As a total of about twelve students got called up at this springs award ceremonies for their three varsity sport awards, something struck me.  What are the other five hundred plus kids doing in their free time?  When I looked around, I quickly noticed that the majority of the students aren’t sitting around doing nothing because of how muscular or fit they looked.  So what are they doing?  The answer is nontraditional sports, like long boarding, skateboarding, or roller skating.

One student who loves nontraditional sports and spends almost all of his free time participating in skateboarding is sophomore Nilas Johannessen.  The first time that he skateboarded was many years ago, but he remembers clearly that he fell very hard and didn’t skate again for at least a few weeks.  Although he had a major set back, Johannessen was able to prove his mental strength and build up his mindset until he was able to get back on the board again; therefore, proving to everyone that nontraditional sports can still teach students how to be a good athlete.

“All sports require you to be both mentally and physically stimulated, but I feel that skateboarding is different because you can’t blame anyone for your mistakes,” Johannessen said.  “Therefore, you have to be willing to overcome your mistakes and follow your own path.”

Right now all of the seniors are on their way to find and follow their own path.  Will nontraditional sports still play a major role in their free time?  The answer will most likely be yes.  Senior, Hannah Dodge has already been participating in her favorite nontraditional sport, long-boarding, from the day school got out.  You will often find her long boarding down Castle Creek or among many different locations with her fellow classmates.  Dodge enjoys long boarding because she loves just hanging out with her friends, in a non-competitive way.   Although Hannah loves long boarding she also participates in both school sports and nontraditional sports.

“Although I enjoy long boarding about the same as school sports, I thinks it’s nice to just mess around,” Dodge said.  “Because I like to just mess around, I don’t know if I would want to enter a competition.  However, if I were to enter a competition I would probably come in first place.  “

Another student who falls into the category of both a nontraditional and a high school athlete is sophomore Brooke Pisani, who rollerblades.  When she first rollerbladed she was riding around her neighborhood with her older brother completely covered in padding.  Unfortunately, even with all the padding her first experience ended with lots of blood.  However, that scary incident has not stopped her from rollerblading.  She is still doing it up to this day because she loves that there is no pressure involved.

“I love having the freedom to make my own schedule and not having to have the pressure to prove to anyone that I am good,” Pisani said.

Although Pisani mainly rollerblades for fun, she also rollerblades to improve her skills for one of her school sports, hockey.  She believes that it helps her balance.  All three of these students participate in these sports because it not only improves their physical and mental strength, but it also gives them an amazing sensation.

“I choose to skateboard in my free time because the feeling I get when I’m on my board is incomparable to any other euphoria in the world,” Johannessen said.