The winter sports season is finally rolling, with some teams starting their regular seasons last week and others this week.

I must admit, I can’t stand the way the high school schedule is set up in the month of December.

Teams are just starting to get into live action, athletes are just starting to get comfortable with their teammates, and coaches are just starting to piece together their lineups.

Other than the playoffs, the most important time of each season, in my opinion, is the early going. This is when coaches really learn what they have to work with and players begin to build rapport.

Then, it gets put on hold for two weeks.

I get it. It’s the holiday season and kids are on school vacation. They deserve the downtime too, there is nothing harder than being a student-athlete. You are in the classroom for 5-6 hours a day, then you have to compete, then you have to go home and study, these breaks are well-deserved and well-earned if you ask me.

But why on Earth have we not found a better way of scheduling the winter sports season, though?

I understand that there are not many other options, but one thing that I hear constantly from coaches is, ‘we’ve made progress, so it hurts having to step away for a few weeks.’

I think the best solution would be to start the regular season earlier and to forego these scrimmages and exhibitions.

For example, most of our basketball teams scrimmaged one or two times last week and will have one or two this week before this weekend’s regular season openers. Some of them will have hit the court four or five times before a meaningful match.

Let’s scale it back. Give these teams an extra week of actual games, even if it means adding two or three games to the schedule.

I am not saying that preseason exhibitions are not important either, they are very important. Teams need to get their feet wet and find somewhat of a rhythm before actual wins and losses are on the line.

The one downside to this solution would be that teams would have less time to practice, which is a fair point, but that is where adding games to the schedule would eliminate that problem. If there are more games played, the margin for error isn’t as narrow. Done.

As a media member and fan, it’s tough for me because I am just getting back into the swing of things and am just starting to get a feel for the landscape. It’s only two weeks, but in a way, it almost feels like the season doesn’t actually begin until after the new year. It’s hard to get excited for the start of a new season when you know teams will play once or twice then go away for two weeks.

Is this a major issue? Of course not, I am just a whiner.

Here are a couple more items from last week:

First off, Pilgrim boys basketball is on its way to the playoffs. There, I said it.

After falling into an early deficit in their Injury Fund exhibition against rival Toll Gate, the Pats turned things around late in the first half and into the second.

Tyriek Weeks went off for 34 points and was clearly the most athletic kid on the floor. He was poised to be one of the best, and maybe even the best player in Division I. Now he is Division III, and has a solid cast around him.

The Pats won three games last year so it is easy to overlook the talent on the roster. Not that I knew something that the rest of you didn’t, I too believed they were a bottom-of-the-standings team.

But looking at some of the returning players, along with the two Hendricken transfers, and considering the team is in its second year under head coach Matt Fontaine, I don’t believe that this early, and yes, very early, success is a fluke.

Like every team, Pilgrim will face adversity this year. I believe that it has everything it takes to overcome it and make a real run at a title. Am I getting ahead of myself? Probably, but it’s hard not to look at Pilgrim’s preseason performance and the current roster and not feel optimistic.

On the girls side, Pilgrim also appears to be right on track to return to the Division III finals.

I mentioned it last week in my preview, but the Lady Pats felt that their shooting failed them last year and was a large factor in coming up short. They worked hard in the offseason to improve their shooting and felt that if they became a formidable offensive team, then they could run the table.

It was clear, at least to me, that this team has already taken a step in the right direction in that respect.

Against Toll Gate in the Injury Fund game, Pilgrim was shooting early and often.

Although its percentage was not all that high, Pilgrim improved throughout the game and showed that it was not going to be afraid to take chances.

I remember watching it last year too. The Lady Pats would come out firing in the first half and have little luck, then be timid in the second and get in their own heads. Although it was not always pretty last Thursday, it is clear that Pilgrim is going to attack and force you to defend from beyond the arc.

This will be huge going forward, as Pilgrim has a tough defense and can shut down any team it faces. Being able to open the floor a bit on offense will only make it that much better.