Sports in school are a great opportunity to meet new people, make new friends, or just stay in shape. However, some don’t want to participate in school sports and want to play club sports. This might be because their sport isn’t a sports option at school. One of the main sports that are popular with our students outside of Athens is hockey.
Ice hockey can’t be a school sport due to the requirements of the sport, such as an ice rink and skates. However, students may still participate at places such as polar ice house and it is a school sport in colder regions such as Canada and northern states. In hockey, the objective is to score a goal into a net, similar to lacrosse and soccer. Hockey, similar to other sports, has penalties. Some of the actions for a penalty can result in injury; for example, high sticking is when a player hits another player above the shoulders with their stick, which can, in some cases, result in a concussion. A penalty in hockey requires the player to sit in the penalty box for two minutes. The nature of some of these penalties could be a factor in why it is not a school sport.
One popular place some hockey players play is at the polar ice house in Cary.
Camden Wilson, freshman, has played hockey for a few years and plays a school sport as well. Wilson has been playing hockey since a young age. During his off-season, he plays and practices with in-line skates.
“My favorite thing about the sport is the pace and physicality of it all,” said Wilson.
Wilson and his friends have played together as a team as opposed to joining a random one… His team, the Moose’s, played at XL sports world, a roller hockey rink. Wilson says he wishes there could be a school team but knows it’s not happening.
“I don’t think it would be possible to have practices for a school team because of how far from the school usable hockey rinks are,” said Wilson. “It is pretty sad because of the number of players here, they could easily have a team and even get new people into the sport.”
Hockey is not the only sport that this applies to. For example, horseback riding, rock climbing, rowing, cricket, and other sports don’t have a place among school sports.
“I do still want to pursue hockey as a sport outside of school and Don’t expect it to become a school sport,” said Wilson.
