For ACHS athletes, it’s time to get to work. Winter sports are kicking off starting Monday, Nov. 10, and student athletes are lacing their basketball sneakers, fastening their wrestling helmets, and pulling on their swim caps for a competitive week of tryouts.

ACHS offers a wide variety of sports to choose from, so here’s a little bit of information about all the sports going during the 25-26 winter season.

Athletic teams have been using a set of guidelines implemented in 2023 that coaches must abide by during their try outs. Their are two main rules of these guidelines. First, is that all tryouts for any sport must be a minimum of three days. The other is that coaches must pay attention to attitude, athletic abilities and sport specific skills when determining who to invite to the team.

Boys Basketball

Beginning Monday, Nov. 10, boys basketball tryouts will take place in the King St. gymnasium, with freshmen tryouts from 4-6 p.m. and JV and varsity from 6-8 p.m. As one of the most competitive sports that ACHS has to offer, the sport requires intense rounds of tryouts including sprints, shooting and ball-handling drills, scrimmages, and other exercises across several days. After this strenuous time, they will be told by the end of the week either what team they’ll be a part of for the season, or if they’ve been cut from the team.

Head Coach: Coach Sally at [email protected].

Girls Basketball

The week of Nov. 10, girls will meet at the Minnie Howard gymnasium from 4-6 p.m. to try out for basketball on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Girls Basketball also offers freshmen, JV and varsity teams for players that advance past tryouts. At these tryouts, students can expect to do a variety of drills, exercises, and scrimmages. JV and freshmen students typically try out together and the varsity students try out separately. Following the days of tryouts, the athletes will be brought into a separate room one at a time and told what team they are on or if they are cut.

Head Coach: Coach Peters at [email protected].

Basketball Cheerleading

Head Coach: Coach Thompson at [email protected].

Cheer will take place at the King St. dance room from 4:30-6:45 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 10 and on Wednesday, Nov. 12. On Thursday, Nov. 13, tryouts will be from 4-7 p.m. Cheer is the final sport to officially offer all three levels of teams. Though the school requires all sports to have at least a three-day-long tryout period, basketball cheerleading is the exception to this rule. To join, students must complete three days of clinics and attend only one day of official tryouts. After this, they will find out if they’ve made the cheerleading team!

Gymnastics (Boys/Girls)

Gymnastics starts later than the other sports, as it begins on Thursday, Nov. 13. That day, students should be at Edison High School from 4:45-7:30 p.m. Tryouts will take place at Jefferson High School on Nov. 14 from 4-6:30 p.m. and on Nov. 18 from 6-9 p.m. Finally, on Nov. 15, they will be held at the Woodbridge/Youth Sports gym on Nov. 15 from 12-2:30 p.m. Gymnastics currently offers a team for varsity gymnasts only, as there typically isn’t enough people trying out to make another team for junior varsity or freshmen. This team participates in various exciting competitions throughout the school year, with gymnasts rotating between events each time.

Head Coach: Coach Norvgrod at [email protected]

Indoor Track

According to the ACHS sports website, indoor track only formally offers athletes to be a part of the varsity team. But according to track athletes, participants can also be on JV for each event in track and field. On the week of Nov. 10, tryouts will be held at the King St. campus track from 3:45 p.m., ending at around 5-6 p.m. They will spend the week conditioning while being evaluated by coaches. On the last day of tryouts, coaches have athletes do a timed trial to determine if they make the team for the season. Winter indoor track events include sprinting, long distance running, throwing, jumping and pole vaulting.

Senior Laela Ferrick is trying out for the pole vaulting team. “I’m super excited for the winter season,” she said. “I can contribute to my track team with my pole vault experience and work hard to improve.”

Junior Mikayla Moorman shares this enthusiasm for track. She plans to do shot put in the winter and both discus and shot put in the spring.

“I’m very excited because this will be my fourth season on the throwing team. I am very excited to grow and improve my throwing skills!”

Head Coach: Coach Alderton at [email protected]

Swimming/Dive

Typically, swimmers and divers meet at the Minnie Howard pool, but currently the pool is out of service. Until it is repaired, swimmers should meet at the Minnie Howard weight room from 4.-6 p.m. and divers should meet at the Chinquapin pool from 4.-6 p.m. Swimming and dive offer students to either be unaffiliated from the competitive team or on a varsity team. Anyone inclined to participate in swimming or diving can come to practice and join the team, as there are no cuts. For diving, students will go to the locker rooms at the Minnie Howard Campus and change into proper swimwear. They will then join the coach at the diving board and begin warm-ups. As for swimming, students meet at the pool after going to the locker room and start swimming along the lanes.

Sophomore Kaia Brown is eagerly awaiting tryouts, and is ready to begin her first season on the team.

“I feel great about this season, I am improving quickly,” she said. “I’m excited to learn new dives and meet new people and have an overall good time.”

Head Coach: Coach Gullickson at john.gullick [email protected]

Wrestling

Wrestlers will practice at the Minnie Howard wrestling room from 4.-6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 10, and the following Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Wrestling offers JV and varsity sub-teams for students who make it on the team. Participants who intend to join meet at the wrestling room. They will be taught the basics of wrestling such as the correct stances, motions, exercises and much more for an entire week. Following this week of learning, athletes will be weighed in and separated into their separate weight classes. They’ll then do singles matches against athletes in their weight class. The person who causes their opponent to fall due to legal techniques will be invited to join the varsity team, and the athlete who falls will be invited to join the junior varsity team. This way, no students are cut from the team.

Head Coach: Coach Marshall at [email protected]

Students may have different opinions outside of their athletics, but these sports are one thing that continues to bring them together. These athletes have such strong emotions towards their sport, which they continuously put an extreme amount of effort, time, and energy into. Good luck to all the Titan athletes trying out, and for the season ahead!