North Augusta High School has found success in a wide variety of sports, partly through the experience gained in local sports clubs. A large number of athletes at North Augusta play both school ball and travel, or “club” ball. Club sports are typically played in the opposite season as their high school counterparts, which enables athletes to participate in both. This also means the sport can be played for most of the year, ensuring players stay fresh and hone their skills, ready to lend that experience to NAHS sports. The CSRA offers many opportunities for travel teams such as volleyball, basketball, softball, baseball, and more. The ability to work with players from outside NAHS and also be exposed to different coaching styles is what draws athletes to these clubs.
Junior at North Augusta High School, Aricka Moore, plays school and travel basketball. She says “with travel ball you have a lot more freedom than school ball. Coaches care more for individuality in travel than in school ball where they care more for the team.” Junior softball player, Annabel Hurst, also feels less pressure when playing for her travel team. She says “the main difference is you're actually playing for something in school ball. In travel, if you have a bad tournament, you can just play again the next weekend; in school ball, if you lose in the playoffs then your season is done.” While there are differences, there are also lots of similarities. Sophomore volleyball player, Cara Alan states “the seasons are alike in that they both are very time consuming and most of the rules stay the same.” Sophomore baseball player, Parker Pugh says “school baseball and travel baseball are similar in competition. In travel, you face a lot of great competition and in school ball, the competition is high because everyone is playing in hopes of making it to the state championship.”
Pictured above, two volleyball team members giving it their all during the game.
Pictured here: Cara Alan and her fellow teammate
Photographer: Ann Marie Partl
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