The fall sports offered at De Soto High School are football, cross country, volleyball, girls’ tennis, boys’ soccer and girls’ golf. Practices for these sports are, on average, around two hours long everyday. With all of this time committed to each sport, it would appear to be obvious that many students hope to continue playing their sport later on in life.

Out of the 105 athletes interviewed, only 43 (41 percent) said they wanted to continue playing in college and maybe beyond. “I really like it [soccer] and enjoy it” freshman Luke Zoller said to which freshman teammate, Austin Culver said, “Ditto.”

On the other side, 62 out of the 105 athletes interviewed (59 percent) said that they did not wish to play in college or beyond.

Reasons for not continuing range drastically. One reason being, “I want to relax,” junior cross country runner Max Taulbee said. Most athletes that did not want to continue later in life said that they wanted to focus on academics to achieve their dream career. “I want to focus on a music career,” freshman football player, Tristan Kuritz said.

The number of athletes continuing ranged drastically between each sport. The entire DHS soccer team was interviewed and 26 out of the 44 players (60 percent) said they wished to continue playing later in life.

Less than half of the football players asked said they wanted to continue. “It would be neat to play for four more years,” sophomore Chandler Carter said.

On the other side, over 60 percent of varsity volleyball players said that they hoped to play after high school. “It is my passion. I love it. I love everything about it,” senior Jeannett Clampitt said.

10 of the 21 varsity cross country runners said they did not wish to runner after high school.

Only one girl golfer said that she wanted to play later. “I want to do it for my job,” sophomore Brittani Jenson said.

Likewise, on the girls’ tennis team, only one tennis player out of the 18 said that she wanted to continue playing after high school. “I like playing, it’s a lot of fun,” Sophomore Kassidy Seaba said.

The number of De Soto athletes wishing to continue playing their sport after high school varies between each sport, but as a whole, a majority of athletes do not wish to continue in their sport after high school.