Due to the recent Eaton fire, all outdoor sports practices were cancelled on January 14 and 15, a week after the fire started on January 7. Head of School Ms. Andrea Kassar spearheaded the idea of practice cancellations, and Director of Athletics Coach Melanie Horn followed up with the plan. Coach Horn later extended the cancellation to January 16, but after talking to the pool manager at Alhambra Park Pool, she allowed water polo to continue practicing outdoors off campus for an hour. Practices continued to stay indoors or off campus until Coach Horn approved all sports to resume to their usual schedules and practice areas on January 21.
Additionally, CIF playoff requirements were changed to allow all teams to qualify for playoffs using winning percentage. In the Prep League, all teams are required to play each League school at least once. Normally, winning percentage is used in the case of an at-large bid, but this year, the Prep League can use winning percentage for all teams playing this season—no matter their season record.
The junior varsity and varsity basketball teams were still able to practice indoors on January 14, but all practices were shortened by 30 minutes. The team returned to regular practice times on January 15. Soccer continued practicing indoors by cycling, doing core workouts, lifting weights, or playing soccer in the gym, while water polo practiced off campus.
(Jane K.)
Although the transition back to regular practices were fairly smooth, rescheduling all the games that had been canceled due to the fire proved difficult. Due to the upcoming athletics season in the spring, the Prep League cannot extend the length of a season. “Westridge and I made the decision, as well as with the Prep League, that we do not want to try to reschedule all these games,” said Coach Horn. “To have four games a week instead of two games a week just doesn’t seem reasonable. We cannot overload students right now.”
In the midst of these challenging times, Coach Horn shared how athletics can help with students’ stress and anxiety. “Physical activity is a stress outlet. When being competitive, you don’t really have time to think about other things. I would argue that no matter what the circumstances, athletics provides that peace for students,” she said.
