This past Spring Break, which ran from March 15th to April 1st, several sports teams took trips where they were able to face schools from different states, improve their early-season play, and bond with their teammates in a new way. The sports included were the high-school track, lacrosse, and baseball programs, and each team flew south to Florida for a week.

The track team was in Orlando for the first week of break, and while not every member attended, most were able to go. Each day involved a certain level of training to help prepare both the boys and girls for their upcoming seasons. Based on the high level of success shown by the teams last year, it is easy to assume that these practices are intense, in order to truly get the Bombers ready to come back stronger than ever. When asked about her thoughts on the trip, runner Kylie Goldfarb (’21) replied, “I think the trip helped our team bond and form stronger friendships. Even though everyone didn’t [or] couldn’t go on the trip, I think that the new energy that the group brought to the whole team once we got back to St. Louis was really positive… The highlight of the trip was definitely going to Universal Studios, but just hanging out with everyone was my favorite part.”

The men’s lacrosse program also went to Orlando, and during the second half of break, they stayed the week in Disney World. They played very fierce opponents, two of which hailed from the East Coast, where lacrosse is incredibly popular, and the other was from Illinois. Though they lost every game, varsity attackman Turner Carlson (’19) stated that “the point of the trip was to increase team chemistry, which it definitely did. We would go to the Disney parks after our games and had a great time hanging out and getting to know each other better.” This was easy to verify, as photos of Boom Cummings (’22) with his face painted as Sully from Monsters Inc. circulated.

The men’s baseball program traveled to Port St. Lucie, Florida from March 23rd-29th and played three games. The Varsity boys left with a record of 2-1, and pitcher Ben Goff ‘21 believes that “the trip positively impacted our team…The highlights of the trip were getting to practice and play in the great weather and getting to bond with the team. I believe the trip was necessary because we went down there with a shortage of players, and we were still able to compete well and win a few games to get ready to play back home.” Overall, the consensus from the teams, both JV and Varsity, was good and, besides a rainy-day or two, there seemed to be no complaints.

Though the attendees of these sport’s respective vacations have all reported positive takes, the notion of expensive trips for high school sports leads to the question, “are such excursions truly vital to the progress of the team?” In response to this inquiry, Goldfarb said, “I don’t think the trip was necessary for the success of our team, but it positioned us well for success because it helped a large percentage of our team get quality training in during spring break.” Similarly, Carlson replied, “I think it’s maybe not an integral part of the sport, but a definitely a great way to encourage the older and younger guys on our team to get to know each other better.” Thus, while these sports trips may not be crucial when it comes to a team’s success, they do seem to create lasting memories for those involved, which is important and impactful in the long run.