Around 20 years ago marks when Eaton High School stopped offering their men’s tennis and women’s gymnastics athletic programs. Fast forward 20 years and near double the growth of the school population and town population as well, the school is seeing an uptick of students participating in these sports, along with men’s soccer, at other local high schools this 2024 fall season.
This year, Eaton has one participant in men’s tennis at University High School. Keanan Gallegos,a freshman at Eaton High School, is playing number one singles on varsity. “University is the closest school to me with a men’s tennis team, making it not a far drive. I am the only teammate that goes to a different school, but it doesn’t make the culture around me while playing for this school any different.” Gallegos has the most advanced position on the team as a freshman, all while playing for a different school. Given these standards, his athletic ability in this sport has proven to be very impressive.
As for other men’s sports this fall, there are a total of 10 EHS students playing men’s soccer for different local schools offering the sport. Zeke Wawrzyniak (26) plays soccer for Windsor High School. “My decision to go to this school was based on how close it was, and how successful they have been over the past years.” Windsor is not his home school, but his teammates have made him feel comfortable there over the past three seasons. He said, “Going to a different school makes you feel not as connected to the team as you would at your home town school, and not as well known.” Wawrzyniak plans on continuing to play for Windsor’s men’s soccer program for the duration of his highschool years.
The only women’s sport being attended by an EHS student at a different school is women’s gymnastics. Kyndal Chadwick, a senior at Eaton High School, competes for Loveland High School’s program. Prior to competing for Loveland, she participated in club gymnastics for many years. She said,“When deciding what school to compete for, it was between Roosevelt and Loveland, and Roosevelt would have been the closer option, but I decided with Loveland because I personally knew one of the coaches, which made me more comfortable going into it.” Chadwick did not do high school gymnastics her first three years of high school due to injuries, and dedicating her time to club gymnastics. Her senior season is the only season she has experienced with this team. She said, “The culture is a little different because the team is mostly made up of athletes that don’t attend Loveland, but I now spend a lot of time at Loveland and around students that attend there. A lot of times it feels like I go to two schools because I’m at both schools the same amount of time.”
These sports are all CHSAA sanctioned sports instead of club team related. This can make it hard on students as they are attending Eaton High School, and also attempting to accomplish succeeding in their sports at a different school.
