A new water bottle policy has been implemented this spring season in response to the damage and loss of many school water bottles at Potomac Falls

With spring sports season in full swing, a new water bottle policy has been implemented that affects all athletes. The first practice without Gatorade water bottles left a lot of athletes and coaches confused and waterless. All athletes had become accustomed to not needing their own water bottles for practice and games, but with the new policy, they must bring bottles from home.

In previous seasons, sports managers and teams were able to borrow Gatorade water bottles from the athletic trainers to share with the team for both games and practices. However, the new policy only allows the bottles to be used for games. Even though the teams can use them at games, most athletes are unaware of this, and have not had water at both games and practices. Varsity soccer player junior Ashely Pandelides was thrown off by not having water.

“We were at our soccer game at home on Monday and we were all expecting to have water bottles there so a lot of us didn’t even bring water and then next thing you know, they just weren’t there. Nobody knew what was going on until someone told us that the school got rid of them. I was upset because I didn’t have water and I was very dehydrated and couldn’t play to my full potential,” said Pandelides.

Many athletes are still confused as to what exactly is going on with the bottles, so Athletic Trainer Tim Cochrane was asked to clarify. Cochrane explained that water bottles are not to ever be used for practices, but can be used for both home and away games. He also said that all coaches were asked to inform their own athletes, so that everyone knew to bring their own.

“In my experience, student-athletes are much more careful with their own belongings compared to school-issued supplies. In the past several years there has been a sharp increase in water bottles being lost, stolen or damaged during the spring season. Each new bottle is about $5 so when I purchased 36 new bottles over the winter that was $180 out of my budget. I also purchase about 30 new bottles every year because they have been lost, stolen or damaged. We would rather not be spending our finances on equipment that could be maintained better,” said Cochrane.