As state champions in football and players in various extracurriculars, Seminole High School (SHS) has always had sports deeply embedded into its culture. It is traditionally a source of pride for SHS students and teachers alike. With the start of a new school year, tryouts have yet again become a popular topic among the students of SHS. 

To those interested, listed below are general information about some upcoming sports tryouts:

Girls Soccer

Soccer season typically occurs during winter, transpiring from the months of November to February. As a result, tryout dates for this sport are earlier than most others. For SHS, tryouts for Girls Soccer take place on Monday, Oct. 17 at Lake Sylvan Park from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m..

Meanwhile, preseason conditioning, which advances a student’s performance during tryouts, started on Sept. 6. It still occurs every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 2:45 to 4:30 PM and every Wednesday from 1:45 p.m. to 3:30 p.m..

Esther Marie Liptai, a health academy junior who partakes in soccer, explains: “Tryouts span along two days. We usually have to run the mile at least once and then . . . scrimmage to showcase our talent. Usually there’s enough players for two fields of players scrimmaging.”

If you need more information, you can contact Coach Tom Keiger via TKriger@southernwine.com. 

Girls Lacrosse

In an interview. Coach Alexandra Othon, one of the coaches for Girls Lacrosse, explains this section in great detail: 

“As a team we start conditioning the week of Oct. 17th which comes after an interest meeting on Oct. 10th. Our tryouts will be January 23rd, and anyone that is playing another sport and can’t make that tryout day . . . will be integrated . . . into a practice and place them based on their abilities. Our season officially starts at the end of Jan. with the first game coming the second week of Feb.. Girls Lacrosse is a growing sport in Florida and becoming more and more popular by the year. It is a fast-paced game that requires great skill and dexterity. It can also be a lot of fun and comes with a great team environment. For those who are new to the sport, we do our best to make sure they learn the basics and work hard towards getting better, but mostly we want to build a love for the game and a feeling of family within the team.”

You can contact Coach Othon through her email, othonaz@scps.k12.fl.us. To reach the head coach, you can contact Coach Stephen Efland at eflandsd@scps.k12.fl.us. 

Girls Basketball

The season for basketball, a popular sport in SHS, takes place in winter. It starts around the end of October and continues until January.

Coach Celine Vega, the coach for the Varsity Girls Basketball team, states: “Tryouts are n October 24th . . . and our first game as of now is Nov. 15 and last regular season game is Jan. 26.” Although she has not fully planned what students would do for tryouts, she says that “it will be drills and probably some playing.”

To contact Coach Gilbert, you can contact her through her email, shenique_gilbert@scps.k12.fl.us.

Water Polo

Water polo, which commonly takes place in spring, hasn’t started tryouts yet due to its late season. It usually takes place from the month of February until April. New players get in by showcasing their swim ability and overall conditioning.

For swimming, SHS has commonly been recognized for consistently winning against various schools, ranking 1st in the district of 1A D1 last year (Maxpreps). Ben Brooks, a senior who plays water polo, proudly expresses: “Seminole has a great water polo team; we’re really good . . . and we’re getting better by the day.”

The coach for water polo is Ryan Ackerson, and you can ask him for more information through his email, ackersrz@scps.k12.fl.us. 

Track and Field and Boys Volleyball

Sports such as Track and Field and Boys Volleyball occur later in the year, so the tryout dates for these sports have yet to be announced. Like water polo, both sports occur in the spring, so the tryout dates may be announced during that time.

For more information, contact Coach Lakisya Killingsworth, the head coach for Boys Volleyball, or contact Coach Ken Braumanis, the head coach for Track and Field. You can contact them through killinla@scps.k12.fl.us and braumakw@scps.k12.fl.us respectively.

Other Sports

Unfortunately, there have been unclear details regarding other sports at SHS. Some are unannounced, while others remain vague. Eva Vivaldelli, a senior weight-lifting player, mentions that the weight lifting team “has a new coach this year and they haven’t been told who it is just yet,” which makes the date for tryouts unclear. She also mentions that “last year wasn’t really tryouts; it was more like if you want to do it, you just have to commit and show up.” This also goes for bowling, as the team is currently in need of more members.

Tryout dates for some sports have already passed as well. Baseball and golf tryouts, for instance, take place during the summer, and swimming and football tryouts have already begun. However, those who want to play a sport for SHS still have a chance next year. It’s just important to remain up to date with information regarding these sports. One of the ways to do this is to keep in touch with the coaches. To see a list of SHS head coaches and their contact information, you can refer to this link: https://seminolehs.scps.k12.fl.us/athletics/coaches.stml. Good luck on tryouts, Noles!