PREPNET / SPEAK OUT

Which high school sport requires the participant to be in the best physical condition?

*

NATALIE GOLDA

Rosary, Water Polo/Softball

I think water polo is definitely the hardest because it takes so much out of you. It’s trying to stay afloat when there are two people grabbing you and trying to drag you down. And it’s swimming with water in your mouth and going and going for 20 minutes. It’s tough. It’s wrestling, soccer and basketball--but played in water.

*

SARAH McLEOD

Marina, Basketball/Track

No doubt in my mind: Soccer is the most physically demanding sport I know. The average soccer player runs the equivalent of six miles a game. Now, imagine playing two games a day on back-to-back days at club tournaments. We play back-to-back summer league games in high school basketball, and you need stamina in that too, but the soccer field is much bigger than a basketball court and in soccer you are always sprinting. You have very little time to rest and you rarely ever get a water break.

*

MATT MORGAN

Dana Hills, Football/Baseball

Football is the most physically demanding sport in high school today. Not so much for the cardiovascular aspect, more because of the physical pounding one takes in a game or practice. Contact, whether on offense or defense, magnifies the amount of energy needed to play the sport. This combination of running and hitting requires football players to be in the best physical condition.

*

TREVOR AUSTIN

Hayward business executive, Former wrestler

I believe it is a tossup between wrestling and water polo. Based on the program and the development of better and better wrestling programs in OC sports, I would have to give it to wrestling. Wrestling pairs individuals instead of teams. As the year goes by I do not believe that an athlete’s physical conditioning matters more than on a wrestling mat. As you progress from league through CIF and into state, the competitive level of conditioning an athlete must maintain to compete increases as well. I believe that the majority of the team sports reach a certain level and must maintain it, while wrestlers must step up to be competitive at higher levels of competition.

*

BRETT VAN LINGE

Woodbridge, Tennis

I definitely think it’s water polo. You’re treading water the whole time and that’s pretty hard to do. If you line up a bunch of tennis players and water polo players, the water polo guys always are the more well-built. They have the most intense workouts and the most rigorous training.

*

RYAN COOK

Newport Harbor, Water Polo/Basketball

Water polo is definitely the sport that requires the best physical conditioning due to the rigorous workouts twice a day, which usually start at 6 in the morning.

NEXT QUESTION

The Southern Section uses enrollment to determine playoff groupings in nine sports, but in past years a school has been able to choose to compete in a larger division. Do you agree with the section’s recent decision to ban that practice?