Snow melting, temperatures rising, and the hope of flowers blooming marks the beginning of this year’s spring sports season. However, for Edina athletes, spring means the beginning of a season packed with hard work, and hopefully, many victories. Whether it be swinging a golf club, throwing a frisbee, or hitting a birdie, some of Edina High School’s most athletically gifted are ramping up practices in preparation for this year’s spring sports season.

For the majority of spring sports, captain’s practices are an integral part of what these teams are doing to get ready for the upcoming season. Captain’s practices are typically less structured, with emphasis less on intense workouts, and more on bonding as a team, as well as teaching new players the ins and outs of the sport.

Edina Girls Golf Captain senior Joanna Kim explains how her team does captain’s practices, and what makes them different from normal practices. “It’s a lot more social. At practice, we have a set goal and we have to achieve it in two hours for the time being. At captain’s, we just hit balls, we get to know each other, it’s just a friendly environment, no one is judging how you hit the ball or anything. It’s just like hanging out….[We’re trying to] really just make the environment open to everyone, because I know that last year we made it a no-cut sport so then anyone tried out for the team could get on the team, so I just want to make sure that JV and Varsity are both co-existing. It’s more of a fun atmosphere rather than just a hardcore sport,” Kim explained.

According to Kim, the girls’ golf program’s 50 members spread across four teams: Varsity, JV1, JV2, and a Development Team, from which we can expect “A really strong team…I don’t want to jinx it but hopefully we’ll make it to state again this year and have a good run at it,” Kim said. If the history of Edina’s golf team is anything to be compared to, then this season is going to be extraordinary. “Historically, I think we’ve won state starting from ‘15, so we’ve won ‘15, ’16, ’17, and hopefully ‘18, so that’s like three years, and we also have the individuals medal from last year,” Kim said.

EHS students will have many chances to see the badminton team play, and they hope for more of a fan section this year. “There’ll be a lot of home games this year because of the new gyms, our lineups are really competitive, but they’re different almost every game, it’s a super fun sport,” junior Badminton captain Lindsay Lundberg said.

Ultimate frisbee may seem like an activity more appropriate for the campus of a liberal arts college, but in a competitive scene, Edina’s teams are thriving. Jack Rosenthal, senior and Captain of the Edina Boys’ Ultimate team explains his goal for the upcoming season as, “another state championship.” Edina has won the last two years. To prepare for this season, the team is currently holding captain’s practices multiple times a week. “A captain’s practice is just like the captains and the players, and then once the real practices come we get to work with our coaches again,” Rosenthal said. “I think we’ve got a lot of good new players that are learning and finding a role that are going to be really good this year.”