Spring what? Three Cobber teams open seasons with trip to Florida
Pencils down and batter up. The Concordia College softball team has no time for breaks. Head coach Megan Johnson and her 19 rostered women spent the entire spring recess in Clermont, Fla., (about 25 miles west of Orlando) attempting to glue together the jigsaw puzzle that is the 2010 Concordia College fastpitch squad. No doubt, many collegiate coeds make the break for summer sun during the week away from the classroom. However, very few are asked to maintain such a high level of focus and intensity, swapping sandy beaches for a dirt diamond.
Concordia sophomore and starting outfielder Kayla Trobec acknowledged that the lack of downtime between the trip and the start of the final half of the semester makes the transition back to the classroom a bit more difficult. Having said that, Trobec realizes that the added pressure and stresses are par for the course as a student athlete.
“That’s what I’m here to do,” Trobec said firmly, “play and study.”
And although Trobec understands the significance of the time over break for her team on the field, she carries with her a base load of memories made outside of the batter’s box. Between commenting on the tournament itself and importance of preseason successes for the chemistry of the team, Trobec recalled a lone trip to the beach and a day at Universal Studios theme park among some of her favorite experiences from a similar trip during the 2009 season.
“Those virtual roller coasters, they’ll get ya every time,” Trobec noted, displaying her bright smile against a lightly tanned face.
Unfortunately for Trobec and her teammates, this year’s trip offered little sunshine, as the women dropped nine of their 11 games and spent only one cold and rainy day at the beach.
The fastpitch softball team is not the only Concordia spring squad for whom spring break is a crucial period of the season. Both the men’s and women’s tennis teams also made a weeklong trip to Florida as part of their early season schedule, joining the softball women on the same flight to and from the Atlantic coast.
Concordia’s men competed in matchups against five different schools in as many days while traveling around the Orlando area. Highlighted by a convincing win over Alma College (Mich.), the team returned to Moorhead with three wins to show for the week of work.
The women’s team squared off against four schools and came away with one team victory, also against Alma College.
Cobber sophomore and second year member of the men’s team Chad Smith spoke at length about the advantages and disadvantages involved in a week away from home. For Smith, neither the transition to an outdoor hard-court facility (the Cobber men spend much of the season training on the slick multi-sport surface in the Olson Forum), nor the necessary balancing act between academics, tennis, and leisure time have proven to be a detriment.
“Our coach is very good about maintaining a schedule where we don’t feel overwhelmed,” Smith said.
For some of the men, this year’s trip is their second rodeo, as the team spent the 2008 spring break in Florida. Concordia junior Matt Edin joined Smith in dismissing any negative aspects of the team’s brief migration. Edin noted that having the opportunity to compete over the break was well worth the difference in playing surfaces, length of the trip, and added responsibility during the time away from campus.
Having spent two of his three Concordia spring breaks (2008 and 2010) in Florida with the team, Edin echoed Trobec by attributing most of his positive recollections of the time in Orlando to the group of teammates traveling at his side.
It seems a successful break for traveling Cobber spring sports programs is not gauged by the number of practices and preseason games packed into the week, but rather how well a team is able to use the time to build strong relationships and an even stronger sense of commitment to the task ahead.
