As the end of the school year comes closer and closer, many students prepare for months of sleepaway camp, summer internships or vacations to exotic, exciting locations. For Grady athletes, however, the summer is filled with many of the same activities as the school year: intense weight training, running through drills and bonding with their teammates.
For football players, the summer practice schedule is almost identical to that of the school year. Colin Bray, a junior who joined the team as a freshman, remembers the intensive practice calendar from his first summer on the team as a rising ninth-grader.
“We practiced Monday through Thursday through the whole summer from 3:30-7:30,” Bray said.
During these practices, the team begins with conditioning, which includes weight lifting and running, before moving out onto the field.
“We’re not allowed to wear pads,” Bray said. “But we’ll run a lot of drills, scrimmage and work on plays.”
Although it’s not required, Bray is one of many players who conditions outside of scheduled practices.
“Personally on Friday, Saturday and Sunday I’ll lift weights on my own at my house and go on runs,” Bray said. “I also do this thing where I take a tire and hook a cable to it and then sprint that up and down my driveway because that supposedly improves your acceleration and your speed.”
Football is something of an anomaly when it comes to summer workout routines. The soccer and cross-country teams, for example, have more relaxed practices run by the teams’ captains usually once a week.
“A lot of people go out of town,” sophomore soccer player Sophie Durham said. “So we just have them whenever people are there.”
Captains’ practices for soccer usually begin with a warm up. Then, the team gradually moves to drills and scrimmages, and usually ends the practice with a fun game.
“We do some drills for shooting and stuff,” Durham said.
Durham described breakout, her favorite of the captains’ practice games the soccer team plays, as something akin to a scrimmage, but more enjoyable. The game consists of the soccer team splitting into two groups, and scrimmaging one another until one team surrenders.
Summer practices for the cross-country team happen once a week, usually in Piedmont Park. The practices are not required but help runners keep up a steady running routine. Although coach Jeff Cramer, a current Physics teacher, plans to retire at the end of this school year, he will continue to coach the cross country team and will schedule all the team’s summer practices.
For members of Grady’s basketball team, the summer workout routine is determined by the athlete. Gracie Griffith, who runs cross-country in addition to basketball and soccer, remembers going to a few “open gyms” last summer for basketball.
“Most people who are on the team are on Amateur Athletic Union teams, so they have tournaments all summer,” Griffith said. “But we can just like come in [and play]. Coach Washington will sometimes be there and the boys’ coach is there a lot.”
For sports that don’t have any scheduled practices, most athletes find other ways to stay fit. Griffin Ricker, a ninth-grade tennis player, plans to go to four days a week of tennis practice in Norcross, play in a few summer tournaments and attend an overnight tennis camp at UGA. Other Grady athletes take part in athletic camps or join summer leagues for their respective sport.
Durham believes that making friends is what makes captains’ practices so important.
“If you are incoming [to the team], you should probably go,” Durham said. “You get to know the seniors and juniors, and you get to meet everybody, so you’re ready when school starts.”
