Club sports or school sponsored sports? Which will be more valuable to you if you plan on playing in college?

Senior Abby Boehlein plays soccer for both WHS and the competitive team Lou Fusz Michalek. She started playing at the young age of 5 and realized that she wanted to continue competitively at 12. Because competitive soccer takes place in the fall and high school in the spring, Boehlein learned that she could continue playing both during high school. For Boehlein, club cost her over $20,000 for the seven years she has played, but school only cost her around $15.

With Boehlein being a senior, she’s started to think of future plans and soccer is, unfortunately, not part of it.

“I have to focus on my grades because I’m trying to get into law school,” Boehlein said.

Junior Kyra Hardesty doesn’t have to finalize future plans just yet, but is hoping to play her sport in college. She has played competitive basketball since fourth grade for the Missouri Rockets.

Hardesty started playing because of the experiences she would be offered, like traveling and being with friends outside of school.

“We get to travel a lot and it’s just really fun playing with those people,” Hardesty said.

Although she hasn’t played for as long as Boehlein and Hardesty, sophomore Katelyn Eaton joined Lady Rage, a competitive softball team, two years ago and is now planning on playing in college.

All three girls agreed that club sports are more beneficial to students planning to play in college.

“I feel like club is more beneficial because there’s college showcases where a bunch of college coaches will be there to watch [you play],” Boehlein said. “You get more exposure to colleges at college showcases and tournaments.”

Eaton, although only a sophomore, can already tell that club sports are beneficial.

“In competitive you can get more out there,” Eaton said. “Our coach helps us contact them [the college coaches] and we’re going different places, not just staying in one area.”

Club can be very beneficial to some students, but there are downfalls that come with it, like not seeing your family and friends as often as some would hope.

“I would say the most difficult part is the traveling, while it is fun, it can also be hard,”

Hardesty said. “A lot of the time I go with other teammates, so I don’t see my family a lot of the time and also I don’t get to hang out with my school friends during the summer.”

Although club takes up a lot of time, most students don’t have a problem with it. After all, they chose to be active in the sport.

“Select ball does take up a lot of time depending on who your coach is and how often they have you practicing,” Eaton said. “You can’t really go out to the movies every weekend, but it’s better to be active.”

As a senior, Boehlein would like to offer a few words of wisdom.

“You want to film yourself, like send in videos of yourself playing,” Boehlein said, “and you want to film yourself in a more competitive environment so it looks better.”