While Fenton High School offers a wide variety of activities, the student body has an even wider variety of interests and therefore often go to privately-owned organizations so they can participate in an activity that FHS doesn’t offer, or so they can have additional practice in a sport that is offered at FHS.  

“​​I joined the Oakland Live Y’ers (Oly) swim team because I love the sport and want to be the best I can possibly be,” senior Rose Haney said. “I get to swim year round and consistently improve my times, which allows me to contribute more on the high school team. It’s fun because I get to be with some of my high school teammates and other friends I’ve made.”

Junior Rayce Steudle-Schaffer wanted to participate in martial arts, but unfortunately it isn’t offered as a sport at FHS. So, like many other students, Steudle-Schaffer had to go to an outside organization to participate in the sport he was interested in.

“At the school that I went to, World Martial Arts Academy, students can choose between Taekwondo, Judo and Hapkido,” Steudle-Schaffer said. “Taekwondo involves learning a variety of punches and kicks, Judo involves performing a variety of throws on people and in Hapkido, students learn to defend themselves. I really enjoy participating in an outside-of-school sport because it gives me the opportunity to have experiences that I wouldn’t be able to have if I stayed within the school system.”

Because the facilities for activities that aren’t offered at FHS are privately owned, they generally have students that come from a variety of schools and backgrounds. Therefore, there are opportunities for students to make friends that wouldn’t have made otherwise.

“I am really glad that I stuck around dancing with the same people that I’ve known since I was five years old,” senior Morgan Dugan said. “There aren’t very many school sports that have the same team all the way from kindergarten to senior year, so I’m glad that I have been able to create long-term connections through participating in an outside-of-school sport.”

While outside-of-school activities do have many benefits, there are also some additional challenges that come with participating in them.

“I participate in Hunter Jumper, which is a form of horseback riding,” senior Audrey MacLean said. “I have found that it tends to be significantly more expensive than the sports that the school offers. It can also be more inconvenient because it’s harder to find rides to all of the events.”

There are a variety of outside-of-school sports that FHS students participate in and it is a common way for them to make life-long friendships. To learn more about the friendships made through sports, visit https://www.nays.org/blog/the-role-of-friendships-in-youth-sports/.