From Aug. 29 to Sept. 9, Bonita Vista High (BVH) has endured the historic recent heat wave that impacted the West Coast, with temperatures reaching the high 90’s and high humidity these past few weeks. Although the heat appeared to pose some risk to the health of student-athletes, they continued to hold practices and play games. 

Most fall sports at BVH endured the heat during their games and practices in the previous weeks with little to no change. Football players continued to maintain the same intensity in their practices, tennis practices continued with more water breaks as well as cross country enduring the same amount of running. 

“Coach [Arciaga] had a set time for practices so we had to try and fit everything in. Practice didn’t get shorter, it didn’t get longer; it was the same,” varsity footballRunning Back and senior Bryan Burt said.

While the football team maintained the same intensity in practice, they also took precautions to ensure the health and safety of the players. Particularly in a sport as draining and physical as football is, they moved some practice dates to ensure optimal conditions when practicing and avoiding extreme heat. They also attempted to maintain hydration with the football members.

“Our team managers hand out water and make sure to fill the jugs right and have water available for the players. As well as moving some practices, we changed the time. Some days we practiced before school in the morning from 6 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., some in the later evening from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.,” varsity football linebacker and senior Alex Iniguez said.

Another team that was also playing during the heatwave was the girls””tennis team, led by coach Joe Sheffield. Similarly to the football team, they made sure to get the same practice and performance as they usually would, except with similar precautions. 

“Their performances haven’t really changed. As long as we have plenty of water and they rest several times. I reminded them everyday especially, on a hot day. They’re good at [preparing for heat], the majority of my players are multisports so this is like nothing new to them,” Joe Sheffield said.

In contrast, Olympian High School (OHS) girls’ tennis team took the intensity of their practice down a notch, given the temperature of the past week. Their practices had relatively simple drills and exercises along with a less intense practice and game prep compared to BVH. 

“This week has been hot like last week. We have done more volleys because I didn’t want them [OHS girls tennis team] to get too tired for the match. Yesterday, we did some volleys to focus on technique and not get tired for today, ” OHS girls’ varsity tennis coach Diego Lainez said.

OHS implemented a shorter game for tennis using no-advantages, which in tennis after a single game within a set, each player has 3 points to win the game. This differs from the usual, where  to win a game, a team has to either win 10 out of the 18 or more sets, if there is a 9 set to 9 set tie the total number of games of which there are 6 per set is declared the winner. However, without advantages, it’s simply whoever wins the next point takes the game. As a result, no-advantages significantly shorten the games as much as they can. 

“Right now, we are playing no-ads with the heat. I personally prefer no-ads during the league, we play with ads in the finals in CIF. It’s better for me and the [team] to hear two and a half hours instead of four,” Lainez said. 

In the end, player safety is the most important aspect in athletics, especially in high school athletics. With that in mind, BVH’s athletics these past two weeks displayed very impressive commitments to their teams as they all practiced and played through the difficult conditions. Going the extra mile is tough but in the tough times it is the team spirit and camaraderie that pushes one to the finish line.

“Everyone is so welcoming, it’s a great feeling to join a team. This team brings the idea of family and working together and helping each other get through the challenges,” Cross Country member and senior Eduardo Angel said.