CLUB SPORTS OFFER COMPETITION OUTSIDE OF HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS

BY LAUREN BALL

For some athletes at Wadsworth High School, training and games for their sports do not stop when the high school season ends. In fact, this is just the beginning of what leads into a club season filled with training and games.

The year-round training is often fueled by a goal of playing one’s sport at the collegiate level. To accomplish this, a club, also known as travel, team is necessary for constantly improving and being seen by college coaches.

Avery Nicholson, junior at WHS, competes for the Grizzlies during the high school season but also for NOVA Juniors, a club volleyball team. She cites the high levels of competition as one of the main reasons for playing club.

“The competitiveness [is different] because when you’re playing club it’s actually people that want to play volleyball because you’re spending so much money on it,” Nicholson said. “You’re just surrounded by coaches who also want to be there because sometimes coaches don’t want to be in a sport, so it’s just that super competitive atmosphere.” offers a chance to represent one’s community and bond with peers, for those with aspirations of playing a sport collegiately, club sports are vital for increased competition and college exposure.

Sean Conley is a club softball coach and president of the Ohio Emeralds, a competitive travel softball organization.

In addition to coaching a 16U softball team, he has two daughters who each play high school softball, which allows him to see the perspectives of both sports.

Conley said a main difference between the two is the competition level at which it is played.

“At this point, if you’re still playing club then you want to play in college, and I do,” Nicholson said. “I’ve been talking to different colleges and been looking for places to go, so I definitely have intentions of playing in college.”

As a coach, Conley works to assist his players who have aspirations of playing college sports by playing in front of prospective coaches, and he encourages networking via camps.

Nicholson

“Competitiveness is the big difference between travel and high school, but the high school season is more of a grind,” Conley said. “It’s Monday through Saturday, and you get 24 hours off pretty much, and then you’re back in it again.”

While playing for a school team

“Coaching a travel team, you find the girls who want to play college softball, and I try getting them into as many travel showcase tournaments as we can and talk to them about the process of how to get into college or be noticed for college, either going through a showcase camp or the actual camp put on by the college themselves,” Conley said.

A vital part of any team, whether at the high school, club, or college level, is the teammates and bond shared between them. Despite club teams having players hail from different places, and high school teams all being from the same community, Nicholson says that the connection she has with her club teammates is still strong.

“I just feel like the girls that you play club with you’re just so much closer with than the girls you play school with, even though you see them everyday,” Nicholson said. “We have girls who play from like an hour away, but still I’m so much closer with those girls than some on my school team because you’re all the same age and you all go through the same thing.”

For those with goals of playing their sport at the next level with like-minded teammates, it is clear why some athletes choose club sports in addition to competing for the Grizzlies.