Years ago, summertime meant children would leave their house in the morning, play outside with friends all day, and return home for dinner. Riding bikes, climbing trees, and playing with chalk in the driveway held kids’ attention from dawn to dusk.
But now? Screens have taken the place of those summertime staples.
When school’s out, teens spend, on average, 70% of their newfound free time on screens, a 2024 study from ScienceDirect found.
LexObserver spoke to a few local teens who are defying those odds.
Ava Myers, a rising sophomore at Lexington High School (LHS), has dedicated much of her summer to running one-on-one soccer training sessions at Lincoln Field that she calls “Elevate With Ava.”
Myers, a forward on the girls’ varsity soccer team at LHS, feels more fulfilled spending time coaching children on the soccer field than she does scrolling on her phone, she told the Observer.
“I’m learning and being productive while I’m at it. It also helps that I’m serving something that I am passionate about and enjoy,” she said.
Last summer, a sixth-grader who played soccer on the B-team (the second-best town travel team) came to Myers for help. She had difficulty passing and wanted to get extra help so she could make the A-team (the best town travel team). Almost every week that summer, she practiced with Myers. On days when she didn’t have practice, she did her “soccer homework” diligently by following the training plan Myers made for her.
At the end of the summer, Myers’ client saw results — she improved enough to ascend to the A-team, which Myers attributes to their combined effort.
“She put in the work, kept showing up, and trained on her own. I’m not taking credit for my client’s hard work, but I think I was a little bit of an inspiration,” Myers said, who also plays on the FC Stars ECNL Team, an elite youth soccer team that serves as a segue for college recruitment.
Myers launched Elevate With Ava a year ago, seeking an extra source of income and a “way to give back.”
“I was once in the shoes of [the girls I coach]. When I was younger, I would be like, ‘I want to get better. I just don’t know how,’” Myers said. “So now, I try to be their guide to succeeding in the sport.”
Myers’ practices start with stretching, then juggling, cone drills, and finally, shooting at the net.
“[During stretching], I get to know my players and a little bit about their personal lives,” she said. “I usually have music playing, so I figure out what kind of music they like.”
Through this full agenda of skills, Myers hopes to help clients overcome their weaknesses and improve their “level of touch, footwork, and ball mastery.”
Myers has helped ten young soccer players to date, whom she signed onto her program through word of mouth. Her father is on the board of Lexington United Soccer Club and spreads the word to parents. Myers’ younger sister, Bella, who’s also an avid soccer player, helped advertise the training sessions to her teammates.
Myers intends to continue Elevate With Ava training sessions during the school year, but anticipates a slow-down due to her academic workload.
“Summers are my main time to hold sessions. But I want to continue doing it because I enjoy it,” she said. “Soccer is such a fun sport, and training hard is great character development. It helps off the field, in life in general.”
Logan Potter, a rising sophomore at LHS, also prefers the great outdoors when school’s out. But Potter’s environment of choice isn’t the soccer field — it’s the ocean.
An avid fisher, Potter caught a 38-inch striped bass this summer, which is his favorite catch he’s reeled in all year.
Catching that bass wasn’t easy. Potter was drifting aimlessly around the ocean in his red fishing kayak — a birthday present from his parents — nearly ready to give up on fishing for the day. He decided to move to a different spot, where he finally felt a tug on his rod.
“When you’re out there, you never know what’s going to happen,” Potter said. “Throughout the season, there’s been a lot of super dull moments, and then suddenly everything just starts picking up. That’s a motivating factor.”
Potter lives close to the Arlington Reservoir, so he frequents the area often. But during the summer months, algae and weeds cover the water, making fishing difficult. That’s pushed Potter to find new fishing locations, such as Walden Pond and any publically accessible launch-off spots in the ocean.
Potter recommends fishing to those considering picking it up. He noted that ponds are a very accessible way to fish because very little equipment is required.
“I bike down with a rod, and then go back after spending an hour there,” he said. “Ocean fishing is a lot harder because it’s a whole day investment. But the fish in the ocean are a lot bigger, and they fight a lot harder. That’s what’s fun about it.”
Fishing is pretty easy to try out as a minor, too. Freshwater and saltwater licenses are free for those under 18, and unnecessary for those under 15. In Lexington, licenses are required when fishing in public freshwater locations, including the Old Reservoir.
While Potter grew up fishing with his father and younger sister a lot, he began fishing with friends more this past year. He finds it to be a social opportunity that has grown even more enjoyable as his skills have developed.
“I have two favorite parts. The first is catching big or rare fish. It’s a personal achievement to catch something that’s known to be hard,” Potter said. “The second is being out of the house and spending time either with friends or on your own.”
He also loves that fishing gives him a break from staring at screens.
“It allows me to feel more connected with the world around me instead of just being hooked up inside on a phone,” said Potter. “Anybody who’s trying to get into doing something that’s not just staring at a screen for hours should either try out fishing or just go outdoors.”