By Emily Muntz
School sports aren’t for everyone. Sometimes where you find your happiness and competitiveness isn’t through a traditional school sport. And that’s okay. Many students at Louisville don’t play school sports. Seniors Breyton Moore, Blake Moses, and Waylon Haworth, junior Kade Scholting, sophomores William Staben and Kaleb Maaske, and freshman Parker McCaulley and Jaxon Stander are all involved in racing dirt bikes competitively.
The season usually runs from early spring and runs into late fall. But, truthfully, you can ride and practice whenever you want to. Some locations have indoor tracks, so they can have races all year round. In each race, the number of kids can vary.
“The races around here, I race 25-ish people. But most races range from 15 - 40 which is a lot,” said Staben.
There are many races available for the kids to go to throughout the season, but Maaske and Staben say they go to around 10-15 per year.
Many racers’ outfits are very unique. Staben said, “You can pick out whatever color you want. Usually, you want it to ‘match’ with your bike but it doesn’t really matter.”
When qualifying for the next competition, whoever is in first gets the first pick of their gate. After that, it just goes down the line.
“You really try to lock in for both qualifying and the actual race so you get a good spot. Otherwise, you’ll get stuck on the inside and get cut off on the corners. When there’s a lot of people and you try to take corners, that is an easy way to tear your ACL or tear a muscle in your knee,” said Scholting. “Depending on what track you are at, you want a different spot, but most of the time I try to pick somewhere on the middle to the outside.”
Scholting explained that he usually practices once a week or anytime he gets a chance. When it gets cold he goes to a different track to get some extra training and practice.
“I go to Oklahoma and work with a coach down there, and he tells me what I need to change and helps me get better every time.”
Scholting likes to ride in the late summer and fall because it’s not as hot.
“When we ride in the summer it’s like 100 degrees and it sucks.”
Maaske agreed. “I like when it’s not too dusty or muddy because getting that stuff thrown in your face from the guy in front of you hurts a little bit. But I don’t have to worry about that because I’m always in first,” he said.
Even though riding dirtbikes isn’t a traditional school sport, it takes just as much, if not more, time, effort, and commitment. These boys are just a few who have unique interests and are very passionate about it. So, next time you start to question why kids aren’t playing sports, just think about the other opportunities that are out there and available for everyone. And as they like to say, high risk high reward.