With only two weeks before fall sports tryouts begin, teams are coming together for that one last final summer push to get ready for the upcoming seasons.

Although the workouts are considered non-mandatory, they are extremely helpful.

Obviously conditioning is a priority in these workouts, but they also help introduce newcomers to the returning players, coaches and the expectations for the upcoming season.

"The non-mandatory period is good for new kids entering the program because they come to this and then are not as intimidated," Reed girls soccer coach Jason Saville said. "They can also get to know us and what the expectations are. Even with non-mandatories, we push pretty hard from day one, so we let the new girls know if this is something they want to tackle or not because we're not messing around. The two weeks does a lot besides conditioning the girls."

The Sparks boys soccer team did not have much of a formal summer schedule. The Railroaders tended to just meet once a week to work on conditioning.

But starting last week, Sparks has been hitting the field harder, working out Monday through Thursday in the mornings and afternoons.

The players get together and just kick the ball around and play a little 7-on-7. Coach Frank Avilla tries to keep it a lighter club like atmosphere, but it still comes back to conditioning, which has been a staple for the program since Avilla took over.

"The old adage is if it works don't fix it," Avilla said. "There are always things we can improve on. Each year we learn something new, and the good thing over at Sparks is that they share it together. For the most part, the kids all know they're in this together. We condition strong. That's our strong suit. We run hard and they welcome the challenge of getting in shape each year."

However, not every team is going to use these final two weeks as an extended summer program.

The Spanish Springs volleyball program just finished up its six-week summer school class last Thursday and now will take it easy to recuperate before tryouts start since many of the girls went right from their club seasons to the summer school class.

The Cougars will play a little beach volleyball a couple times next week at Golden Eagle Regional Park and do some conditioning, so they will still be in playing shape come tryouts.

The break is also good for coach Frank Sandomenico.

"Some people take it (down time) at the beginning of the summer. We had a little bit, but it kind of lets you get mentally ready for tryouts," Sandomenico said. "There's always more stuff that needs to get done than you think, so you always try to get that done before tryouts."