As the flowers start blooming and the cold air heats up, so does the competition. With district championships being right around the corner and titles on the line, spring-sport athletes prepare for their season to come to an end. 

On April 11, Miami Palmetto Senior High School’s Varsity Lady Panthers Flag Football team played against Southridge High School. Their hard work paid off after winning with a final score of 20:6 and earning the title of District Champions. 

“The best part of the big games is the excitement and seeing us get what we’ve worked for all season,” junior and wide receiver Cooper Ricklick said. 

The Lady Panthers worked hard to keep their championship title alive after previously winning the Greater Miami Athletic Conference championship game on March 17. 

“My team has been preparing for districts by taking one game at a time and making the most of every practice while also focusing on film and recovery,” Ricklick said. “These last few practices before districts have been demanding and more focused on specifics compared to earlier season practices.” 

Working hard to overcome challenges within the team is a key element for the game. Athletes work together when it comes to overcoming those issues. 

“A major challenge my team had to overcome for districts was worrying more about the other team rather than ourselves,” Ricklick said. 

Beyond the flag football scene, on April 16, MPSH’s Varsity girls lacrosse took on the Our Lady of Lourdes Bobcats for their district semifinal game. The winner of this game will play again on Thursday for the district title. 

PGL has played the Bobcats before, so the team has had to prepare for a rematch to lead them to districts. 

“Well we have practice every day for two hours; we had a speaker come in the other day to show us how not to be so nervous for the game,” sophomore and midfielder Samira Moore said. “[Lourdes] has a specific way to do defense called a zone defense so we changed how we do attack in order to play against them.” 

Growing with one’s team is a major part of excelling as a group throughout the season. Understanding how to overcome challenges can be difficult, but working together to strengthen the team is important to succeed. 

“Sometimes we come in a little confident in our games because we know we can win so it affects how we play in the start, but we usually come back by the second half,” Moore said. 

Throughout the season, fans watch these athletes progress into who they are at the end of the season. But for the players, watching their teammates grow as athletes is something these students have had the privilege to see throughout the year, as proven in cases like the Panther Boys Lacrosse team.

“I’m excited to see Lukas Goldenberg play again. He didn’t play last game,” junior and attackman Lucas Bauza said. 

As the boys’ and girls’ lacrosse seasons end, the Varsity lacrosse team will host their district final on April 17 on home turf against the Christopher Columbus High School Explorers. While playing a team seen as a “rival” can be difficult, working hard for the entire season is what leads to a successful end of the season. 

“This time hopefully we’ll win,”  Bauza said. 

The team’s season came to a close with a final score of 5-6 with Columbus taking the district championship title. 

Boys lacrosse has gone through specific training sessions to prepare for the district championship game. Ongoing practices and additional workouts have kept the athletes busy, but certain positions have needed to change from their typical practices to lay the groundwork for the game.

“[The practices] have been much tougher and more intense,” Bauza said. “Especially with clearing the ball, that’s a big part of the game.” 

Ensuring all the athletes are ready and relieved of any stress before the big game is an important piece on the field. Whether it be meditating or going for a run, these athletes have learned the best ways to calm down before going helmet-to-helmet with their opponents. 

“​​I just try to keep my mind off of [the game], so I just don’t think about it too much until the day of,”  Bauza said.