I interviewed athletes who have previously or are currently enrolled in 7th-period athletics. From my own experience last year, I believe it is only useful during the season of my sport. Many people have had different opinions for this class and here’s what they have to say.
Adan Rocha, a sophomore who was in the athletic period for basketball last year is taking it again for JV football. For his first year, he was thankful for being put into the class because, before his freshman year, he had planned on trying out for basketball. When asked about how last year went for him, he said, “I enjoyed the class and it benefited me because I did a lot of conditioning, which prepared me for basketball season.” He balloted for the class again but for football and plans on playing a sport for each season. Since then, the football team has been going into the weight room and playing football as well as flag football. Being an underclassman makes him unable to speak for the upperclassmen since he hasn’t been in their situations yet. For underclassmen, Adan says, “They should join the class so they could get a feel for it, practice with the team, and get to know the coaches better. Especially for football, it’s a very physical sport so they’d have to go into the weight room to become stronger.”
Zaden Tovar, a senior was automatically enrolled in this class in 7th period athletics last year for track. I asked him if he wanted to get out of it, and he said, “No, it was nice. I was able to get out earlier which is better than getting out later. The negative is that I lost an elective and you can only work with teammates who have that period.” He thinks it is better to be in that class because you can go straight into practice. It wasn’t required, but not many people left that class anyways. Since he was also in cross country, he went to their workouts at the beginning of the year and switched to track when the season was underway. If he had the option to be in that class again, he said, “Probably not, because I’m a senior and I need my credits. I think it’s mainly a class for sprinters too.”
Joseph Ponteras is a sophomore who joined 7th-period athletics for the 2023-2024 basketball season. He was asked if he wanted to enroll in last year’s class, and he replied, “I wanted to join the class but I thought it was too late since I moved in the middle of the school year.” So far, he said it’s been great and hopes to become a sophomore on the boy’s varsity basketball team. The class helps Joseph get better every day and it allows him to know when practices are. Coaches come at least twice a week for practice as well. When asked how people use the period before the season starts, he said, “Since the coaches come in often everyone has to be prepared and everybody practices. What’s good about the class is that even when the coaches aren’t there we still actually have pretty good practices and motivate each other.”
Charlie Bottley, a junior, has been in 7th period athletics for two years for girl’s basketball. She was automatically put into the class for both years but doesn’t plan on playing this year. For last year, she said, “It was pretty fun, but now that pretty much everyone dropped that class it’s kinda[sic] boring and useless.” The benefits of being in this class are Fridays. The girls are given the choice to play basketball or use it as a study hall to catch up on school work. As an upperclassman in this class, Charlie says, “It takes off a weight rather than being put in another elective.” Being a former underclassman in the class, she enjoys the athletic period rather than being in a regular PE class. She also played for travel ball so when asked if the class was necessary, she said, “It helped me get in shape before season and keep me in shape during the off-season while I was still playing travel ball.” So far, she hasn’t tried getting out of the class but does not want to be in it for her senior year.
