Every sport has a grind. The conditioning and long hours push every athlete to his or her limits, which can sometimes push them to the point of exhaustion. After the season comes to an end, an opportunity for resting and relaxation becomes available and most student athletes use the break to catch up on schoolwork and social activities.

For junior Isaiah Ramos, however, this break does not exist. After finishing his junior quarterback career, Ramos is heading straight into the basketball season.

“I kind of missed all of fall basketball and didn’t really get much of a pre-season because by the time football is over, I will only have a week of practice or less before my first basketball game,” Ramos said. “I might even miss a few games depending on how far we go in football.”

Sacrifices are made by Ramos to focus solely on the season’s sport. Although he was able to attend the high school basketball tryouts, Ramos didn’t participate in the drills to avoid injuries before the CIF game. Isaiah Ramos will finish out his football season, but there is more to come as basketball season is upon him.

“Football conditioning and basketball conditioning, you can’t really say one is better. They are definitely different. When I go into basketball from football season, my body is going to change more,” Ramos said. “I’ll probably lose some weight when I start playing so I will probably slim down a bit just because of all the extra running I’ll be doing.”

Ramos has learned how to adapt quickly to the different atmospheres of each sport, which is crucial for the basketball team’s first home game. However, the conditioning causes his body to change and tire him out following practices. Junior Troy Bloom

“I wasn’t interested in playing basketball this year; I just wanted to lift in the off-season and spend more time focusing on my studies,” junior Troy Bloomquist said. “It became hard to study every night, and my grades slipped a little.”

Without anytime between seasons, it becomes harder to find time to complete schoolwork. Troy Bloomquist participated in both football and basketball the past two years of the high school seasons. However, this year he decided to take the time to focus solely on football, rather than attempt to juggle the overlapping seasons.

“I look forward to not having to do anything, but I play sports because I like to play,” Ramos said. “When I’m not going to be doing anything, I’ll have more time to do my homework or do other stuff, but I’ll have a lot of free time that I would normally like to spend playing a sport.”