Oswego’s High School spring sport athletes are ready to get started! With the winter sports wrapping up, the community is so excited to see new sports and what they are capable of this season.
Most of the sport seasons start on February 27, 2023, with tryouts, but preseason has been taken over at OHS. Many coaches are excited for their upcoming teams and the skills of their athletes.
Girls Soccer
The girls soccer team is ready to kickoff their season. They have tryouts at the Aurora dome the week of Feb. 27 through Mar. 3.
The past two years the soccer team has been second in conference and advanced to regionals. Last season they went 16-1-10, and lost to East Aurora High School in the IHSA regional final.
Gaspar Arias, the girls soccer head coach, is excited to see what they can accomplish this season.
“We will have a strong team again this year and the outlook looks better. I’m confident that our record will be better this year. Girls look more confident and the chemistry is already great,” Arias says.
The team currently has two athletes committed to play at college level. Anna Johnson is committed to play at Lindenwood University, and Cameran Guzman is committed to play at Calvin University.
OHS is excited to see what the athletes will conquer this season after coming off of a good run in the 2022 season.
Track and Field
Boys and Girls Track and Field has already been underway. The boys have competed in four tournaments in February, while the girls have competed in three, including a home invite.
Head Coach Jeff Edwards loves how driven his athletes are, and enjoys watching his athletes participate in the sport and love it.
“You get to see the individual improvement with the kids especially if they go all the way through your program. You see them coming in as these little freshmen and then leaving as these adults that have improved so much athletically,” Edward says.
The girls program is coming off of a great run last season, including being conference champions.
“We have a lot of girls coming back this year so we really have some exciting future ahead of us, so we are really looking forward to what they do this year,” Edward says.
The boys had their most successful season last year by making OHS history and finishing 5th in state.
“I’m proud to say I was a part of that and did a little bit to hopefully help them get there, but we had a lot of great athletes last year,” Edward says.
This year, the boys are coming back, even after losing multiple seniors.
“With what I’ve seen already this year with the athletes we currently have, we’ve got two relay programs that are state ranked in the top 10,” Edward says.
Edward truly cares for his athletes, hoping that they gain skills in not only athleticness, but for their future.
“The positive about being involved in athletics at highschool is that these kids are getting some of these life skills even though they don’t realize it and hoping that they can become great human beings and great adults,” Edward says.
Girls Badminton
Girls badminton have been committed to preseason, and their tryouts are Feb. 27 through Mar. 3.
Last year, the team did very well, making it all the way to sectionals.
They had seven seniors graduate last year, but are excited to have more girls learn skills and become a great team.
This year, the OHS community is joyful in the things they will do to represent our panthers.
Girls Softball
The girls softball team are currently in preseason and are very excited to start their season. Athletes participate in tryouts the week of Feb. 27 through Mar. 3.
Paul Netzel, the head coach for girls softball, believes strongly in the prospective 2023 team.
“We have a very good chance to go down state because of their previous experiences in all of our returning players,” Netzel says.
Many athletes on the softball team are committed to the sport, participating even during the offseason.
“All of the girls are playing travel ball, and looking at their travel teams that they play on, they are one of the best one or two players on the team,” Netzel says.
Looking at the athletes playing on travel teams, Netzel believes their stats and scoring shine amongst the others.
“We are bringing an all-star team together to represent the school, which gives us a pretty good shot at having a very successful season,” Netzel says.
Netzel cares for his athletes at OHS. He knows they have had great traditions here and hopes for them to go on and be successful in their upcoming years.
“I’d love to see all of them have the capability to go on and play college softball, having been a coach at the college level, I already recognize that the vast majority of them could play at the college level,” Netzel says.
Bass Fishing
Bass Fishing is coming back for the 2023 season! Due to Covid and other attributes, they have not run bass fishing in the past few years.
The head coach for the 2023 season is Tyler Boyle. OHS is so excited to have this team back.
They are ready to represent the Panthers and catch many awards.
Boys Tennis
Boys Tennis has had open hitting and other practices in the past month. They are going up for tryouts the week of Feb. 27 through Mar. 3.
The head coach Zachary Horn enjoys the sport of tennis. After coaching for many years, he enjoys being with his team.
“I think it’s fun to see kids in a different light. It gives a little more competitiveness aspect to things and I just enjoy the sport of tennis,” Horn says.
The boys tennis team had an amazing season last year. They show much pride in representing OHS.
“Last year we did win conference for the first time in six years and we sent one singles player and one doubles team to state after getting second in sectionals, so we were pretty successful,” Horn says.
The team is excited to bring many players back this year, along with recruiting many upcoming athletes.
“We have a lot more freshmen that are coming out this year than we have had in the past which is exciting; the kids have started to rebuild the JV team,” Horn says.
Horn believes that this year the team has great opportunities on making it far. They set goals for this upcoming season.
“Win conference again, get some individual conference titles and then qualify some teams for state,” Horn says.
Overall, the coaches are there to provide skills for these students to learn. They hope for athletes to continue these life skills in the future after highschool.
“It’s a full year commitment, same with any sport, the offseason matters as much as during the season, and just make sure you are still having fun, put as much as you can to enjoy it but also get better at the same time,” Horn says.
Boys Volleyball
The boys volleyball season is just a few weeks away. They are holding tryouts the week of Mar. 6 through Mar. 10.
Boys Volleyball had a great run last season, they made a school record by having 27 wins. They also were regional champions for the 2022 season.
Last season the team lost 10 seniors, but OHS is more than excited to see what the new team is capable of.
After having a good postseason run, everyone hopes to see them out there again, showing the panther pride.
Boys Baseball
Boys baseball has had success during pre-season training before heading out to the fields. The boys are excited and ready to hit the season out of the park. The team conducts tryouts from Feb 27 through Mar. 3.
Joseph Giarrante, the head baseball coach, knows this team has been great, with a great staff and great outcomes.
“It’s been a long tradition of successful coaches, and we’ve had some kids play in college so we’re on the path of success,” Giarrante says.
The boys are coming off of another great season after competing in many games last year.
“Last year we won regionals for the first time in like 12 years, so that was a good accomplishment. We won conference a couple of years ago so we’re turning in the right direction,” Giarrante says.
This year, the boys are looking better than ever during preseason. They hope to achieve great things in the sport of baseball.
“We’ve returned a lot of players from a team that was really successful, especially later in the season, so we have that going for us and a lot of experience coming back,” Giarrante says.
Looking at the in-season play, Giarrante believes the boys have a good chance of having a great season, as long as they can maintain challenges.
“Take it one game at a time and be successful with the finer points of the game and be strong fundamentally and hopefully everything will take care of itself as much as we want to win,” Giarrante says.“They can find success beyond baseball and have some fun playing baseball while they are learning other life skills.”
Many athletes on the team are continuing their education and athlete career in college. Nine boys will be playing college ball in the 2023-2024 season.
Overall, Giarrante hopes these boys come out full of fire and ready to take on the season.
“Show up, play hard, play for each other and good things will happen,” Giarrante says.
Hi, I'm Rhiannon Reynolds! This is my first year on staff, and I am a sophomore in highschool. I am involed in many things including bowling, and girl scouts. I really enjoy reading, photography, sports, and spending time with friends and family. I am really excited for this year of journalism!
