Opinion: Winter Track is the Best Winter Sport

As the winter sports seasons begin, those who didn’t choose to play a winter sport or are looking for a change may be wondering what makes each sport special. All winter sports are great, but in my very biased opinion as a winter track runner myself, winter track is the best winter sport here at YHS. Here’s why:

1. Team Atmosphere

One thing that makes winter track special is the large number of students that participate. Winter track attracts people from all different groups at YHS and brings them together under one team. Ted Hutch, the head coach of winter track, says that “Wintah track is cool because it’s a roster of kids from all the other sports, who band together to do battle together. We have speed, strength, endurance and wicked smart kids.” Winter track brings together a group of students with different skill sets and allows us to be a very successful team. Joining winter track is a great way to meet new people you normally wouldn’t get to see in school and make new friends.

2. Variety

Unlike other sports, winter track allows you to try new things and choose between many events based on your skills. You don’t necessarily have to be a good runner to be successful in winter track. Hutch explains, “We have something for everybody. You can do shotput, high jump, long jump, triple jump and pole vault. You can run sprints (hurdles, 55, 200, 400), run distance (800, 2 mile) and run relays (4 x 800, 4 x 200).” And the YHS winter track team is verysuccessful due to its inclusion of all different skill sets. “Some teams win because they have a handful of athletes who score in a few events. York wins by having 50-100 kids scoring in all the events.”

3. Fun + Games

Even though we work hard at winter track, we also like to have fun. Sometimes we can do both at the same time by working a game into practice that involves running or another event. When it snows, instead of cancelling practice we have fun in the snow. “We love sledding practices at the York Country Club,” Hutch explains. “It’s a great workout, it’s fun, and it boosts team morale. We love to win but we also love to play.

I hope by now you’ve seen that winter track is clearly the best winter sport. These are only some reasons winter track is special. I encourage you to come discover the other reasons by joining the winter track team!