Students are in a Dead period.  Winter months, middle of the year blues have many students in a slump, but this dead period is affecting athletes the most. 

     Dead period has begun for winter sports at Los Banos High School, lasting from January 14 all the way until February 4. During this time, students will be unable to directly practice their sport with their coach.

       Dead period starts a little before winter sports’ official practice begins. Some coaches still hold practice though. However, athletes are only able to condition.

       Coaches can also tell their players to practice their sport after school, but the coaches themselves cannot be there for that. Sports like cross country could do this easily since their main focus is only running. Other coaches could also decide to do this if they do not want to condition.

       Not all high schools even have a dead period for their sports. It is not something enforced by the state, but by the school districts. The reason for there being no universal dead in each state is that schools within the same state start certain sports at certain times. For example, boys tennis can be a winter sport for one school and be a fall sport for another which would make it harder if their dead periods same time. That is why there are no universal times for dead period.

       When looking in to why dead period exists for high school, there is no real solid answer. When Mr. Barcellos, the athletic director at Los Banos High School was asked why dead period was a thing, he responded, “It is to give the athletes a break before starting official practice.”

      Is this completely true when coaches are still able to make their athletes practice the whole dead period? Some would argue that it is pointless, while others would argue that practicing and conditioning will prepare the athlete for upcoming competitions.