Futsal Season

By: Desiree Harr

Futsal is a winter sport that is quickly becoming popular as more soccer players emerge into high school.

Futsal is a game of soccer but on an indoor court and with a little different rules. The ball that is used is a weighed ball, it has a weight in it to help keep it on the ground better so it's easier to control. There are 5 players per team on the court at once including the goalie.

The game starts just like an outdoor soccer game with one team starting with the ball. When the ball goes out of bounds, instead of throwing it in, it is kicked in since there is little room for throwing. When the teams would like to sub, they can call a player out and transfer someone else in for them whenever they want. Senior Nick Loeffelholz says, "I love that you can sub whenever, it's a good way to maximize your playing time."

There are two types of teams for futsal. These teams consist of high school teams and there are elite high school teams. An elite team is a faster pace team that is usually more skilled than the regular team.

Futsal also provides an opportunity for soccer players to compete and practice their skills during the off season. The league is run by players from Viterbo women's soccer as a fund raiser for their team and is held at the Viterbo gyms.

When futsal started about 5 years ago, Sparta had a hard time finding a girls team but last year they came into the league with four teams. Lynnea Leis, a senior at Sparta High School says, "I have been playing futsal since my freshman year and it has increased my soccer skill more than I thought it would." Many players notice after the futsal season how much it has helped get in shape and with their skills. Leis continued, "I have met new people by playing futsal because of being on a team with people from other schools because we didn't have enough girls to make a team. I learned new skills and moves from them."

Many girls have played in the past years, but now they have come together to play as a better team. It offers players that are unavailable to play in the regular season a chance to show their skills. Senior Amelia Schmitz says, "I love futsal. It gives the girls who don't get the opportunity to play soccer in the spring a chance to play." Schmitz continues to say, "I think that futsal is a good sport to play if you have no other sport in the winter to do and to stay in good shape."

There are many ways to get ready for futsal. Senior Brianna Brinckman says, "You should do sprint jogs and lift weights at least one month before the season starts." She continues, "If you just run it doesn't help much because you are just staying at a constant speed and during futsal, you don't stay constant. Soccer is about sprinting and showing your skill."

The Viterbo Women's Soccer team encourages middle school and high school students to sign up for futsal. They are excited to see the teams that arise this year.

Winter Sneezes

By: Maddie Munger and Desiree Harr

Senior Maddie Munger covers her sneeze in the correct way.

Munger always suffers from winter illness.

Maddie Munger sanitizes after her sneeze.

Munger gets better when she washes her hands and sanitizes.

Kenzie Isensee gets grossed out from a dirty, used tissue.

Isensee a senior at SHS

ITS ALWAYS GOOD TO SANITIZE

Teen Automobiles

Damage to left front fender of red Taurus.

Red Ford truck held together by rubber cord.
He might be a redneck if...

Red car with front fender and headlight damage.

By: Danny Huber and Kala Lindley

Costumes for Halloween

Above, Meg Herrman tries on a very unique outfit she could possibly wear this Halloween.

Above, Chelsea Guzy found the winner! She feels very comfortable in this costume and thinks she, "fell in love!" Below, Meg Herrman tries to mix it up with a tourist costume and a scary alien mask.

Above, Jade Jandt looking fierce in her tiger costume. Jade explains that this costume is vintage from when she was 4 years old, maybe a come back, we do not know. Below, Chelsea Guzy studies while trying on a possible Halloween costume. Guzy does not like this costume because she feels it "exposes too much."

By: Alix Herrman, Cassy Trost, and Kenzie Isensee

Fitness Testing

Sparta Highs eigth hour gym class circles up before they run the mile. The eighth hour class consists of team and individual sports. 

Senior Jade Jandt and junior Chelsea Guzy stretch before they started fitness testing. Jandt and Guzy are both on the varsity girls volleyball team.

Senior Jade Jandt warms up before she runs the mile. Jandt ran a 9 minute and 32 second mile the first time she ran.

By: Brianna Brinckman and Kayla Kelsey

The Dip In The High School Parking Lot By: Kelsey Thurston, Angela Leis-Roberts, & Allison Holly

The Sparta High School parking lot needs improvement. There are many cracks and dips in the parking lot.

The dip in the parking lot runs through many parking spaces. This makes it hard to park in parking spots like this one.

This dip in the parking lot stretches from the English exit doors to the middle of the parking lot. The dip causes damage to the bottom of vehicles and makes it very difficult to drive through.

Baking Muffins in 8th Period Foods Class

The boys are hard at work in Foods class making muffins.

Pouring the muffin batter

There's fun to be had in Foods class!

The sweet smell of success!

Mr. Boberg runs Foods class. 

*Photos gathered and posted by Nikki Naumann, Laura Ubrig, and Jenea Skon.

Lady Spartan Spikers

By: Kala Lindley

The 2010 Lady Spartan Spikers, who earned the fourth seed in post season play got under way Tuesday, October 19th as they hosted the fifth seed Medford Raiders.

The Spartans opened up the night with a 25-16 win in the first game. However, the Raiders were quick to come back with a 25-16 win in the second game. The Lady Spartans regained their lead in the third game, with a close 25-23 win. As for the fourth game, Medford was able to show their ability to stick with the Spartans by taking the game at a score of 26-24. With just one game left, the girls knew what had to be done. Erin Murray, junior setter for the Spartans, stated, “I wasn’t nervous, because I had confidence in the team and we have been in this position before during the Aquinas game.”

Despite the butterflies, the girls put on a good performance in the fifth game (16-14) and won the night with a score of three games to two. “Even though we pulled away with a victory, I still feel we should have earned the third seed, knowing our level of competition in the MVC is superior to those of smaller schools,” offered Murray.

The girls came into the game excited but prepared for what they had to do. “We worked on some game situations at practice, but nothing special. We approached Medford the same way we have approached any other big game,” said Murray.

Regular season concluded with the Lady Spartan Spikers being Co-Conference Champs in the Mississippi Valley Conference, which is shared with LaCrosse Central. “Overall I thought our season was successful. We had a few let downs, but every team has some. As for sharing the conference with LaCrosse Central, I feel a share is better than no share at all,” added Murray.

The girls look forward to semi-regional finals on Friday, October 22nd when they travel to number one seed Altoona.

The Lady Spartan Spikers fell short Friday, October 22nd as they lost to the Altoona Railroaders in three games.