With an immensely successful fall season of East athletics coming to an end, the winter athletic season kicked off on November 15th. The season’s sports include boys and girl’s basketball, swim and dive, and wrestling. The coaches for each sport had ambitious plans and goals set for the upcoming season.

Boy’s Basketball-

Jeff Campbell, head coach of men’s basketball, encouraged players to enter the season on the right foot with pre-season workouts planned. “A lot of shooting, workouts, weight training, and participation in spring, summer, and fall leagues,” Campbell said. “Attendance for our off-season opportunities has been good and the players are excited for the season,” Campbell said.

Campbell has big expectations for what the season will look like, especially considering which teams they’ll compete against, “We feel like we will be very competitive with all the teams on our schedule,” Campbell said, “…we are also going to be at a size and height disadvantage in most games, so physically we’ll have to overcome that.”

The team has daunting giants to overcome, but still remains confident in their overarching goals. They’re planning to “Continue improvement and play our best basketball in February,” Campbell said. They want the season to be a positive experience for everyone.

The men’s basketball team has laid the groundwork for their season from pre-season preparation, and now they must execute in game.

Girl’s Basketball-

Dennis Prichard, head coach of women’s basketball, finds himself in the process of rebuilding a strong team. “For the first time in quite awhile, we have a group that lacks a lot of varsity experience,” Prichardsaid, “I’m not suggesting that we won’t be successful, but we face a different set of challenges…to continue to have the success we have enjoyed the past six years.”

Pritchard is positive the girls’ talent will still shine through “…I believe we will, as usual, have a group that is committed to giving a great effort and competing to the best of their abilities.”

The girls have to take the season step by step. “Our goals always start with getting better every day,” Pritchard said. “…trying to provide a great experience for our student-athletes as a program and develop the skills and teamwork necessary to be successful.”

With many new faces on the team, the girls are sure to work hard for a great season and prove themselves able to face strong competition.

Swim and Dive-

Coaches Uriah Reiners and Emma McEntarffer, the two coaches of swim and dive, have a positive outlook on the returning and new members of the team along with looser protocol on the pool in the midst of Covid.

“With the pandemic, we were very limited on the amount of water time we had and how many kids could be in the water at once,” Reiners said, “this year we expect to be able to have better workouts because we have less restrictions on practice.”

McEntarffer looked at the team for the upcoming season fondly, “Though we lost a handful of amazing seniors, we have a massive junior class returning with a lot of talent, and even better leadership skills.” McEntarffer said.

Along with upperclassmen, Reiners had a good feeling about the newcomers to the season. “This year we have freshmen coming in that can make an immediate impact in both individual events and relays.” Reiners said.

Reneirs sums up the 2021-2022 season of swim and dive with, “The spartans are going to be a force to reckon with this year.”

Wrestling-

Keenan McCurdy, one member of the wrestling coach staff, is excited to help his wrestlers achieve great accomplishments on the mat but also on a personal level.

“Our main goal for the season is that all wrestlers will improve as a wrestler and in the process, grow as a person.” McCurdy said.

McCurdy has high expectations for his athletes that will also be beneficial to them. “The main thing we are looking for from our wrestlers is for them to practice giving their best effort on the wrestling mat and in the classroom.” McCurdy said.

As a wrestler, it is important to understand the strength there is in teamwork. “We really want to focus on helping all wrestlers understand that they play an equal role on the team regardless of what level they compete on,” McCurdy said, “Our goal and hope is that teammates will get invested in each other’s wrestling and cheer one another along the entire season.”

The team will have many personal battles along the way of their season, but will have the guidance in order to accomplish their own goals along with the team’s.

The winter sport season is sure to hold success for Spartan athletes and be entertaining for the viewers as well.