Traci Cheadle's heart sank Monday after reading a text message from her best friend, Sarah Kolker. 

 "I figured things were going to change, but I was hoping it wouldn't come until after I graduated," Cheadle said.   

Cheadle, a Coopersville High School junior, learned the girls tennis season was going to be moved from the fall to the spring next school year, which could create a problem for her and Kolker.  Not only are they classmates  and buddies, but Cheadle and Kolker played No. 2 doubles together last fall for the Broncos tennis team and were looking forward to being teammates in the future.   Cheadle also is a second baseman for the Coopersville softball team, but the curveball she got Monday was delivered from the U.S. Supreme Court, which refused to hear the Michigan High School Athletic Association's case regarding the change in sports seasons.   That means softball and tennis for girls will be played in the spring, and Cheadle will have to pick one or the other. Cheadle said she needs time to decide.

"I have been playing softball all my life, and last year was my first year of playing tennis," Cheadle said. "But I feel like if I don't play tennis next year, I'm letting Sarah down. I played all summer with her and really enjoyed it.

"I know I won't play softball in college, but I would like to play tennis, even if it's intramurals. I guess I'm just going to have to see how the softball season goes before I make a decision. But I have to make one soon because the way sports are now, you have to work out all year."

The high school sports landscape will have a much different look next year. Girls basketball will be played in the winter with the boys season, and volleyball will be played in the fall. Girls golf is moving from the spring to the fall, and the boys will tee off in the spring. The girls and boys tennis seasons also will flop.

George Bitner has coached the Spring Lake's boys golf team for the past 41 years and the girls for 28. His girls have scattered across the country for spring break this week, but he said he will have to chat with them once they return.

"We have golfers on the girls team who are also on the swim team, and they are going to have to pick now," Bitner said. "This has opened up a whole can of worms. I don't think common sense was used here."

The news didn't disappoint everyone, though. In fact, it was welcomed by Aaron Greer of Jenison. Greer, 13, will be a freshman at Jenison High School in the fall, and he was going to have to pick between tennis and baseball. With boys tennis moving to fall, now he doesn't have to choose.

"I'm very excited," said Greer, who plays baseball in Georgetown Little League and tennis for his eighth-grade team at Jenison. "Now I don't have to quit one of my sports."

Karlee Despres, a junior at Comstock Park, plays basketball and softball. Despres won't have to give up a sport, but she does have concerns.

"I'm definitely disappointed about it," Despres said. "My No. 1 concern is whether we are going to have enough gym time now that we are moving to the winter."

Athletes aren't the only ones who have to make a tough choice. The girls basketball season moving to the winter means that Unity Christian basketball coach Scott Soodsma has to give up the reins of one of his successful teams.

Soodsma guided the school's girls team to the Class B state championship this past fall, and his boys team advanced to the state quarterfinals. Soodsma has coached the boys for the past 15 seasons and the girls for four.

"I'm going to sit down and talk with my family and our administration once spring break is over," Soodsma said. "I'm going to need some time before making a decision because I have strong allegiances to both programs. At this point, I'm not sure what I'm going to do.

"I am very disappointed, and I feel that it's a major mistake. But it's out of our hands. ... At this point, we have to make the best out of the situation."

Ravenna girls basketball coach Don Jones operates an income tax business on the side, and his work picks up after the first of each year. He said he envisioned himself working on taxes courtside next year when the basketball season is moved to his busiest time.

"My wife said I would die if I try to do both," Jones said. "I'm going to have to tell her that I'm going to try, though.

Send e-mail to the author: sports@grpress.com