Even though the fall sports season has come to a close at EHS, many students haven’t stopped playing. Instead of taking a break, they swing right back into their club play.

Club play is slightly different from high school. High school has different teams with a mixture of different age groups that make up the roster, but club has different teams for each age group. Also, athletes aren’t separated by district boundaries. Students from EHS can play with students from other schools.

Senior soccer player Sean Connelly loves his club team. “I’m on a team with a great group of guys,” Connelly said. “We all have a lot of fun during practice, but we all push each other to work hard and get the job done during games.”

Just because they play for the same team, doesn’t mean they forget what school they played for earlier this year however. “We joke a lot about which school was better, but we never take it seriously,” Connelly said.

Some students play for teams that travel across the country to play in tournaments. Senior soccer player Brent Heinlein plays for a St. Louis Scott Gallagher team that will be traveling to Las Vegas to play in a tournament.

“I’m extremely excited for this trip,” Heinlein said. “It’s going to be something that I’m going to remember for years.”

Another perk of playing club is that a player will see a wider variety of skill levels. In high school, a team might play only a few schools of similar size. For club, however, an athlete will see teams of varied caliber because club teams draw from a pool of players from different schools.

Senior field hockey player Abby Urbanek uses club to advance her technique and playing ability. “I play against a bunch of other college recruits and it prepares me for college play,” Urbanek said.

Many athletes look forward to their club seasons, but it doesn’t distract them from their high school play. Still, it’s a chance for athletes to improve and have fun – which is what they do.