Practice has begun for the winter sports season and soon every team will be in action in the coming weeks.

There will be several interesting story lines to follow as the season progresses. With each season there is a lot of change and questions entering the season. Each Albert Lea team will have some roles to fill as it enters the winter season.

Sean Gillam begins his first season as the Albert Lea girls’ basketball head coach. The girls’ finished 7-19 last season and Gillam has some changes in store for this season. Gillam remained tight-lipped as to what the offense was going to look like, but early on he is emphasizing an up-tempo pace and tough defense.

The Tigers are already dealing with injuries as senior Nichelle Klatt is still out from an ankle injury she suffered during the volleyball season. Her inside presence will be missed, but she should return some time in mid-to-late December. Abbey Arends is coming off a knee injury that kept her out for the entire soccer season. Arends says she is at about 90 percent right now in practice.

It will be fun to watch the team progress this season as it adapts to a new system and how it responds to the injuries.

The Albert Lea boys’ hockey team is ready to go out on the ice and show what it has this season. The Tigers return a number of players that contributed last season. Coach Roy Nystrom says depth is the key factor entering the season. The boys lost a lot of points from last year, but that means someone else will have to step in and pick up those points. The Tigers will have a new goaltender in net this season and all indications are that, although inexperienced, the team will be solid in net.

Albert Lea’s boys’ basketball team will try to rebound from a disappointing year. The Tigers are very young this year but have some strong shooters on the team. The team has some height, but most of it comes from the underclassmen.

The wrestling team comes into the season ranked No. 6 in Class AAA, one spot behind Owatonna. The bulk of the team returns this season, but the injury bug has hit the team early. State place winners Logan Kortan and Trevor Rasmussen are battling injuries and may miss some duals early on. It should be a great season once again after a second place finish in state last season.

The girls’ hockey team is off and running already. It’s been a slow start for the Tigers but the team is young — just five seniors. They’ll have to do it this year without Jenna Christensen who tore her ACL during the soccer season.

How well the young players adjust will determine a lot of the team’s success.

The boys’ swimming team will try to fill the spots left behind by a core of talented seniors from last year’s team, but the Tigers have a strong tradition of sending swimmers to state. Given coach Jon Schmitz’s track record the team will be solid once again.