The closure of many schools due to the California wildfires has not only put an abrupt halt to students’ academic learning, but it has also prevented many high school athletes from performing during their season. However, demonstrating their dedication to their sport, many Arcadia High School (AHS) athletes have continued their training regime, making modifications to their routine to accommodate to the circumstances.
Despite the closing of all Arcadia Unified School District (AUSD) schools, a number of AHS athletes on the Boys Varsity Cross Country team came together and worked out an interesting method to continue their training. As one of the teammates who possessed a treadmill and stationary bike at home, junior Eric Qiu helped keep his teammates’ morale up and their conditioning consistent during the wildfires by offering his home and equipment for indoor training. Natural disaster or not, the runners were determined to stick to their winter base training, which set a goal for up to 70 miles of running per week.
Each runner scheduled “time slots, like one person [went] at 5 p.m. to run an hour and then another person ran at 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. so multiple people could still get their training in,” said Qiu.
The experience strengthened the bonds of friendship between the athletes, allowing them to spend time with each other even while school was closed.
“Running can be a stress reliever and an opportunity to socialize if we’re doing it with teammates,” said Qiu. “We would be side by side and watch anime as we trained.”
The Boys Varsity Basketball team were midway through their first league game on home campus when the fires first began.
“There were two blackouts in the middle of the game,” said senior Marley Goldberg, who plays forward on the Boys Varsity Basketball team. “We thought it was just the winds until we walked outside…they ended the game with two minutes left in the 4th quarter.”
The fires left a lasting impact on the basketball team’s season, forcing ASB to postpone their annual Hoopcoming tournament twice within two weeks. Originally scheduled on Jan. 10, the event was supposed to be a playoff between Pasadena High School (PHS) and AHS. However, while AHS and other Arcadia schools began to reopen, the Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) kept their schools closed, resulting in further postponement of any athletic events.
“Having transferred to AHS this year, I was looking forward to experiencing Hoopcoming since everyone had been telling me how hype and exciting it is,” said senior Nico Mokhtari, the shooting guard for the Boys Varsity Basketball team. “I was disappointed when it kept getting postponed because I thought it would be cancelled for sure.”
With no clear date set for the Hoopcoming game, AHS students and basketball players are still waiting for more updates on the resumption of normal competition and events.
Both land and water athletes felt the effects of the wildfires; strong winds and smoke from the fire had caused poor air quality, and the first few days of school were dusted with ashy pavement and riddled with remaining debris from the storm.
“When school closed, our team was not able to practice because we had no access to the school pool,” said freshman Kyuarh Arina Shim, a swimmer on the Varsity Coed Swim Team. “It was tough not being able to practice as a team, but some of us were able to get together and do a dryland workout.”
AHS athletes were faced with many challenges, and many practices were cancelled during this time; many sports are only active for a short season, and missing even just a few days of practice greatly affects the team’s skill and rhythm. Despite these challenges, AHS sports teams demonstrated just how dedicated they were to their sport, and their passion for their game is a true testament to the commitment and perseverance athletes must exhibit on a daily basis.
