Practice for winter sports starts this week! Here is a quick look at what the boys swim and basketball team has been up to.
Syosset High School Boys Swim Team Holds Tryouts
A pool full of swimmers splashed back and fourth at Syosset High School on Monday afternoon, hoping to impress. For these aquatic athletes, the next week and a half will be filled with intense training and time trials. It's a test of endurance that is designed to prove their love of the pool. After the grueling period of water training is completed, they'll find out if they made the varsity swim team.
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The new season brings some good news for the swimmers vying for a spot on the squad: moving down from Conference I to Conference II allows for the Braves to boast a larger roster. No longer are they governed by the limited restrictions of Conference I.
"We might not be cutting kids so severely this year," says head coach Chris Schleider. "It depends on the numbers. The pool can get pretty crowded, so a lot of times the cutting comes down from the amount of space we have in the water. Ideally, I would love to keep everybody."
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The reality is, however, that not everybody has the makeup to compete at the high school level. Schleider wants swimmers that are dedicated, hard working and make swimming a priority in their life.
Clearly, fast times aren't everything for the Syosset swimming decision makers.
"If they show up and show they have the attitude that we're looking for, even if their swimming ability isn't everything you hope for, we're able to work with them and make them a valuable member of the team," says Schleider on the type of swimmer that he looks for during tryouts.
When the season gets underway, Schleider expects to seriously compete for a Conference II championship. But for now, the journey has just begun with the ever-challenging task of choosing the squad. After all, these kinds of evaluations are what championships are founded on.
Braves Boys Basketball Gears Up For New Year with New Faces
The pool isn't the only place where boys hoping to become teammates will meet this week. The jump shots and slam dunks will be in full effect on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday when the boy's varsity basketball team holds tryouts for the winter season.
"We're looking for tough kids that are unselfish and play together," says head coach Bobby Kopp.
The team is coming off a 14 – 3 season in which they won the conference championship and suffered a two-point loss to Hempstead in the first round of the playoffs.
The Braves graduated eight players off last year's squad, making this week's tryout process important.
"When your program is good and you stick with the same system, you just put the pieces in," says Kopp about replenishing the team. "If you pick the right players, the program continues to do well."
The team opens up the scrimmage season on November 27 against Calhoun. The regular season begins on December 3 against Long Beach at Syosset High School.
