California & Minnesota: Differences in sport

One observation I made my very first day as a reporter is that high school sports are way different in southern Minnesota than they are back in my home state of California.
Some differences were staggering, others minor.
One thing is for certain: I have lots to learn.
Looking at the rosters for each school as I received them on my first week, I noticed the first major difference.
I had no idea that high school teams could roster junior high athletes.
I later learned that this is because many high schools in smaller towns are connected to their respective middle schools; hence the junior-high, senior-high connection.
As simple as it may sound to everyone who comes from a small town or lives in one currently, I could not wrap my head around this at first.
My high school experience began when I stepped on campus as a ninth grader at Westmont High School in Campbell, Calif.
This is because in San Jose, a city of a million people, there were four different middle schools that all fed into my high school; one of four high schools in a 10-mile radius.
Upon reading the Minnesota State High School League bylaws, I  realized this might possibly be my favorite rule of all time.
I can think of no better opportunity than being able to play high school sports for six seasons.
Even just the experience of playing the game with athletes who are more than likely bigger, faster and stronger than you.
I remember the first day of practice in high school, everything was so much faster than when I had played football in middle.
Having that experience two years earlier would have paid massive dividends by the time I was a starter on varsity.
There’s no doubt in my mind that in college the athletes who had six years of experience in high school football came into college with a slight edge.
However, I suspect I’ll have to wait until winter to fully appreciated another difference between my high school experience and Minnesota’s offerings.
That is because my high school did not have an ice hockey team.
When I say that there was no “ice” hockey team at my school, I mean exactly that; there was no hockey team that played explicitly on ice.
There was, however, a roller hockey team that played in a style that could only be described as brutal.
I remember going to the team’s first game that they played because I had never seen roller hockey before.
The long, low-scoring affair was filled with constant collisions and poorly executed passes.
It was a monstrosity that would bring a tear to any hockey-loving Minnesotan’s eye.
Fortunately, the San Jose Sharks were there to show me what good hockey actually looks like.
Well… at least on some nights.