Archery coach Clint Roland hopes to build an impressive season this year. He said he has a lot of returning archers with great leadership skills. “We are returning three high school archers that rank in the top 100 in the nation in perspective. There were 11480 high school boys and 11794 high school girls registered last year. Cooper Jipsen #32, Lee Houser #34, and Hale Copeland #100 are a few of our building blocks,” Roland said.

Last year, they competed and got seventh place. They hope to improve their rank this year as well. With the new COVID-19 regulations, archers are now going to be wearing masks at all times to ensure safety is maintained. “I believe what sticks out the most to me is the willingness to adapt and overcome,” Roland said. It is never too late to join the archery program, so “if you’re interested stop out at practice and talk to an archer.”

“When it comes to the competitive aspect, we stress to take it one day at a time and focus on the now, not the future,” said Jeff Ebling, the boys basketball coach. This year, he hopes to maintain the health and safety of his team while allowing each player to get a chance to enjoy the sport. He is open to adjustments to ensure his team is following the COVID-19 regulations. “We cannot control what happens tomorrow, but we can control what happens today and doing this will hopefully give us a great chance to have a really good season,” Ebling said.

Currently, masks are recommended, players are in charge of their own water bottles, and sanitization is extremely strict. “This season is exciting for all of us as we have varsity experience coming back with some much improved younger players,” Ebling said. The team is excited to start the season with a wide variety of players. “Having the support from the student body as well, as the Atlantic community, can only help us as we look to achieve our goals this upcoming winter. Let’s pack the gymnasium each night,” Ebling said.

The biggest change for girls basketball this year is the change in drills during practice. Coach Dan Vargason plans to spread out the water breaks, sanitize equipment thoroughly, and avoid the team high fives. The sport is “ultimately indoors and there is only so much we can do,” Vargason said. His goals for this season are to “have a team that gets along well, has a fun season, and vibes well together.” 

“In addition to that, it’s been a couple years since we have had a winning record, so getting back on the right side of a winning record,” Vargason said. This year, they have more girls going out for basketball then they had previously, but they still have a senior heavy team. Coach Vargason hopes that this will lead to a team that gets along and plays well together. “If a coach leads the team it isn’t as effective as if a player leads the team,” Vargason said. The team is very thankful for the opportunity to play this year. Regardless of how the season turns out, they plan to make it a memorable season.

The boys swim team will begin practicing on Monday, November 9, 2020 at the YMCA after school. Junior Bryan York hopes that a few of the team members will qualify for the state meet in February. Due to COVID, many of the meets will require that all spectators wear a mask.“This year, we were able to recruit a few more people to help expand our team. This means that we will be able to put guys into more races and score more points,” York said.

York encourages any boy that is interested in swimming to try it this season. He said that it is a “great way to stay in shape over winter and get ready for upcoming sports in the spring.”

Girls and boys wrestling preseason begins on Thursday, Nov. 12. Coach Tim Duff hopes that they will have around 30 guys and over ten girls for this year’s wrestling season. He is looking forward  to having a great season and allowing some younger wrestlers to have a chance in varsity. “We have expectations to compete well in the Hawkeye Ten and we want to improve daily,” Duff said. 

According to the coach, the biggest change for the wrestling season will be the use of masks. Duff wants to make sure that the wrestlers and their families feel safe throughout the season. “We are encouraged that Iowa has completed baseball, softball, cross country, and football seasons. That makes us hopeful we can complete our winter sports too,” Duff said.