First-year football players will have academic meetings throughout preseason, and the team holds its first practice on Aug. 28.
Off the field, the team's biggest preseason priority is integrating the freshmen, tri-captain Bronson Green '14 said. Upperclassmen will hold a meet-and-greet with the Class of 2017 to welcome the new players.
The men's team begins its preseason Sept. 2.
"Preseason is all about getting acquainted with that and knowing what's there if you need it," Geoghegan said.
Volleyball players meet with Dartmouth Peak Performance staff to talk about class schedules, and upperclassmen will meet with Career Services, libero Holly Harper '15 said. The team, which begins practice on Friday, will play three preseason tournaments and one scrimmage.
Some sophomore players will see academic pressure as they balance athletic commitments with summer term finals.
"We have to prepare ahead and study in advance so that we're not overly stressed," Harper said. "If we have a final during practice, we can miss that practice."
Summer term's timing disadvantages some teams for inter-league competition. The women's soccer team will play its first scrimmage against McGill University on Aug. 28. Although the team's first Ivy League game is not until Sept. 29, they will play about two games per week starting in September.
"The Ivy League is at a disadvantage because our preseason is much more limited than other teams," forward Tasha Wilkins '15 said. "My freshman year, after two weeks of preseason we played our first game at Texas A&M [University], who were playing their sixth game already."
Preseason for women's soccer team officially starts on Aug. 23.
During preseason's first week, the men's cross country team will stay on the Second College Grant in Clarksville, a team tradition since the 1980s. Players later rejoin the freshmen in Hanover, who spent the first week on First-Year Trips.
"Personally, it's one of my favorite practices of the year, getting back together with all my teammates, getting acquainted with campus and the team," Geoghegan said.
Some teams do not allow their first-year players to participate in DOC trips.
Members of the women's soccer team cannot participate because of the already shortened preseason.
"Even if the schedule worked out so that they were able to, they would probably be too exhausted to fully enjoy trips," Wilkins said.
Though the pre-orientation program conflicts with the preseason schedule, volleyball freshmen can and do still participate, Harper said.
Though they do not participate in Trips, football freshmen participate in activities run by coaches and upperclassmen, Green said. Last year, the team's head coach took first-year students hiking.
"This year we're going to integrate more things," he said. "We want a different way to get them introduced into school so we'll be doing different types of programs during preseason."
