The worst part of any school sports team is trying out. Over the past school year, every current PHU athlete has been through a rigorous tryout in order to secure a spot on their team. For each athlete, the experience is different.

Kari Whiting, a JV girls’ basketball player, had no problems with her tryouts. “For us, tryouts are really more like a scrimmage.” Whiting explained. “We all condition together for a while before tryouts begin, so we get know each other. It’s all very laid back.”

Ben Reynolds started out on the JV football team this season as a freshman. “I didn’t really have to go through tryouts.” Reynolds says. “I just went to football conditioning, they played me on JV,” He said. “And then they thought I was good so…now I’m on varsity.”

Not every tryout is laid back though. “Our tryouts had a very…competitive dynamic to them, to be honest.” Said JV football cheerleader, Tessa Delgo. “As far as JV goes, there were little groups of people that knew each other, but we weren’t one united team. People clung to who they knew.”

It gets better though. Being part of a team is really emphasized in PHU sports, so everyone has their own little bonding rituals. “We all really bonded at camp this summer.” Delgo said. “The competitiveness that we had at tryouts was gone. It was nice.”

For the basketball players, they really unite over their love of the sport. “On our own, we never really bond outside of our little groups.” Whiting said. “ But we all get together to watch clips of our games. That’s our bonding.”

Each sport has a totally different tryout that emphasizes the values of their team. Whether it’s a calm, casual process, or a competitive fight, a few things unite members of any team: the love of the game, and the love of the sport.