Boys and girls athletics period has been switched for the upcoming school year. Girls athletics will now be fourth period and boys athletics will be first period, excluding boys soccer and baseball. Baseball will stay fourth period and boys soccer will switch to third period. Athletic coordinator and head football coach Jeff Harbert was involved in making this decision, but there were many involving factors. Mostly, the switch is because of the UIL mandate of the “wet bulb”.
“The UIL mandates the usage of a wet bulb, which combines the temperature and the humidity,” “And if it’s too hot outside, then we’re unable to practice outside.” Harbert said. “In August, September and October, it’s hard for our football and soccer teams to get outside during fourth period, so by making the switch, we’ll be able to utilize the cooler temperatures in the morning, during the hottest part of the year.”
Harbert believes this change will benefit all athletes, making the schedule more efficient. This change allows girls to get ready for school at home and boy to not have two-a-days.
“I think it will be a more efficient usage of time and facilities for everybody,” Harbert said. “Typically the female athletes take a little bit more time to get dressed than the male athletes do, so we can utilize more of that first period segment, because the guys will not need to be released as early to get ready. And the girls can just go home afterwards and get ready for school.”
Having fourth period for girls athletics allows girls worry about getting ready for school after a workout, or have to miss class for an away game. Assistant athletic coordinator and head volleyball coach Janie Litchford agrees that having girls athletics last period will benefit the girls throughout the season.
“I think it’ll be nice that our girls will have a chance to sleep in a little bit longer, especially after a game out of town the night before,” Litchford said. “Just get up and get ready for their classes that day. I think they’re going to enjoy that.”
Although this change comes with benefits, it has its challenges. Litchford has dealt with athletics changing periods in past years, so she knows how she will manage it. There will be differences that Litchford and the athletes will have to adapt to.
“I’ve been in a situation where my girls have been in athletics fourth period before,” Litchford said. “It’s going to be a little bit different because usually we’ve got our gym set up early every morning, but now we’ll have to make sure that third period there be a lot of preparation getting the gym set up.”
Sophomore Madison Wolf is apart of the volleyball program. She has mixed emotions about the athletics change.
“Im sad but also happy, I’m sad because we don’t have early release,” Wolf said. “I’m happy because we won’t have to come too early in the morning, and we get to end our day with a good workout.”
Many other high schools made switches in their athletic schedules varying by sport, but not for all sports. This switch will create a new schedule that is unique to the district in hopes of benefiting student athletes.
“This will be the first school in Frisco to flip everybody (all athletic classes),” Harbert said. “I think it’ll end up being a really good deal for all our athletes.”
