One of the newest members to the Arcadia High School (AHS) Football team, freshman Robert Ybarra plays for both Varsity and Junior Varsity (JV) . Although Ybarra is very busy, he was able to make some time to talk about his schedule, position, and gameplan. 

This is Ybarra’s fifth year playing football and he is 14-years-old, almost 15, meaning that he has been playing since around 10 years old. He is pretty experienced, as he has played in multiple football teams for his past schools and attended multiple football summer camps. The football teams he has played for are Burbank Titans of Sacramento, Tri City Saints here in Arcadia, and Glendale Bears. Summer camps that he attended include Rosemead Rebel’s summer camp, San Gabriel’s football camp, and our own AHS football summer program.

Ybarra’s position is an inside line-backer on defense, and his job is to tackle running backs who make it through the defensive line.

When asked about his schedule for Varsity and JV, Ybarra said, “To start, we have weights at 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Depending on what we do from Monday through Wednesday, we have practice after school starting at 3:30 p.m. to around 6 p.m. or 6:40 p.m. ”

Though dedicated to football, Ybarra comments that balancing his football schedule with academics and other extracurriculars can get challenging at times. 

“It can get stressful sometimes, especially since I have other things going on outside of school,” said Ybarra.

According to Ybarra, who plays for both teams, there are some key differences between JV and Varsity when it comes to practice and playing.

“There are some differences between playing with Varsity and JV teams. Varsity requires memorization of more plays and it’s much more physically tiring. I need to be in a good mindset to help our team win, and it’s important for me to be thinking all the time when I’m on the field about what course of action to take,” Ybarra said. 

So far, Ybarra has played one Varsity game against Nordhoff High School (NHS) which resulted in a huge victory for Arcadia, with the final score being 40-9. In addition to this, he has played JV games against NHS, Monrovia High School (MHS) and Woodbridge High School (WHS). The Apaches won against both MHS and NHS, going 6-0 against Monrovia and 8-0 against Nordhoff.

Though the AHS Varsity Football team might not have had the best of seasons so far, there is still hope for great strides in improvement, shown through the performances of the JV team. The JV team is the future of Varsity, and they have lots of potential. Keeping in mind that most JV players are relatively new to the sport, with more practice and experience, they could develop into a great Varsity team. They have potential, and future Apache students should be on the lookout for them in coming years! 

Ybarra is dedicated to his craft, football, and is the future of AHS. Ybarra has a message for people interested in or even considering football: “It’s exhausting, but worth it.”