COMMENTARY – I’ve always been a little reticent to start thinking about the next sports season, preferring instead to recover, reflect and ruminate over the just completed.

In girls basketball, it was so cool to see longtime Flyers coach Ken Robinson finally get a state championship at Dixie after coming so close all those years coaching the boys teams. At the same time, my heart went out to a Desert Hills team that had won 90 percent of its games this season, only to fall a half-second short of its goal.

On the boys side, I became a true believer that there was something special about the Snow Canyon team, which had overcome so much adversity and still emerged as Region 9 champions. Alas, a brutal loss to Bear River ended that dream.

In wrestling, we saw a once-a-generation star in four-time champion Zach Prince rule the ring.

And yet, all those sports are done for the year. And it’s time to move on. And I mean right now.

Why the sudden shift of focus? Well, because the Spring sports have either already begun or start this week. And though it’s hard to let go of our winter sports (especially since college still has a month of basketball and the pros still have three months), time marches on.

Here’s a quick calender glance at each of the high school Spring sports:

Baseball
For starters – Had tryouts and began practices Feb. 25
Preseason – First Games begin this week.
Region Season – Region 9 action starts Mar. 19
Postseason – The first round “pods” at the four region winners is May 11. The remainder of the tournament is May 16-18 at Bruce Hurst Field (hurray!).
Defending Champs — Snow Canyon Warriors

Softball
For starters – Had tryouts and began practices Feb. 25
Preseason – First Games begin this week.
Region Season – Region 9 action starts Mar. 19
Postseason – The first round “pods” at the four region winners is May 11. The remainder of the tournament is May 16-18 here in St. George (hurray!).
Defending champs — Bear River Bears

Boys Soccer
For starters – Had tryouts and began practices Feb. 18
Preseason – First Games began a week ago.
Region Season – Region 9 action starts Mar. 12
Postseason – The first two rounds are at home sites May 2 and May 4. The semifinals are May 10 at Jordan High School. The championship game is May 11 at Rio Tinto Stadium.
Defending champs — Dixie Flyers

Girls Golf
For starters – Had tryouts and began practices Feb. 25
Season – First tournaments are this week.
Postseason – The girls 3A State Golf Tournament is May 16 at Ogden’s Riverside Golf Course.
Defending champs — Desert Hills

Boys Tennis
For starters – Had tryouts and began practices Feb. 25
Season – First Tournaments begin this week.
Postseason – A pleasant surprise, the boys 3A State Tournament is at Green Valley in St. George May 17-18.
Defending champs — Park City

Track and Field
Season – Meets begin this week.
Postseason – For as long as I can remember, the state track and field championships have been held at BYU and this year is no different with state May 17-18 at BYU.
Defending champs — Pine View boys and Ogden girls

Look for our coverage of Region 9 sports, with stories, photos and video, right here on STGnews.com.

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Andy Griffin is a sports commentator. The opinions stated in this article are his and not representative of St. George News.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @oldschoolag

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