As early as 4:30 a.m. student-athletes are waking up to their alarms and beginning their day. Although school doesn’t start until 7:45 a.m., these students need to be at the school at 5:30 a.m. for their morning sports practice.

There are multiple reasons coaches would conduct these practices before school.

“Coach Jones makes practice in the morning mandatory because he uses that extra time to critique our form so we can use that advice during the afternoon practices,” junior Jake Kennedy said. “When we swim in the morning, it’s usually more drill oriented, whereas the afternoon is faster intervals and harder sets.”

The boys swim team has been known to have mandatory one hour practice in the morning; as well as a two-hour practice that is held after school.

The girls varsity basketball team, as of late, has been carrying out rare practices before school. New players on the team, like junior Lauren Bossenberger, have learned that morning practice also provides numerous benefits.

“It can be hard to wake up,” Bossenberger said. “It’s nice to have practice early, that way I have the time after school to do homework. Morning practice also helps to wake me up for the rest of the day.”

For some athletes, morning practice can not only be beneficial to their training but also allows teammates to make stronger connections with each other due to the increase of time they spend together.

“I like to get up earlier to get ready for practice,” senior Jacob Iddings said. “I always end up enjoying morning practice because the whole team collectively dreads it together, so we all get along that way.”