Sports in Tahoma are just like the way the trees grow. Each root is a teacher at this school, the 23 sports of Tahoma are like the trunk of the tree leading up to the branches which there is one for every student in Tahoma. As the leaves fall and the seasons move on, so do our sports, fall sports come to an end and winter sports enter the atmosphere. As the snow falls, students try out for the upcoming season. The coaches at Tahoma are working very hard to make the winter sports the best they can be. We have 6 coaches in the winter area of sports in Tahoma, the winter sports have a different area of focus and criteria, just like any sport that goes on in Tahoma. To answer a few of my questions I talked to 3 of our 6 coaches at Tahoma, Gymnastics with Emma Rochleau, Boys Basketball with Richard Tripp, and Girls Basketball with Julie Anderson. I also asked some quick questions to a few of the students trying out for those sports to get their intake on a few aspects. With the coaches I talked to, only one of them got back to me but on a good note, I also talked to a few of the students trying out for some of the winter sports. 

What sport do you coach and what made you choose this sport?  “Boys basketball. I have always loved basketball.” Richard Tripp, the coach of boys basketball said.

Along with the boys basketball coach, I also talked with one of the students trying out for the girls basketball team. Kayleigh Tallarida, a sophomore this year who is trying out for the girls basket basketball team states that, “I’ve been playing basketball since I was 6 years old and thought that I should keep this up, since in my family we have to play an instrument and play a sport, and since I’m in all advanced classes my parents have been accepting me to just keep the sport.” Tucker Roe who is also trying out for boys swim states that, “I have always liked being in the water and when I moved here from Arkansas a friend was involved in swimming competitively for a summer team so I decided to give it a shot.” 

What skill level do you need to have to try out for this sport? “We are fortunate to have very skilled players. We are a perennial state participant.” Mr. Tripp answered, showing that every person has new skills and different goals they want to accomplish in their work for the team. Speaking of goals, Kayleigh Tallarida stated that one of her many goals for this sports upcoming season is, “to make a 3 pointer in a game, try to get a foul even though getting a foul is bad I’ve never gotten one and would like to get one. It would prove to myself that I am good enough and that I am trying my best, and getting ruff on the court. Or making someone else get a foul that way it’s on the other team and not on my team.” Sports views are different to each person on the team. Some people try their best to stay away from getting a foul or anything close to one, but Kayleigh wants to start off with getting something where most would stay away. She wants to see what getting one feels like and how one affects your season, or give someone else a foul to see how they would feel to get one. Tucker stated “I have been swimming competitively for 3 ½ years now and one of my goals for the season is to swim 50 free in less than 30 seconds” 

How do you think participating in a sport helps students learn good team work? “Playing sports teaches so many skills. From adversity, dealing with success or failure, sacrifice to hard work. Life lessons” said Mr. Tripp. In a deeper way of putting things into perspective what he is saying is that each time you try to deal with success or failure, hard work gives everyone a perspective over whether or not they want to keep doing what they are trying to do till they succeed or just give up and let them self fail. That is what many coaches at THS try very hard to prevent this from happening. To answer this question on a students point of view, Kayleigh says, “100% that sports help students learn good team work, because you have to work together in a team sport in order to succeed because it’s not a one man show, one man can not guard 5 people at the same time and do plays at the same time, it’s kind of like life is only team sports.” On a deeper level, meaning that without teamwork, what we see and know would not be the same as what they are right now. Tucker had a deep thought of how participating in sports helps learn good team work, he states that “sports connect people in the same way that school does but it also brings people together with a shared understanding to be the best version of themselves they can be.” 

If you could share anything with your peers what would it be? “Don’t give up no matter what, like last year I barely made the team and look at me now, I actually did make the team. So always push forward and never give up.” Kayleigh says, yet, on a deeper area of words she is trying to say that no matter whether or not you believe you can or cant, you should always push yourself forward because you don’t know what you may do in the end. Tucker said something close to these lines as well. “A team brings people together but with teamwork things once thought impossible can be accomplished.”