While winter drags on and Parker’s basketball season is still underway, spring sports are starting up in the form of workouts and official practices. 

“The Spring season is always exciting because we offer more sports,” Athletic Director, Bobby Starks said. “We’re able to serve more student-athletes, and as an athletic-department, we are always excited about that.” 

There are five athletic options included in this year’s spring season: girls soccer, girls softball, boys tennis, boys baseball, and co-ed track and field.

The track and field team is run by Coach Minnie Skakun and Assistant Coach Ted Ledford. So far, Skakun says the daily practices are off to a great start. She praised the team’s ability to show enthusiasm, even while attending school and while practices are getting increasingly difficult.

“I am seeing some real mental toughness in my athletes,” Skakun said. “I think an eight hour school day followed by two hours of sports is intense. It’s so wonderful to see them bring their enthusiasm and humor even when we are running outside.”

The varsity girls soccer team will be coached by Coach Patrick Stanton. The captains for this year’s season are seniors Senna Gardner, Molly Taylor, and Lindsay Carlin. The practices for girls soccer begin on March 2nd, although Stanton describes his captains as “ambitious,” as they are already getting a head start on working with the team to build skill before the season.

“This season, I’m excited to watch the girls’ growth and development,” Stanton said, “We had a very talented team last year that lost around seven games by one goal. I’m hoping we can turn some of those losses into ties and wins.”

The girls softball team is coached by Coach Alix King this year, and the boys tennis team is coached by Coach Brandon Smith.

This year, the boys baseball team will be coached by Coach Justin Taylor and Assistant Coach Steve Ragile. This year will be Taylor’s fourth year coaching boys baseball, and Ragile’s second. The season will begin on February 24th.

“I think I’m most excited to build upon the season from last year,” said Taylor. “We had tremendous growth toward the end of the year. We have really good potential heading into this year. I’m also looking forward to watching our kids get better on and off the field.”