Two-day tournaments
At East Lansing High School, certain sports teams are taking competition to the next level by participating in overnight tournaments. These events not only allow athletes to showcase their skills but also encourage team bonding, creating lasting memories as they prepare for their competitions together.
In hopes of discovering whether the time together as a team affects the team’s performance, we talked to members of two of the teams here at the high school who have participated in overnight tournaments this season.
Boys Waterpolo
The Boy’s water polo team participated in an overnight tournament at the beginning of their season. The team traveled to the Jenison tournament at Jenison High School and competed on both Sept. 6 and 7 in a total of 4 games.
The team stayed in a hotel near the competition site and had a team dinner after playing on the sixth. Goalkeeper, Nathan Thayer (12) has been on the team for 4 years. Thayer has always enjoyed the team-bonding aspect of overnight tournaments. “With dinner and staying in the same hotel, it’s more time together,” Thayer said. “It’s a lot more team bonding which just makes [playing together] better.”
Jonah Robertson (11) plays at point and has been playing water polo for 3 years on the East Lansing High School team. Robertson agrees with Thayer, but he doesn’t just find the bonding fun, he believes that it helps them in the water as well.
“The team chemistry is important in a team sport like water polo,” Robertson said. “And spending time together helps to get there.”
Boys Tennis
The East Lansing Boy’s tennis team also participated in an overnight tournament this season. The Grosse Pointe North Tournament was held on Sept. 7. 2024 at Grosse Point High School. At the tournament, they placed last but competed against five of the top 10 teams in the state.
According to Gerrit Garcia (12), who plays two doubles, overnight tournaments are a great way to connect with his teammates and his partner.
“With doubles, you kind of have to feed off one another,” Garcia said. “I think the team bonding and the team chemistry was all there and staying in the hotel together amped that up.”
Although the team took last place, the boys felt traveling for tougher competition helped them improve and prepare for the rest of their season. Donald Harley (10), believes that on top of the team bonding, the higher competition also helped the team. As the team hopes to make it to States at the end of their season, higher competition helps them to prepare for this goal.
“I think I performed better just because I had to,” Harley said. “I had to improve myself because of how good everybody else was.”
When asked about the different atmospheres and which is more fun, between one-day tournaments and overnight tournaments, Kailen Foster (11), who plays 4 doubles, echoed the sentiments of the whole team.
“It has to be overnight,” Foster said.
Tournaments in general offer athletes a valuable opportunity to grow and experience competition beyond their conference, but overnight events take this experience a step further. They offer a unique environment for team bonding, allowing athletes to deepen bonds shared with the other members of their team. They can foster a sense of unity between players and reflect the improvement seen throughout the season.
