As the sun rose over the fields at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School this week, the usually peaceful morning scene was transformed into “hell week.” In concert with the birds and occasional passing car, came the sounds of whistles and physical exertion marking the beginning of practice for the fall sports teams.
Hell week is a Martha’s Vineyard tradition dating back over 50 years, a conditioning camp for student athletes that starts early and goes late as everyone goes all in to get ready for the fall season.
Field hockey kicked off the day with a 6 a.m. practice, joined shortly by the girl’s soccer team for their 7 a.m. start. The sun and muggy humidity leads to a mid-day break, then the activity resumes in the late-afternoon for boys soccer, football and cross country.
It is a time for players and coaches to switch from summer mode to a game-time mentality.
“We have to be organized as a coaching staff and the kids have just got to be plugged in and ready to go,” said head football coach Tony Mottola.
It is a literal wake up call.
“The heat, the timing, the intensity of the practice, it all morphs into that term hell week. I think it’s a combination of all of those things.” said athletic director Mark McCarthy.
The pre-season practices are regulated by the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, setting maximum and minimum times, along with the first official day of practice, August 19, otherwise known as the most hellacious day of the year.
Coach Mottola was clear about his expectations.
“Today’s practice is practice. We’re hoping that we build off of yesterday’s practice and keep moving in a forward direction,” he said on Wednesday afternoon. “At this point, we can’t really take any steps backwards. I think the kids understand that. And they have responded so far. So we’re gonna keep pushing them and pressing them and hope that they keep responding.”
For the most part, the players respond to the grueling week with enthusiasm.
“They’re excited to get started,” Mr. McCarthy said. “They know the season’s right around the corner. For the most part, I think the kids react positively.”
Field hockey coach Kaitlyn Benoit embraces the tradition.
“I felt we were never really ready for the first game of the season,” she said. “But I think this year we’re going to have a really strong chance at being fundamentally skilled before our first game even happens.”
Coach Benoit said she could see improvement just two days into the hot week.
“Honestly, I feel like we’ve had a huge shift just between day one and day two,” she said. “I think day one, everyone was a little bit nervous. The anxieties are a little high, but I think now we have gotten to a really solid game. Skills are already massively improving, which is really awesome. We went from no one really knowing each other to being able to call for a ball by name. And I think that’s going to help us tremendously.”
Mr. McCarthy recalled his own days on the practice field fondly.
“Football started here in the early ‘60s; 1960 was the first year," he said. "I entered high school in ‘75. By ‘75, the term hell week was already in play, and we were doing two-a-days. At that point, it was probably more of a football thing, but I think as more and more teams have collectively started earlier in the year, the term hell week has become its own thing.”
Now, over 250 athletes take the field in the penultimate week of summer, participating in the half-century old tradition. Each coach emphasizes a different element during practice.
“It’s really important for the kids just coming into the season to really learn the basics before we start doing anything too crazy,” Coach Benoit said. “I know in most hell weeks in tradition, it’s all about the running and things like that, but we’re really focusing on skills and the fundamentals. And I think that’s going to help us be successful this year.”
Hell week concludes on Friday, August 23, leading immediately into preseason matches for football and girls soccer on Saturday August 24.
The boys soccer teams kicks off its regular season on Sept. 3, and field hockey gets underway on Sept. 4, followed by cross country on Sept. 7.
The first football home football game is Saturday, Sept. 7, with a kickoff at 3 p.m.
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