SognCenter: Summer brings new sporting opportunities

As May rolls around, I find myself looking forward to the end of classes and economics homework, but am also sad that another year of Augustana sports are nearing an end.

Still, with the end of Viking sports, my life will be full of free time, so, I've decided to come up with other athletic activities to pass my time over the summer months.

Option 1: Fishing. 

When I was younger, fishing was a part of my summers that I cherished. 

Sitting in the boat or standing on the shoreline, nothing beat casting a reel, pretending to know what you are doing and hoping to catch a fish. 

Yet, in the last few years, I haven't been fishing once, and my most recent memory of catching anything is at a family reunion in the Black Hills when I was definitely no older than 14 or 15.

So, despite the fact that I'm more prone to catch sea-weed than a trout, I'm going to reach back in the pages of a childhood scrapbook and attempt to fish at least once this summer.

Option 2:  Backpacking.

The last time I went backpacking, I woke up almost every morning to beautiful sunrises in the Big Horn mountains of Wyoming, and often thought of spending my life as a mountain man, living off mountain stream water and wild berries, never again returning to Sioux Falls.

Obviously, that plan worked to perfection, as I'm now a junior at Augustana College, nearly six years removed from those Big Horn mornings.

So, while I may be lacking in the skills required to live on the land for more than a week or so, hiking the Centennial Trail in the Black Hills or camping out on stretches of the continental divide, the idea of spending a few days roughing it is an activity that must be made a summer priority.

Option 3:  Biking

While I won't be joining the Tour de ‘Kota for a trip across the state, I do feel that biking is an important part of summer that is often lost on this generation.

Now, I also am not saying you should bike to your childhood friends' home to play capture the flag or kick the can, but the opportunity to ride around the city of Sioux Falls should definitely be considered. 

It's a 23-mile ride on the bike trail loop, and feeling that you've accomplished something is always a great way to spend a summer day.

Option 4:  Backyard football.

Laugh all you want.

It's defintely not normal to see 21-year-old college students imitating their favorite professional athlete and making up plays on-the-go, but think how much fun those hours spent trying to score touchdowns were in the summer months.

Option 5:  Catch a baseball game.

With Major, Minor League and American Legion teams almost always a short drive away, catching a summer afternoon baseball game should be on every person's list of things to do this summer.

Nothing beats sitting in bleachers, eating shelled peanuts and hearing the pop of a mitt or crack of a bat.