The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT May 9, 2012

There is really no offseason for an athlete.

Unless you want to be average at whatever sport you play, it takes more than just a little talent to become thought of as the best of the best.

WHILE SOME teams have success just picking up a ball two weeks before the start of the season, the ones that seem to have the most luck are those with players that dedicate themselves year-round to traveling, practicing and getting better each day.

Softball players often take part in summer teams, with baseball players opting to play American Legion baseball.

For those in the Legion ranks, that season begins just as quickly as school ends - and in some cases, is still in session.

Legion usually runs from June to August, and if you're lucky enough to continue to advance, up until the first part of workouts for high school football.

When it comes to football, it seems as if the work never ends.

All you've got to do is look at the way some of the local high school teams have played in recent years.

Coeur d'Alene has only one loss in the last two years, a 36-34 loss to Skyview of Vancouver, Wash., early in the 2010 season.

The school's baseball team had won 20 straight games entering the regional tournament, with their only losses to Rocky Mountain High in Meridian to start the season.

Post Falls High has experienced players back with some state experience during last year's Legion baseball season - and along with players from Lakeland, have a chance to make it two straight years a little later this summer.

THE START of the men's basketball season at North Idaho College took a slight hit last week after Cole Luckett, who had to redshirt last year due to a torn ACL - injured the same knee again during an open gym.

Chances are, Luckett will be able to get back by the start of the season, but it won’t be an easy road.

He’ll have to undergo another procedure, as well as getting back into game shape.

That won’t happen on its own this summer.

What will happen is a large amount work in the gym, whether the weight room or a basketball court.

Add a couple of high school basketball players getting hurt at Hoopfest a couple years ago in Spokane, and whatever form of an offseason is wasted trying to get back in the game.

BETWEEN THE summer camps and leagues, the only breaks that seem to come are those given by the weather.

And those have been handed out by plenty this spring.

There’s really no rest for the weary when it comes to the final two weeks of the prep sports schedule.

Whether chasing a state title or qualifying for the tournament for the first time, this is when the best of the best come out.

And the next championship chase starts again.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected]