Football practices got underway last Thursday, but it was everyone else's turn Monday.

Monday marked the first day of official practice for fall high school sports teams other than football.

But just because it was the first day of practice for all the teams, it doesn't mean every team used it the same way.

In the Rail City, there are two new volleyball coaches and one new soccer coach and all three had a challenge of getting acclimated with a new squad.

One of those new coaches, Spanish Springs' Frank Sandomenico, has been in this position before. The former Cougars football coach has dealt with opening practices in the past, but even after his layoff from coaching, he was still thrilled for that first day.

"It was good. We had 63 girls try out. The energy was good. The attitude was good," he said. "It was hot as heck in the gym today, but everything other than that was good."

Sandomenico admitted Monday's practice was easier than running football practice due to the overwhelming size of football teams and the amount of equipment needed. However, he's not looking forward to one main difference with volleyball - cutting players.

Teams are able to hold unofficial workouts during the summer months, allowing coaches to work on the basics and conditioning instead of using precious practice time. Other coaches chose to wait until Monday to run their players into the ground.

While the Reed boys soccer team probably didn't enjoy Monday's double practices, coach Rich Hollis was excited to bring in a couple assistant coaches to help run the team.

"There are a lot of new messages and attitudes we expect from the kids," Hollis said.

Even coaches that suffered through dismal campaigns a year ago look forward to starting a new season.

In his first year on the Sparks sidelines, girls soccer coach Jerry Miller started a massive rebuilding process and the veteran coach hopes his second year reveals more promise.

"I'm already seeing more girls interested at school. Yeah we're pretty excited to get going," he said.

Miller uses part of the first day of practice to meet with his players and then starts working on ball skills and fitness.

Saturday will see cross-town rivals Reed and Spanish Springs meet up in volleyball and girls tennis scrimmages. Teams will participate in preseason tournaments prior to the regular season opening in the first week of September.