Mt. Hebron has a rich history of participation in county sports and has had many great achievements over the years. However, there are some students who excel at sports outside of the school.

Senior Preston Huett has tried organized school sports, but he has found a real passion in rock climbing.

“When I was 12, my family took a trip to Quebec,” Huett said. “While we were there, one of the things we did was rock climb, and ever since then I was hooked.”

Huett, once a lacrosse player, has found many more opportunities and benefits in rock climbing than anything else he has ever done.

“It’s the most unique sport out there,” he said. “Not only is it a physical challenge, but a mental one as well.”

Huett went on to say how it would be difficult to have rock climbing as a school-sponsored sport simply because of the amount of equipment required. But he would love for others to try it and see if they can find the enjoyment he does in it.

This enjoyment is a similar one that sophomore Hanna Chang finds in horseback riding. Chang first started at the young age of eight when she rode in a summer camp at her barn.

“I just enjoy everything about it, being outdoors, the relationship I build with my horse, and all the people I’ve met through the horse community,” Chang stated.

There are many reasons that some of these sports are not currently sponsored by the school. For horseback riding, it would be difficult to find a good coach for the team. They would also need someone to lend a barn and horses for them to use since the riders cannot use their own animals and facilities for interscholastic teams.

Chang said, “Yeah, I know a lot of girls who ride outside of school and compete. It would be cool to have us all join as a team.”

For many of the people that play a sport outside of a school, there is a common theme of how it is unique and special to them. This is also the case for junior Kelly Timlen. Timlen has been ice skating since she was four years old. She was introduced to it by her older sister, Mt. Hebron 2013 alumnus Allie Timlen, who was ice skating before her. Now it is one of Timlen’s favorite things to do.

“It’s so much fun and different. Once you start it and get the hang of it, it’s something that is super fun and not something people usually do,” she explained.

Timlen went on to express how people do not know much about the sport and how it would be good to make people more aware of it.

“It would be awesome for people to know about it more as a sport because people don’t really know about it,” said Timlen.

However, it would be a different type of sport if it were to be school-sponsored because it is more of an individual sport, she explained, which could be one of the reasons it is not offered here at Mt. Hebron.

Even though these sports are not played with county regulations, we should still be proud of the athletes who play such unique sports.