Football season has come to an end for most of the Senior Falcons. UIL competitions, cheer and dance competitions, college visits and applications fill a busy spring schedule for these individuals. Many of these players, members or trainers have had their futures set for after high school for a few years now; some have not. The challenge for most of these athletes or members is that they had their hearts set on something and it fell through. Most of the athletes/members have the benefit of being able to pursue football in their futures, and have the chance to be successful business workers, teachers, coaches, etc.
A lot of these other teams and organizations have already started preparing for the competition seasons ahead of them. They have spent extensive time focusing on practicing for Spring’s arduous competition seasons.
Each member has something different that they are going to do in the future. They may be going into the military, going straight to college, or delving straight into a career. Many teams and organizations aren’t done with their season until the very end of the school year. All of these different groups have very different ways of preparing for the end of the year and their busy season.
Football
Football season is stressful for most athletes and had its ups and downs, however, that doesn’t stop the athletes from having fun.
Varsity football player Matthew Rosenbalm had a season that most players experience.
“I had fun and I missed being on the field and am very sad about the fact that it has ended. I have faced many challenges throughout all of football with injuries,” Rosenbalm said. “This year I actually struggled with a sprained ankle that kept me out for a while.”
For Rosenbalm, this was his last season of football.
“I will most definitely miss all of the players and everyone I grew close with! Football was something that I enjoyed and that will be a huge part of my high school career!”
Sky Dancers
The Sky Dancers have been preparing for their season since the start of summer.
Sky Dancer Brianna Bennett speaks of how her season advanced with her team.
“Football season is super exciting with all the different things we get to do, for example standing in tunnel lines when the football players run through, doing stand routines, and, of course, dancing at halftime,” Bennett said. “Football games really are such a special experience and I’m so glad I was able to be a part of them for four years. I am definitely going to miss wearing that beautiful uniform and dancing with my best-friends!”
Bennett detailed what they have to do to prepare for the season and what she will miss most.
“We have to prepare four competition dances, which are a lot harder than football dances so it takes a lot more time and perseverance. We are at school a lot working hard to prepare our dances to make sure they are performance ready,” Bennett said about the Spring season.
Cheerleaders
Timber Creek Cheerleaders not only cheer on our teams at school but also they help hype up The Nest.
Varsity cheerleader Madi Hill has a busy schedule that she has to work with throughout the year.
“Football season is one of my favorite parts about being a cheerleader, but our season is not over after football,” Hill explained.
Most teams don’t stop right after football — in Spring, Cheer’s hectic season begins. Cheerleaders of Timber spend hours preparing for their competitions.
“We practice every single day during fifth period and after school, and on top of perfecting our routines, we have basketball season as well,” says Hill
Athletic Trainers
Many of these students already know exactly how they want to live their life. Athletic Trainer Taylor Hargues hopes to make a difference in the future with her career goals.
“I have applied to Tarleton and wish to continue to be a Student Athletic Trainer”
The season that she has had and her experience has been a good one.
“It’s always hard when there’s a player on the field or the court because everyone is looking at them and that’s the last thing the player wants. I am gonna miss it because it was a big part of my life that I fed so much time into, and prepping is always fun.”
Student Media
Student Media is one of the biggest organizations at Timber Creek. Yearbook, Newspaper, and Broadcast Journalism attend every single game during the football season, taking pictures, posting scores, and commentating the games. For broadcast journalism many of these students have already decided to pursue a career in broadcasting/journalism because of these classes. Talon Sports editor, and member of TCTV Reed Smith tells his side of game day and his plans for the future.
Smith goes into detail on the experience of game day.
“Keeping up with the plays on the sidelines was really difficult. It doesn’t sound like a hard concept, but when you’re tweeting every play of the game, you have to be on the ball for all four quarters,” Smith said. “I will PROFUSELY miss football season. While we never had the success we would’ve wished for, I loved the team and reporting for it. The final game had me shedding some tears during that last ‘Forever Timber Creek.'”
“I plan to go to college for journalism at UNT. I hope to continue my career in Sports commentary/writing, and I think I can do that. I love baseball, commentating and writing about it is something I’m really looking forward to,” Smith said.
Deadlines are most important during football season for yearbook members. Life after football will be even busier for many. Yearbook member Grace Havenstrite explains why deadlines are important and what goes in the book.
“Football season does take up a majority of our book, because it includes so many different organizations, but even though it is over we have the rest of the book to create,” Havenstrite said. “We still have basketball, track, baseball, soccer, and choir to take care of. So even though the football season is over, we still have to focus on staying on top of all of our other sports and organizations.”
Band
Most members of these members of these organizations don’t know exactly what they want to do yet because of the busy season they do have. Our Band members have been working since summer to prepare for their marching season, and once football is over they spend 7+ hours a week practicing for UIL. For Clarinet Squad Leader Bree Cryan gives the inside scoop on band season.
“After football/marching season is over, the band goes into concert season. This is when we stop the outdoor practices and start rehearsing harder music in class in preparation for UIL.” says Cryan
“Concert season is usually where a player can challenge themselves as a musician and get to see the full extent of their capabilities. For me this season was difficult in terms of change. Obviously we’ve had a director change, which is always difficult.”
With the task of game days comes extra stress and preparation.
“For me, there wasn’t much excitement preparing for games. A lot of it was stress since we have a very specific inspection time and a lot to do before that time,” Cryan said. “We had roughly 45 minutes (or less for leadership) to eat, do our band buns, put our uniform on, check if we had everything for the game, and some people also had to load the truck, so the preparation was never easy.”
This is the last year to perform at football games for many of these members and it is going to be an emotional one for most.
Color Guard member Chloe Wreyford gives her take on what she will miss most.
“Yes, I am gonna miss football season, especially because this was my last one getting to perform with the band and I believe there’s nothing more special than getting to perform with the marching band,” Wreyford said. “Also the bus rides and energy of football season are incomparable to any other extracurricular that I’ve gotten to take part in.”
Although the tall task of football is over for the hard working students of Timber Creek, the year is far from over. Spring semester presents a whole new set of challenges and work.