Editor's note: ESPNHS is ESPN.com's high school journalism program. Student reporters from across the country cover sports and athletes from their schools. Want to get involved? Start blogging on your profile today!
With fall comes many things for high schoolers - the return to the stress of projects, exams and homework, and a departure from long, care-free days in the sun. It's experiencing that sinking feeling in your stomach when you realize you skipped writing a government paper to watch a preseason NFL game that doesn't even matter ... yet again.
But with autumn also comes something we can all look forward to - fall sports!
The enjoyment that comes from all fall sports can be agreed upon easily. Each one offers something unique and exciting for its athletes and spectators. Something not so easily agreed upon is be which sport is toughest.
Judgment of this is not easy. One must first determine what "tough" is. Precise criteria must be established. For the purpose of this study, these aspects will be: athletic ability required, training/practice required, how physically demanding it is, endurance required, and strategy/mental aspect required.
Even with these specific requirements, fall athletes at Omaha, Nebraska's, Marian High School can't seem to agree on which sport is the most difficult.
"I would say volleyball, in Nebraska anyway," said Jordann (sic) Wilson, a senior on the varsity volleyball team. "Nebraska has one of the highest levels of competition, and with all the club teams that are here it makes fighting for a state championship a lot harder."
Junior Frannie Fuxa, Wilson's varsity teammate, disagrees.
"As much as I would love to say volleyball, I'm going to have to say soccer. I think their conditioning is harder. And during game play, they are doing tons of physical activity like running for a long period of time."
Endurance seems to be a common factor in opinions. Sophomore softball player Shannon Daly also finds running for long periods of time to be toughest fall sport material.
"The toughest fall sport would probably be cross country. When I see people being able to run that far and for a long period of time it amazes me. I would never be able to do that."
Caroline Nelsen, a senior golfer at Marian, thinks the mental aspect of the game is the most difficult to contend with.
"I think golf is the hardest because it is the toughest mentally," Nelsen said. "Without a positive attitude at all times, your game can go from amazing to horrible in the matter of just a couple shots."
And with yet another opinion, senior La Jayasuriya feels her own sport is the toughest of all fall sports.
"Cheerleading. We work day in and out, all year around with pretty much no breaks. You have to be strong mentally when it comes to competition season. It's a lot of time commitment and dedication."
So whether you think endurance overshadows strategy or that the mental aspect of the game is tougher, there can be no argument that each fall sport requires a lot out of its athletes and is tough in different ways.
Heading back to high school means school work we'd like to set aside for preseason NFL games and waking up so early that it really does hurt. But perhaps the toughest part of getting back into the swing of things is getting back into the rhythm of your tough fall sport, regardless of what that sport may be.
Hailey Konnath is a senior at Marian High School in Omaha, Nebraska.
Check out the ESPNHS archive.