Once someone’s sport season is over, one might think that it is time to take a break and focus on other things until next year, right? Wrong.

To keep up with competition, high school teams and players are engaging in more off-season conditioning, scrimmages, and tournaments.

Some teams demand more time from their players than others. For instance, senior player Trevor Butchart said the boys’ basketball team gets approximately six weeks off per year while cross country gets seven months off per year, senior runner Jamie Barnes said.

Although there is no limit on the amount of personal time a player can donate to his/her sport, the Michigan High School Athletic Association set limits on team meetings.

The MHSAA enforces mandatory "dead periods," during which no high school team can meet with its coach for one week during the summer and another week within the first two months of the beginning of the season.

Despite this small restriction, many players use the off-season to their advantage.

The boys’ basketball team has one of the most extensive off-season schedules. More than 12 hours a week are set aside for team workouts from April until tryouts in November. Summer tournaments and scrimmages are numerous.

"It’s difficult sometimes, but I know it’s good for me," said Butchart, who focuses on developing his game in the spring, summer, and fall. "I can tell once the season starts that it was worth it."

Butchart said he sometimes dreads the intense workouts on early summer mornings, which often involve taking to the dunes at Lake Harbor Park.

"I hate running the dunes in the summer because it’s really tiring and difficult, but I still do it because it’s making the team stronger and getting us in better shape," Butchart said.

Also, the numerous summer tournaments are a good venue in which to show off the team’s disciplined conditioning.

"The Heights League tournament is my favorite off-season event because it’s a lot of fun to compete with local teams, and it’s really competitive every year," Butchart said. "The atmosphere in Muskegon Heights Middle School gym is unbelievable."

The MHSAA has specific rules which make most of these off-season workouts optional, but it is always in the player’s best interest to show up.

"There aren’t any real punishments, but it’s a bad idea to skip without a solid reason," Butchart said. "The other players get mad that you’re skipping out, and your playing time in the summer tournaments can go down because you’re rusty."

For girls’ soccer, the scheduled workouts start in December, and there are usually 10 to 30 players in attendance. Since it is run by senior players and not the coach, they are always optional.

Even though the school team does not put on an intense off-season schedule, many Shores players choose to further their skills by getting involved in local club teams.

Sophomore Danielle Hilleary, who played on the freshmen girls’ soccer team last season, currently plays for a club team, the Muskegon Lakers. Hilleary said most Shores players follow a similar path during the summer and fall.

"I think it’s worth it because when I work out a lot in the off-season, I can really tell once the regular season starts that I am in better shape than I would have been," Hilleary said.

Coaches are also devoting a lot of time to developing their players’ skills.

Shores varsity football coach Ken Rose focuses on physical and mental toughness during conditioning hours with his team, which start after Thanksgiving and continue through the year until the beginning of the season in August.

"This year, we have a group of returners and JV guys who are hungry to improve, and they know that the weight room and off-season training is the number one way to improvement," coach Rose said.

Shores is not unique in its tradition of hard work in the off months of sports. Pretty much every large high school has similar intensive off-season training programs.

"I think the rigor and intensity of the activities offered is equal to any other competitive program. What it boils down to is the attitude and effort of the players involved in off-season training and skill development," coach Rose said.

Despite several options being available to athletes seeking to get better at their respective sports during the off-season, one trend remains consistent: players who are serious about their game work hard all year long, no matter how far off the first game of the regular season is. Playing even one sport each year can easily become a full-time job.