Kickin’ it with Cabrera
By Ximena Avila
“Happy tenth birthday, Matt!” his stepmother said, a smile on her face and something in her hands. A gift. It was a lion necklace. It not only represents the England national soccer team- it reminds him of his late grandfather, giving him hope and faith. He’s been wearing it ever since, even to his soccer games. However, his father disapproved, as he thought it would get lost in the grass during a heated game. The one time he didn’t wear the necklace to the field, he got injured. This was the proof to show that he really did need that necklace.
Matt, a little under four years old, always watched soccer on the TV with his father. He said, “I was influenced by many professional goalkeepers such as Memo Ochoa, Alisson Becker, and Emiliano Martínez.” Another special player that greatly influenced him was his friend, Christopher. “What got me interested was playing with my friend Chris who is also a goalkeeper and still is a goalkeeper to this day.”
One fateful day, he asked his mother to sign him up to play recreational soccer with his friend, Christopher. “Ever since I joined the sport and team I fell in love with it.”
Cabrera has the love and passion for the game. He said, “Playing the game is fun because you can imagine the parents, friends, etc. on the sideline cheering for you. For me, I imagine myself in a big soccer stadium playing.”
“My position is goalkeeper. To me, I enjoy playing goalkeeper because you never know what’s going to happen.” Being a goalkeeper is a big job, as well as having to be in constant communication with your teammates. They should be aware of the opposing team.
There are important skills and abilities a player has that correlate with their position. “For a goalkeeper, you need to have that communication, diving, awareness, reflexes, and mentality,” explains Cabrera. The other general skills for soccer are; stamina, passing, shooting, and awareness. Soccer, like many sports, can get pretty physical pretty fast. Players need to be ready for tackling, pushing, etc.
Though it can get very physical, it can get very mental too. Cabrera emphasizes the amount of pressure he and many other soccer players get- it could be from coaches, parents, spectators and even your own teammates. Cabrera explains that it’s the hardest part of soccer. “All of that pressure can get into your head and can affect your performance.”
Every position has its own difficulties. Being a goalkeeper is an extremely important role and arguably the hardest. For Cabrera, a challenging part about being a goalkeeper is stopping high corner shots and penalty kicks. “High corner shots are harder since you have to time your jump to stop the shot. The hard thing about penalty shootouts is that you have to guess which way they will kick the ball in.”
Training and exercising play an extremely important role. You can’t expect a player to be as good as Cabrera and not get a fair share of exercise. “My training schedule will be as a team practice two times a week, and depending on how much free work or free time I have I’ll try my best to practice solo in my backyard or at the park.”
Very good training schedule needs an equally good diet to go along with it. Protein, fruits, and vegetables are the key. Protein bars are also important pre game. During a game, Cabrera tries to sneak in another fruit such as an orange or apple. But one can never forget the importance of water! It prevents headaches, dehydration and is the most important sustenance there is. Cabrera shares a very helpful tip: “You can figure this out by this simple equation: Your body weight divided by two is how many fluid ounces of water you’re supposed to be drinking.”
For Cabrera, the soccer season is from the start of fall to the start of the spring season; The shortest season is in the spring and the longest is in the fall. During off season the team will solo train and rest up.
A game’s duration usually depends on the league, but usually lasts around an hour and a half with a ten minute break in the middle. “Depending on my performance I play the whole game. If I don’t play well my coach will take me out at halftime.”
You’d have to be real lucky to never get injured while playing. Cabrera is no exception. In March, 2024, he and his team were warming up and it was the second game of the spring season. They were doing a drill called Four Corners. His friend, Felipe, “took way too many touches” and got really close to the goal and power shot it. “It went directly to my left wrist and bent back (at least I saved it). I was planning to close my fist but didn’t think about it. I was out for the rest of the spring season and ever since I got injured the team wasn’t the same.”
Nobody likes a losing game, but it gives teams space to learn and work on what they can do better. To Cabrera, the worst loss for him is losing by four or more goals. That’s a signal to the team that they need to practice harder. The biggest defeat his team lost was a 12-3 game. But being on a losing streak really hurts. “It even feels worse on a losing streak since we try different tactics and can’t find out whether that will work or not.”
But everybody likes a winning game; it lets the team know that what they’ve been doing has definitely paid off, and to keep it up. To Cabrera, the best winning by three or more goals. “The reason is that everyone was on point and showed whatever we did in practice really worked out and we nailed the hammer down.”
That feeling when you make a great save or pass- Cabrera knows very well. When he was around eight or nine years old, he made a pass he would never forget. “There was a striker all alone on the top and I punted the ball to him and he scored at the last minute.”
The question always lingers…Do you dream of playing soccer professionally? His friend Chris is a great example for Cabrera, who plays club soccer. Scouts observe his playing, and he even gets one-on-one training with a goalkeeper coach. The way to go pro is to play club soccer, but the dealbreaker for Cabrera is the money and time. To play club soccer, you’ll need to pay a large amount of money. Sometimes games are out of state, and even out of the country at times. Juggling that with schoolwork is very difficult.
“If I work really hard,” he says, “I think I can make it.”
Matt Cabrera Has His Eye On The Victory Goal
By Rebecca Dellvon
It’s the last minute of the game, and Matt Cabrera’s Recreational Soccer team is behind by one point. But then he sees something truly extraordinary. He spotted his team’s Striker standing alone on the field, waiting for a pass, and he took the opportunity to punt the ball to his teammate. With thirty seconds left on the clock, his teammate aimed, kicked, and scored two points for his goal! What an amazing win for Matt’s team, when no one thought they would win the game! When asked for more information about his team’s unexpected win, Matt stated that “It was during a game when I was around eight or nine years old, and there was a Strike all alone on the top. I punted the ball to him, and he scored at the last minute.”
Now, you might be a little confused about what just happened in the previous paragraph. Let’s start all the way from the beginning, when Matt Cabrera, a Sophomore at Royal High School, first became passionate about Soccer at a very young age.
One day, Matt decided to approach his Mom, and ask her to please sign him up for a Recreational Soccer team when he was only four and a half years old. When asked about when he first got interested in playing soccer in the first place, Matt stated that “Ever since first I joined the sport and team, I fell in love with it.” In his interview, Matt also stated that “The reason why I’m so passionate about playing soccer is because of the game. Playing the game is fun because you can imagine the parents, friends, etc. on the sidelines cheering for you and your team. Personally, I like to imagine myself playing in a big soccer stadium. Another reason is because I’ve been playing the game and watching soccer games since I was four and a half.” At such a young age, Matt became inspired to actually play the sport in real life, and he was also influenced by certain professional soccer goalkeepers such as Memo Ochoa, Alisson Becker, and Emiliano Martinez to start playing the sport, and want to become a goalkeeper in the first place.
All athletes, whether they’re professional players or not, all have origin stories about how they first became passionate about playing their chosen sport. When Matt was asked about how he became so passionate about playing soccer in the first place, he stated that “What got me interested in soccer was playing the sport with my friend Chris who’s also a goalkeeper, and still is a goalkeeper to this day. What also got me into it in the beginning was watching soccer on live TV with my Dad, as well.”
After that, he discussed what position he plays on his Recreational Soccer team. He also discussed what it feels like for him to play in that position for his team, with him stating that “I enjoy playing as my team’s goalkeeper, because you never know what’s going to happen. You never know if it’s going to be a quiet game where there’s no action in your half, or if there’s going to be a lot of action in the game. It can feel very stressful sometimes, especially during the Playoffs, playing games against good teams, and penalty kicks. Another reason why I like to play goalkeeper is because you need to communicate with your teammates.
All athletes have their own strengths and weaknesses about playing in their positions for their chosen sport. For Matt personally, he stated that “The challenging part about my position is stopping high corner shots and penalty kicks. The reason is because the opponent with the ball is aiming for a place where the goalkeeper can’t block it. Being a goalkeeper during a penalty shootout has a lot of pressure from your teammates, coaches, and parents, which can get in your head and affect your mentality during the game. The fun thing about goalkeeping is feeling proud of yourself when you make an amazing save.”
Soccer, like all sports do, require the players on a team to handle winning or losing a large game. When Matt was asked about how he handles winning or losing a game feels for him, he stated that “Handling winning a game feels amazing, especially when my team is on a major losing streak. We try to continue practicing the same tactics, since we already know that they work really well. Handling losing a game doesn’t feel that great, since the tactics we used didn’t work very well in the previous game. It feels even worse when my team is on a major losing streak since we try using new and different methods, and we can’t figure out if they’ll work in the next game or not.”
No team gets better at their skills and tactics without constant training and practicing before a large game day. In his interview, Matt stated that “My training schedule is basically just a team practice twice a week, and depending on how much spare time I have, I’ll try my best to practice solo in my backyard, or at the park.”
All athletes are required to have certain skills that depend on the position they play in their sport. Matt explained what skills he needs as his Recreation Soccer team’s goalkeeper, stating that “Skills all depend on the position you play in soccer. For a goalkeeper, you’re required to have good communication skills, diving skills, awareness, quick reflexes, and mentality. The main skills for the other positions require good speed, stamina, tackling, positioning, passing, shooting, and awareness.”
Every sport has their own specific amount of time for their games, and no two sports are the same amount of time. When asked how long his Recreational Soccer games are, Matt stated that “My soccer games are between thirty-five to forty-five minutes long, with a ten minute break in between. In total, the entire game ranges from around an hour and a half to an hour and ten minutes.The games may be shorter or longer, depending on the league you play for.”
Some athletes, whether they’re professional or not, believe in lucky objects or superstitions that they have or wear before a large game. When asked if he has a certain superstition that he has or wears during a game, Matt stated that “Yes, I do. Ever since my stepmom bought me a lion necklace for my tenth birthday, I’ve been wearing it at my soccer games since. The necklace represents the England National Soccer Team and their logo is a lion. It also reminds me of my grandpa who passed away, and it gives me hope and faith in my games. My Dad doesn’t like when I wear my necklace during the games, since he’s worried that I might lose it in the grass. The day I got injured in a game was a day that I didn’t wear my necklace, and it shows that I need my necklace in my games.”
Because he brought up being injured in one of his games, Matt was asked about how it happend, and how long it took for him to recover, stating that “I’ve been injured while playing soccer in the past before. In March of 2024, it was the second game of the Spring season, and it was during warm-ups. We were doing a drill called ‘Four Corners’ where some players would be next to the nets at each post, and the other players would stand in front of the players at the post outside of the box. The players at the post pass the ball in a diagonal direction to a teammate. My friend Felipe took way too many touches and got really close to the goal, then he power shot the ball. It went directly to my left wrist and it bent back (At least I saved it.). I was planning to close my fist, but didn’t even think about it at the time. I was out for the remainder of the Spring season. Honestly, ever since I got injured, my team hasn’t really been the same as we were before. The biggest defeat my team experienced was a 12-3 game as the final score, and I was there to witness it. This showed that my team really needed me in those games, since I was the starter and I had no backups.”
All athletes are expected to be in shape and have a healthy diet in order to play their chosen sport really well. When Matt was asked if he has a healthy diet to help him play soccer really well, he explained that he always tries to eat enough fruits, vegetables, and proteins, especially on game days. He also stated that “Before a game, I always try to have a protein bar in the morning, and at least a banana for breakfast. At Halftime, I’ll try to have another fruit such as an orange or an apple. Drinking a lot of water also helps me prevent dehydration and headaches during my games.”
All sports teams have their best and worst moments and/or wins and losses during their sport season. When Matt was asked about his team’s best win and worst loss in his Recreational Soccer League, he explained that “The best win for me is when my team wins a soccer game by three or more goals. The reason is that all of my fellow teammates were completely on point, and we showed that whatever we did in practice worked out really well. However, the worst loss for me is losing by four or more goals. Losing by four or more goals tells me and my team that something went wrong, and that we haven’t been practicing effectively enough.”
Every sport has easier and more challenging positions for the players as individuals on the team.When Matt was asked about how hard it is for him to be his Recreational Soccer team’s goalkeeper, he explained that “Being a goalkeeper is a very challenging and important role for me. I always need to keep in mind that the opponent with the ball has to pass all of my other teammates, and my goal as a goalkeeper is to make sure he doesn’t score for his team. In my opinion, it’s like a sudden-death match, whether you block the save, or the opponent with the ball scores. It especially gets stressful when it’s the final minute of the game. For example, if you’re tied with the other team, if there’s a lot of pressure, during the Playoffs since your goal is to win that tournament/trophy, and during penalty kicks, because you always need to predict which side of the goal the opposing team’s Striker is aiming for.”
Some high school and college athletes aspire to play their chosen sport professionally after they graduate from college, especially if they want to make a professional career out of it, until they retire from their professional sport league and team. When Matt was asked if he ever dreams of becoming a professional soccer player in the future, he stated that “If I work really hard, I think I can make it. My friend Chris who’s still playing every season is also playing Club Soccer, which involves lots of traveling. He’s currently playing for a new Club Soccer team where Scouts are there to watch him, and he gets one-on-one training from a goalkeeper coach. If I work hard enough like him, I think I can make it into a professional soccer league in the future. The reason why I sometimes don’t think I can make it is because if you want to go big, you need to play Club Soccer. Club Soccer is very expensive, and it requires a lot of travelling. Managing that with school will be hard. For some games, you might have to travel out of the state, or occasionally out of the country.”
When Matt was asked if he likes boots or low cleats better, he mentioned that he likes low cleats better, because in professional Soccer he doesn’t see the players wearing boots, and because he’s been wearing low cleats for soccer ever since he was little.
When Matt was asked if he plays the whole Soccer game or just until Halftime, he stated that “Depending on my performance, I play the whole game. If I don’t play well, my coach will take me out at Halftime, and choose another goalkeeper to fill in for me for the remainder of the game.”
When Matt was asked if he ever gets nervous during a soccer game with his Recreational Soccer game, he admitted “I’ve been nervous about playing in a Playoff game, because if I or one of my teammates accidentally screw up one time, it can significantly affect the game. I’ve been getting nervous ever since I fractured my left wrist, and I’m worried that I might fracture it again. Once I get back into the routine though, I know I’ll be just fine.”
Some athletes have certain tricks and secret strategies they use when they play in a game, such as Muhammed Ali’s strategy to tire out his opponents by having them chase him around the boxing ring, then rapidly punching them over and over again, winning the match.When Matt was asked if he knows any tricks about moving the ball around in a Soccer game, he stated that “Since I’m a goalkeeper, I can’t do certain tricks. However, I can still do step-overs with the ball, and fake passes/shots to trick the player who’s pressuring me with the ball on the opposing team, when he’s trying to score points for his team in a game.”
When Matt was asked if he doesn’t like a specific rule in soccer, he stated that he doesn’t like the handball rule, because it gets very confusing for him when he watches professional soccer games with his Dad on live TV, and when he’s actually playing the sport with his Recreational Soccer team. He also stated that “When it’s premier, which is like one of the highest soccer levels, the ball can’t touch your elbow and below. But with Recreational Soccer and some higher club levels, it’s the shoulder and below. In my opinion, I think that if the Referee wants to rig the game with a handball, he could basically do so, since that rule’s so confusing.”
When Matt was asked if there was ever a time when he wanted to quit Soccer altogether or take a break from it, he stated that “I’ve never wanted to quit soccer, but I took a break when the COVID-19 Pandemic was going on, and ever since I fractured my left wrist, which was almost a year ago. The longest break I ever took was two and a half years, which was during the COVID-19 Pandemic.”
When asked what three things Matt thinks all Soccer players have in common are, he stated that they all support and are part of a soccer team, they’re all very athletic at different skills of the game, whether it was passing, shooting, or something else, and that they’re all very athletic at different levels with their chosen sport.
At the end of his interview, Matt explained that his Recreational Soccer season starts at the beginning of the Fall and Spring seasons. Then he mentioned that his team likes to relax and train solo when they’re off-season.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my feature article about a student athlete at Royal High School, and a potential professional soccer star goalkeeper in the future!
Profile of Asher Mulford by Aaron Wieting
Splash! The ball goes soaring over the net and . . . score! It’s from Asher Mulford, part of Royal High’s water polo team.
How did Asher become involved in Royal’s water polo team? He says that “I got into it by being in a swim class at the Rancho Pool when I was in about 8th grade and saw the Royal girls playing and asked my mom about it and have been in love with it ever since.” Asher has been playing for roughly three years now and he says that his biggest win “was probably my freshman year when the Boys Royal team made it to CIF finals and got to play more than half the game as a freshman and the pool was surrounded by stands filled with around a thousand people.” He says that the competitive aspect of water polo is what keeps him interested. “I like the competitiveness of it because I can get really competitive and it’s super interesting to learn new strategies and ways to improve.”
When asked about the status of his team, Asher said “our team this season is really good because we moved from division 5 to division 2 in one season this year.” He also said his team’s strengths are that “we can see what each other are about to do without telling each other and we have really good team chemistry.” Asher also said that his team’s weaknesses are that “we have a couple people on the team that always blame the loss or turnover on others even though it was their fault” Asher’s position on his team is the sprinter, which he says is the “position at the beginning of each quarter who has to swim as fast as possible to the ball and beat the other team to it.”
Water polo has many positions, and Asher says that they “are Set, Set guard, and Driver.” He describes each of the positions in more detail as well: “Drivers usually are the ones creating movement to confuse the opposing team. Set is the position right in front of the goal and is usually the biggest and strongest on the team who can hold their ground to score the ball. Set Guard is the position who guards the Set on Defense” Asher says that what he likes about his position is his “I get to see and make plays easier.”
He was asked how the game works as well. “The scoring system works where each time the ball goes into the goal one point is gained.” Asher claims that a normal game is roughly an hour, and going overtime means going 10 minutes longer than usual. “You need to be able to swim and tread water,” He said, on the subject of the skills required to play water polo, “You also have to be pretty athletic because you are constantly swimming and fighting for a ball to go into a goal. There is a lot of wrestling to be on the surface and underwater people are pulling your suit and punching and scratching you.”
What’s the hardest part of the sport? “The hardest part of the sport is probably swimming at practice. At practice we swim about a couple miles split up into 100 meter intervals and it kills you physically and mentally,” Asher commented that “one of the most difficult things I’ve experienced while playing was the game against our arch rivals, Camarillo. Our biggest goal this year was to beat them and we came so close but failed in the last quarter. It was so difficult because we trained too hard to lose to a team in the last quarter that we were beating the whole game.” So frustrating!
Waterpolo can be dangerous. Asher remarks that “Waterpolo is very dangerous because some people play really dirty and try to drown you, punch you, and hurt you.” He also said, “I haven’t gotten a long term injury but my shoulder has been pretty messed up ever since september 2023” but he noted ”Every time I move it in a circular motion it pops.” Asher also says that “It is very possible to get injured in the water with a charley horse, cramp, broken nose, black eye, knocked out teeth.”
He exclaims that “I would recommend this sport to others,” but that he would warn people ”that you do have the chance to be punched or kicked in the face or in other places.”
Profile of Asher Mulford, Water Polo, By London Armenta
Have you ever felt the joy and thrill of being in a sport and making it to CIF finals? Well, Asher Mulford knows exactly how that was where thousands of people watched him and his team his freshman year during his CIF finals as a water polo player.
In around the eighth grade, Asher began getting into his sport by joining a swim class at the Rancho Pool. “I saw the Royal girls playing and asked my mom about it,” he said, and he was in love with swimming ever since. He had a liking for competitiveness and because of it, he got to be quite competitive and even learn new things and strategies to improve. He said, “I saw it and it looked pretty fun and decided to research it more.” He soon joined a club and that is when he really started to pick up his skills.
Positions play big roles in sports and there are usually more than just one position. In water polo, the positions are Set, Set Guard, and Driver. “I play Driver, which is on the perimeter on the half circle the positions make,” explained Asher.
He then explains what the types of positions usually do in games. “Drivers are the ones usually creating movement to confuse the opposing team. Set is the position in front of the goal, usually the biggest and strongest on the team.” He states, “Set guard is the position who guards the Set on defense.”
Asher likes his position as a driver because he gets to see and it makes it easier to play. But what he does not like about it is that he has to swim and create lots of movements to throw off and distract the team. For his team, he is the sprinter which is a position at the start of a quarter who swims as fast as possible to try and get to the ball before the other team does.
Asher talks about how you have to be pretty athletic since in games, you are swimming and fighting for the ball. “There is a lot of wrestling on the surface of the water and under there are people pulling on your suit, punching, and scratching you,” he said. A skill players need to be in the sport is knowing how to swim and how to tread water.
While the game is pretty fun and easy, there are times that it gets difficult and hard. For Asher, his time playing water polo was at his hardest point when they were against their “arch rivals, Camarillo.” It was his team’s biggest goal to finally beat them and right when they thought they had a chance at winning, Camarillo won in the last quarter.
Other times which are hard on Asher is the practice that “kills” him mentally and physically with the tiring practice. “We swim a couple miles split up into 100 meter intervals,” he said. Asher then says that water polo is also arguably the hardest sport because he and other players have to almost constantly tread through water along with swimming quickly as he tries to shoot the ball, and wrestling people at the surface of the water. But there are times where Asher’s team has their strengths and weaknesses, which are pretty good to him, which can also be a low for him. A strength he likes about his team is that they can basically hint to each other of what they are going to do during a game without even speaking a word to each other. Asher really likes that about his team but then there is their weaknesse which is that sometimes, people on his team will blame the loss of a game on others even though it may have been their fault.
Even though the sport is fun yet difficult, there are times where the sport can get pretty dangerous. He brings up some dangers that may happen during games such as people playing very dirty, others trying to drown, punch, and scratch you. Asher then brings up the possible injuries like, “a charley horse, cramp, broken nose, black eye, knocked out teeth, and so on.” Even Asher has injured himself just a little during games, though it was not too serious. “My shoulder has been pretty messed up since September 2023,” He mentions along with how it would usually “pop” when he moves it in a circular motion.
Asher then goes into the details about the game such as how long a game usually lasts, “about an hour but the longest time i’ve played went into triple time and was about an hour and a half.” Then there is the scoring system in which each time the ball goes into the goal the team who gets it in gets a point. By now, he has played water polo for about three years.
Before games, Asher has a pre-game meal, which is something with sugar or a sweetener you would have in tea, Monster, or Red Bull. The location of practice is at the Rancho Simi Community Pool which lasts about two hours. His team consists of about nine players on varsity and twenty on JV.
So far for Asher, his season has been really good with his team because “we moved from division 5 to division 2 in one season this year.” If he had to say one player what he thought was the best of all time, it would be Dezso Gyarmati.
As far as recommending this sport to others, he really recommends it to others but would advise them about the possibility of getting punched or kicked. If he or others were to want to go further with the sport, they could take it further into college and into the Olympics.
Profile of Cash Wiemero, RHS wrestler
By Deema Mohamed Taha
A loud thud echoes throughout the gymnasium.
Tweet!
The referee whistles while holding up the arm of an RHS wrestler. The crowd cheers for Cash Wiemero. He had just won the varsity tournament as a freshman! This was the best moment in Cash’s wrestling career so far, a moment he’s been working towards since middle school. His athletic journey began five years ago when his dad, who also wrestled in his youth, encouraged him to give it a try.
His favorite part of wrestling? “Having a match at a competition,” he says. The feeling of mixed pressure and excitement fuels him once he has stepped on the wrestling mat. However, there’s no such thing as a sport without difficulty. One of the toughest moments Cash had faced was competing against the number one ranked wrestler in his weight class. “It was really hard, but I learned a lot from that match,” he states.
Learning how to wrestle in the best way requires training. “Practices are probably about a seven out of ten on the difficulty scale,” Cash says. A typical week in the wrestler’s life consists of practice sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays, weight training, and full-length practices on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Saturdays are saved for competitions. Balancing this full schedule with school requires discipline and order. “I try to finish my homework in school, but if not, I’ll do it after practice,” he explains.
Even though Cash loves wrestling, there are some parts he doesn’t enjoy as much. “Cutting weight is my least favorite part because I am unable to drink or eat much,” he says. It’s tough, but his coach helps make it easier. Coach Carillo, Cash’s best coach, teaches him the best tips and tricks for wrestling. Having that support makes the challenge a little easier.
Even though wrestling is demanding, Cash wrestles best under pressure. “I like the pressure because it keeps my heart rate up and keeps me active and strong,” he says. His focus is on growing his skills, with his best moves being double leg takedowns, cradles, and ankle picks. Looking ahead, he aims to improve his techniques of pinning his opponent.
Not only has Cash grown physically with the sport, but also mentally. “Wrestling made me stronger and more mature compared to before I started,” he reflects. The sport has also taught him discipline and self-trust.
When asked what he likes most about wrestling, Cash says, “The best part is getting on the mat and competing. It gets my heart going and is really exciting.” For him, wrestling is all about improvement and working hard.
Profile of Lucas Fernandes, Football Player, by Asher Mulford
BLUE!!!!!!!!
42!!!!!!!
OMAHAAA!!!
READY!!!
READYYYY!!!!
SET!!!
HUTTT!
HUTTT!
HIKE!!!!!!!!!!!
James Lucas Fernades screams, as he’s getting ready to start the action. Lucas is the Royal High School JV quarterback for the football team. He loves his position with a passion. Quarterback is the hardest possession for football because there is so much pressure on you to do the right thing; however Lucas says it is worth it. Quoting Lucas he says, “Whenever you win a game you get most of the glory but you also get the most backlash.”
The training to be a quarterback in football is nothing to be joking about. You have to have the mentality to train with high intensity in the gym, on the field, and in the classroom reviewing plays and watching films. Lucas says he trains for hours at a time four to five days a week.
The teamwork needed to play this sport is absurd. You have trust in your every teammate that they know where to go on the plays and what play the team is running. Fernades said, “Teamwork is the most important thing in football. If one out of the eleven people do something wrong we’re probably going to execute the play. You need all eleven players playing at one hundred percent.”
Lucas says his favorite teammate is his center, Nate Tonderum. Nate is the kind of teammate who can tell when something is wrong or off with you that day. He always stays after practice to help clean up or do anything else that is needed. Lucas explained how no matter what, Nate always seemed to make sure Lucas got better not only as a player but as a person too.
When it comes to preparing for a game Lucas decides to have his AirPods to play music and hype up the whole team. These things can help the team not only mentally but can encourage the guy on the team who’s not as good as the other to come out of his shell. The idea with the airpods is so that when there’s all this noise going on he can focus on himself and get mentally locked in with the game.
Lucas has had many big plays in his career of playing football, but he says that the first big play he can remember is when he was a little guy playing flag football where he threw a thirty, five yard touchdown pass. This moment was so big for him that he can remember it all these years, so it is a very special moment for him.
With all the teamwork, big plays and practice, football is still extremely stressful. Lucas says, “Football is one of the most stressful things I’ve ever done in my life.” That is because when you are a quarterback you basically have to carry the entire team on your back. That means if Lucas makes a mistake the whole team is affected by that one little mistake.
Lucas’s football career started when he was only eight years old. He mentioned how he and his dad would mess around with a football and he asked his dad if he could join a team. He was only eight at the time, so his dad was a little hesitant, but when he saw how much fun Lucas had he knew that this was going to change Lucas’s life. Lucas started as a wide receiver then his dad helped teach how to throw the ball and that is how he got to be a fantastic quarterback.
The practices that the football team has to do to be able to compete are out of this world. Lucas said that the practices usually go like this: “ We start off watching film for an hour and a half then we go in the weight room for an hour and a half. Finally, we go on the field for two hours to practice our plays.” To play football you have to be a machine with no plans of stopping, no matter what gets in the way.
Lucas has gone through the rough, but he says the biggest challenge he’s ever had to deal with was getting back onto the field after being injured all of last season. He says that the mental strength it took to walk back onto the field with that little voice in his head saying he could get hurt again was the biggest challenge he’s ever faced. Being a quarterback for a football team is extremely difficult and stressful but, James Lucas Fernades says that it is all worth it in the end.
RHS Student Athlete Matt Cabrera’s Experience As A Goalie
by Rafael Villalba
As the crowd gets ready for penalties, the count is 5-4 and his team is up in the count, and RHS student Matt Cabrera, sophomore at Royal High, is getting ready to save this ball from entering the net. The next man up is ready to take his shot to shoot, as he slowly walks up to hit, Matt feels like he’s on slowmo. The ball, spinning at such high power it makes it feel impossible to block, Matt looking for where the shot will end up. Matt feels a hit on his glove, and he looks and saves the ball! The crowd erupts in cheers. Matt feels like he saved the world that day.
How Matt got into soccer was when his mother signed him up for recreational soccer. Matt says, “I got into soccer by asking my mom to sign me up to play recreational soccer with my friend named Christopher who I still hang out with and talk to.” Matt continues to play soccer and when asked why he was so passionate about it, he replied “Playing the game is fun because you can imagine the parents, friends, etc on the sideline cheering for you.”
Matthew, playing goalie, either doesn’t get any action, or he does, making it a very unpredictable game for him. Matt said that “To me, I enjoy playing goalkeeper because you never know what’s going to happen. You never know if it’s going to be a quiet game where there is no action in your half or going to be a lot of action.” He also discusses how parents, audience, and coaches can play a major role in performance “The hardest part about playing soccer is pressure. The pressure from parents or spectators, your coaches, teammates. All of that pressure can get into your head and can affect your performance.”
Winning a game, especially during a losing streak, feels nice. Taking a loss obviously doesn’t feel as nice. Matt said, “Handling a losing game doesn’t feel that nice since the practices we did didn’t work. It even feels worse on a losing streak since we try different tactics.”
Matt trains two times a week on a team, and depending on free time, either solo in his backyard or at a park. “For a goalkeeper, you need to have that communication, diving (a lot), awareness, reflexes, and mentality ” says Matt. “You gotta keep in mind that soccer is a physical sport, so expect to be pushed and bodied around during the game.”
Matthew Cabrera has been playing soccer since he was four and a half years old. He was also asked if he has ever been injured playing and how long did it take to heal he responds with, “I have been injured while playing soccer. In March, 2024 it was the second game of the spring season and it was during warm-ups… My friend Felipe took way too many touches and got really close to the goal and power shot it. It went directly to my left wrist and bent back (at least I saved it).”
What had Matt playing and interested was his friend Chris at the time and his dad watching it on television. His favorite soccer player is Mohammed Salah and his favorite goalkeeper is Memo Ochoa.
Soccer games generally last from thirty-five to forty-five minutes long with a ten-minute break and in total the game is an hour and a half to an hour and ten minutes (this varies for different leagues). He often plays based on performance: if he’s doing well, he plays a full game, if not, he’s taken out during halftime.
Many athletes have a good-luck charm, and Matt is no different. “Ever since my stepmother has gotten me a lion necklace for my tenth birthday I’ve been wearing it since. The necklace represents the England national soccer team and the symbol is a lion. It also reminds me of my grandpa who died and gives me hope and faith.” Matt is also very nervous as he feels he might fractured his left wrist but in the end, he knows once he’s in routine, he’ll be perfectly fine.
He has never had a thought of quitting soccer but did take a break once during the COVID-19 pandemic and it lasted around two and a half years. He also feels that if he puts the time and effort into playing soccer he might be as good as his friend Chris, but he also hopes to go pro too. Someday…
Tristen Hogan Has A Dream
by Karissa Nelson
Have you ever wondered what it takes to be a baseball player? Some would say baseball is just hitting a ball with a bat. For Tristen Hogan, baseball is more than just a game; it is his life. Being a baseball player means to work hard, stay focused, and be dedicated. Tristen Hogan is what it means to be a baseball player. How does one even get into baseball? “What made me start playing was seeing my family watching MLB,” Tristen said, “It looked like so much fun.” Since then, Tristen‘s interest in baseball sparked.
Although being an athlete is fun, balancing school and a sport can be time-consuming and tiring. “My practice starts at 2:50 and I end around 5:30,” he said. “After practice, I go straight to the gym. After the gym, I go home, eat, and shower.” Making time for yourself and basic needs is so important, and Tristen, like all people, still has a life outside of school. “After all that, I will be done by 8:30 and I will have the rest of the night to do my homework.” He is busy pretty much all day, but still carving out time for the gym and homework.
Being busy all day can affect your mental health and your performance. But is there a mental side to baseball? “Yes, there is. The mental side of baseball is usually when I’m not doing good or succeeding in what I’m doing. This makes me stressed and have a lot of anxiety.” said Tristen. Having anxiety and stress can lead to performance anxiety, and for Tristen, it makes it harder for him to do his best. Make sure to put yourself first, so that you can show up for yourself and your team.
There are many factors to being a part of a team, especially staying motivated. “Well,” said Tristen, “What makes me keep trying and keep going is just wanting to go Division One in baseball.” Tristen’s future is significant to him. “This has been my goal my whole life,” he exclaims, “I just want to be big in baseball one day and make my parents proud.” Tristen knows that reaching his goal won’t be easy, but he is willing to put in the hard work.
Tristen’s team helps keep him motivated and working hard. His favorite thing to do with his team is playing a baseball game with them. “Our whole team gets fired up and it’s just fun and exciting to be around them when we are playing against another team.” Having other people to experience the joys of baseball with is being a part of a team. “Teamwork is very important,” he explains, “Without teamwork, your team would not be doing good. With teamwork, you win games and win in situations where you would need your teammates.
Every player has a different important set of skills. Tristen’s position is centerfield. “The most important skill to play centerfield is to be fast and really good at tracking the ball down.” He likes playing centerfield because he has control of the whole outfield and he can see the whole field. With all positions, there are also cons. “The bad part is communicating with your teammates that are in left field and right field.” Even with cons, if he had another position, he would like to play anywhere in the outfields.
For some, a sport is just temporary during school. Tristen dedicates his time and commitment to his sport. He wants this to be his future. “I put a lot of time and effort into baseball and I think I’m good enough to go play at a college level.” Tristen works hard every day to improve his skills. He stays focused on his goal of playing in college, and he has a passion that sets him apart from the others. With his effort and dedication, Tristen believes he can achieve his dream.