SPA is no stranger to the co-op sport, as football, softball, hockey, lacrosse and swim and dive teams share teams with outside schools.

The softball team is in the process of undergoing changes to their co-op composition in light of the departure of their head coach. Currently, the team is combined with Great River and Twin Cities Academy (TCA), receiving half of each school’s population in terms of class division.

Although the team consists of athletes from multiple schools, they compete under the name of SPA. The SPA-centric team dynamic may not exist this season, as the team is in the process of co-oping with Minnehaha.

“Right now… we are finalizing some papers that will confirm that we are co-oping with Minnehaha,” captain Poppy Ploen said.

A shortage of athletes in past seasons put junior varsity athletes in an uncomfortable position, as there were not enough girls for a full roster.

“JV players would just have to come to the varsity games and kind of just sit there, which was weird,” sophomore Helen Frost said. “…it would be cool to have everybody get play time.”

“[ A larger roster ] is really awesome for our program,” Ploen agreed.

Another team undergoing changes to their co-op partnership this season is girls lacrosse. The team is currently a co-op with St. Agnes, and are now anticipating a handful of new athletes from Nova Classical Academy. Captain Charlotte Goings, is always looking to expand the team’s roster.

“We’re always looking for more people so that we can have full JV and varsity teams,” she said.

While training and competing amongst athletes from different schools offers a separate team dynamic, for Goings, the experience has always been for the better.

“I honestly kind of love being in co-ops,” she said. “I think at the beginning, it can be harder since you have groups of people that are all close and then you have to come together. But after a little bit, I think it’s really fun, because I’ve met all these people I would have never [otherwise] met,” Goings added.

Sophomore Kavita Deo likewise enjoys meeting and training with athletes outside of school because there isn’t an issue with getting along.

“It feels like after you meet everyone, [there isn’t] a divide between the schools,” she said.

With captains practices around the corner, girls lacrosse and softball will be training with a few new faces this year.