Winter Sports

The winter season is underway and we are excited to see so many students participating. It is not too late to join some of our non-cut sports. Indoor Track, Boys Hockey, Swimming, Gymnastics, and Wrestling all have room for more students. If you would like to register, simply go to whathletics.com and click on the tryout checklist link (right hand side of page). This will give you all of the information you need to know. Here are some helpful tips for the winter season 1) The only place to find accurate schedules is www.arbiterlive.com 2) Academics always come first. Coaches will excuse missed or late practices as long as the teacher provides a note. 3) Students must be in school on time. If a student arrives at school after 7:35am for an unexcused reason, they are ineligible to participate that day. Proper documentation should be provided if a student wants the tardy to be excused. 4) If a student gets dismissed from school because they are sick or not feeling well, they are ineligible to participate that day even if they are feeling better later. If a student gets dismissed for a doctor's appointment, funeral, college visit, etc, please provide the office with a note and discuss it with your coach ahead of time. Please remember that while doctor's appointments are excused, only the time necessary for the appointments is excused. For example if a student has a dentist appointment at 10am in Hanover, we would expect the students to come to school for the first few periods and get dismissed in order to get to the appointment on time. 5) The commitment aspect of sports is an essential part of the experience. Students should be at all games and practices. Please schedule vacations outside the body of the season. While we recognize some students have to work, please work with the employer to be sure it does not interfere with the commitment to the team. Tickets to sporting events, concerts and other similar activities also is not an excused reason to miss. However, most coaches will try to find a solution to make these things work as long as you communicate ahead of time. 6) Please remember our communication protocols. Parents should never approach a coach after a game or practice to discuss an issue. Please email the coach to set up an appointment. The coach's contact information can be found at www.whathletics.com . We hope that before the parent speaks to the coach, that the student talks to the coach first. 7) Please pay attention to the date of your child's physical. They expire 13 months from the date it was conducted. You most likely will not get a reminder that it is expiring but once it has expired, your child is ineligible. 8) User fees are now due. You can pay the fee ($250 for the first sport, $50 for second sport, $450 for hockey) at whathletics.com . 9) Finally, please be a role model for your children and the other people in attendance at games. We do not allow anyone to yell at or question the officials. High school sports are at a crisis point because fewer and fewer people are willing to put themselves out there and officiate. It is a hard job and these men and women are doing the best they can. Will they make mistakes? Of course they will. But, without them, our kids couldn't play. For that reason we enforce the code of conduct protocols very seriously. Aside from that, the kids tell me all the time how embarrassing it is to hear mom or dad yelling from the stands. Just sit back and enjoy these special times. They go by very fast! Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help you or your child this winter.