, Football, Tennis, Golf, Basketball, Field Hockey, etc. Most of these require protective gear, some form of footwear, and a jersey/uniform. 

     Sophomore Kaityln Mengel said, “I play Field Hockey and Track. These are both individual team sports. For Field Hockey, is a stick, shin guards, mouth guard, turf shoes or cleats, and a uniform. For track, you just need running shoes and everything else is provided for you.” The equipment that is stated for Field Hockey can be pretty costly all depending on which brand/type of equipment athletes buy. Track can be a safe sport to play since typically students only need running shoes. 

     Sophmore Gavin Dougherty quoted, “For football we are required to wear; Helmet, shoulder pads, thigh pads, knee pads, and cleats.” Since Football is more of a contact sport than Field Hockey, more equipment is needed.

     Each sport has its own specific set of equipment and some of them are common things. Some sports do not necessarily require protective gear like golf for example, the only protective piece of equipment you would need to have, is a glove. Since it is not a physical contact sport protective gear is not needed.
    Playing the sport can also be a struggle, “You need to have the right mindset to play the sport, which is the most difficult part,” said Gavin Dougherty. Having the right mentality to play the sport is the most important otherwise, others may get side-tracked. 

     Kaitlyn Mengel mentioned, “Field Hockey can be difficult because it involves a lot of running, stick skills, and combinations of passing, and Track is difficult because it is a mental conditioned sport.” These sports require a lot of practice and time, students must keep their heads up high and play the sport to win.

     For more information about HASD Sports, go to:

www.hasdhawks.org