Viking Volume 10, Edition 3

Volume 10, Issue 3 December 2016

1

Viking Viking explores the positive and negative aspects of athletes on social media, examining promotional advantages and its ability to spark controversy.

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34

line up

Derek Schoenberger (‘17) cuts the ball back in the boys’ varsity soccer game against Milpitas

4

zooms

10

editorial

12

pop culture

14

inside the mind of Jared Wulburn

15

winter sports previews

18

teachers in sports

20

genders: physical differences

28

viking science: Jack Stoksik

viking tries: juice cleanse

30

lacrosse vs. baseball

34

life in the goal

40

rowing to recruitment

42

tee time with Stephanie Yu

44

the last word

47

Lauola Amanoni (‘17) looks to make a pass in the girls’ varsity soccer season opener against Woodside.

FEATURES 34

athletes on social media

The impact and controversies that follow professional athletes on social media.

22

chryst family

Viking investigates the success and legacy of the prestigious Chryst family, and the unity they find through sports.

Sprint

Zoom

Kenzo Morabia (‘19) dribbles the ball down the field against Carlmont High School. The Vikings went on to beat Carlmont 2-1.

Photo by Christian Rider

Zoom

Power

Sophmore Wes Walters (‘19) pushes past a Saratoga player while in possession of the ball.

Photo by David Hickey

Zoom

Aim

Tess Preising (‘17) winds up and scores in the girls’ soccer team’s second league game of the year.

The Vikings defeated Gunn 2-1.

Photo by Christian Rider

Viking

Volume X, Issue 3 December 2016

Happy Holidays from our Viking family to yours!

Staff List

Editors-in-Chief Skylar Burris Steven Marinkovich Features Editor Quinn Knoblock Design Editors Samantha Guillet Talia Malchin Multimedia Editors Ryan Chang Peter Snodgrass Copy Editor Jamie Cullen

News Editors Ben Cleasby Ethan Stern Photo Editors Haley Chalmers Christian Rider Columnists Ben Cleasby Peter Snodgrass Business Manager Bryan Look

Staff Writers Sabrina Hall Max Jung-Goldberg Hayley Levine Tess Preising Dillon Scheel Nick Smallwood Mara Zenger Videographer Alec Cohen-Schisler Photographer David Hickey Staff Advisor Brian Wilson

Viking Magazine Palo Alto High School 50 Embarcadero Road Palo Alto, CA 94301 650-329-3837 Email contact: vikingeds@gmail.com Advertising and Sponsorship Contact: vikingads@gmail.com Viking, a sports magazine published by the students in Palo Alto High School’s Advanced Magazine Journalism class, is an open forum for student expression and the discussion of issues of concern to its readership. The Viking is distributed to its readers and the student body at no cost. The staff welcomes letters to the editor, but reserves the right to edit all submissions for length, grammar, potential libel, invasion of privacy and obscenity.

Advertising in Viking The staff publishes advertisements with signed contracts providing they are not deemed by the staff inappropriate for the magazine’s audience. For more information about advertising with The Viking, please contact the The Viking by email at vikingeds@gmail.com Printing Services 2,500 copies of The Viking are printed, six times a year by Fricke-Parks Press in Fremont, Calif.

Logo Font Courtesy of Måns Grebäck All photos taken from Creative Commons unless noted

From the editors Dear readers, ARE. YOU. READY. FOR. The third issue of Viking?

As fall sports wind down and temperatures start to drop, we here at Viking are gearing up for winter.

Viking would like to wish good luck to all you seniors who are just about to find out from all of your early action/early decision colleges. Additionally, good luck to those of you still applying at regular decision deadlines in January and, for the rest of you Paly students, best of luck with your finals and hopefully your first smester weny well. Regardless of what you have going on, make sure to take ad-

vantage of the cold, rainy days and curl up with a cup of cocoa and the latest issue of Viking.

Lucky for you, the Viking stories this issue will be worth curling up for. Our cover story, “Social Athletes” is written by Tess Preising (‘17), and Sabrina Hall (‘18).

It studies how social media has changed how professional athletes interact with their fans.

Our second feature this issue, “Runs in the Family,” by Skylar Burris (‘17), Dillon Scheel (‘17) and Bryan Look (‘18), dives into the Chryst family, both how their entire family bonds through sports and

how they each achieve great personal success because of it.

Another stand-out piece this issue is “Life in the Goal” by Hayley Levine (‘18) and Mara Zenger (‘17), who interviewed goalies on Paly sports team to study the difference between goalies’ lives and that of their teammates.

Finally, with all the winter sports kicking off recently, be sure to check out our winter sports previews, done by Max Jung-Goldberg and Ethan Stern (‘17).

Keep going Vikes, second semester is just around the corner! We hope you enjoy our newest issue of Viking.

See you next semester!

Skylar Burris Steven Marinkovich

Staff view

On mandatory practices over winter break For many students, there’s no time better than winter break. They get to enjoy hot cocoa, go skiing, and best of all, have two weeks off of school and responsibilities. Winter sport student athletes, however, are faced with the tedious and persistent issue of having to go to practice over breaks. Often times athletes face even longer and more strict practices that prevent them from enjoying their breaks and restricts them from being able to go on trips and spend time with family.

The hot issue that’s coming up for winter sports athlete are practices over winter break. Viking has taken a stance on the issue, declaring that practices over winter break should be held, but not be mandatory.

Without a doubt these practices are beneficial for each sports program, but they’re more of nuisance for the average student athlete than beneficial. The holiday season is meant to be a relaxing and enjoyable for students, and Viking believes having practices over break overcomplicates and causes unneeded stress to students’ breaks.

We believe that, since practice over break is beneficial to the team, it should be optional for players to show up for practices of winter break. This way, if players want to catch up on sleep, college applications, and other important activities they can do so, before going to their practices.

This also allows for the athletes involved to spend time with family and loved ones over the holiday seasons.

We all agree that family is important, and sports limit the time that is able to be spent with our loved ones. Some student athletes even have to stay at home while their family goes off on exotic vacations to far off and crazy destinations, just so they can attend their sports practices.

At the same time, many will argue that mandatory practices are what make Paly sports teams as successful as they are now. Without them, the team doesn’t progress and reach their full potential.

We understand that when students decide to play a sport, they’re committing to the sport, but that doesn’t mean they enjoy practices over breaks. Some just love their sport, and as a result, tolerate

the bother that these practices are.

Another strong alternative to the intense practice schedule over winter break could be less mandatory practices. Rather than making the players practice all, but three days of the break, they could increase that number.

By giving kids five to six days off this would allow for the athletes to enjoy their breaks and maybe even go on a short trip. It could also be beneficial for each team as it would allow for the team to be healthy before league performances begin.

All and all, these practices are more of a negative than a positive to each team and its players. The players need the rest from both school and sports in order to recuperate for a tough second semester ahead. These same student athletes deserve the gift of spending time with their family and loved ones, and they cannot do this with constant practices over the time off. Finally, student athletes deserve a time to relax and enjoy what many call the “most wonderful time of the year.”

From the whole Viking staff we hope you have a great holiday season.

pop culture grid WHAT DO PALY ATHLETES SAY?

Will Schmutz (‘18) Basketball

Michel Ange Siaba (‘17) Soccer

Sara Aguilar (‘17) Wrestling

Emily Tomz (‘18) Girls Soccer

All I want for Christmas is...

New Socks

A new life

More Sleep

My two front teeth

Ski

Ski or Snowboard?

Ski

Snowboard

Snowboard

Who will win the College Football Playoff?

Michigan

Arkansas

Not sure

Who?

Louisville

The presents

No School

Generous Atmosphere and Family

Snow

Mannequin Challenge is...

Elite

Stupid

Art

Creative but overused

Presents

Lit

Viking Word Search Find the Paly winter athletes!

MILES TENTION (Basketball) DARROW HORNIK (Soccer) JACK STOKSIK (Soccer) LAUREN KOYAMA (Basketball) SETH GOYAL (Wrestling)

M Q H L Y N T A R T D A H L U

J I Y Z A J Y R S N U Z P S N

P V L X C O V F F R Q M Z U Y

K I T E G Y B Y E W K E I N S

B K C H S S J N N X U H L O P

S M T X V T K G V X F M S Z Z

T E C B R O E P G X G R D R I

S T O E Y E X N B N G M K K S

S Y T A Z C H T T Z H W S O G

W M M S B A B T Q I A K K Z D

D A D E P W G U M Y O J W N X

B Y A K R S T L F I D N G H G

Beats

Ski

Favorite thing about the holidays?

V S M O N W V Z L X H N L X A

Grace Thayer (‘20) Girls Basketball

D Q R I R R S Y L B V M L T I

Y A R V J T E E W F Z V Y E Y

E L O O S L B Z E Q O Z E A J

M Q W K I T F T N G Q K S U J

R E H S U G X Q U P E I J P V

Y U O J T I H O O V U W M A K

J C R R P I A Q C N U H V N I

M C N Q W Z P Q V V G N C H O

F N I B B M N R Y I U F D C B

F N K A W G Q M A J A Y L R J

J A C K S T O K S I K N R L X

H U T X U Y Q T B V H W Y J X

Viking Magazine

sat down with Paly Soccer’s own Yahli Malchin (‘17) and asked him 10 questions. We then also asked his coach, friend and teammate how Yahli would respond. Here are the results...

10 questions with

as told to Ryan Chang

Yahli Malchin (‘17) Soccer

?

yahliMALCHIN(‘17) Don Briggs Head Coach

Jack Stoksik (‘17) Teammate

Chinmay Tyagi (‘17) Friend

Questions Definitely megs

Favortie thing about soccer?

Scoring

Winning

Getting megs

Brian Tracy

Funniest teammate?

Brian TRacy

Brian tracy

if it’s club then its me but high school is brian tracy

Arsenal

Favorite team?

Arsenal

Arsenal

Arsenal

Bar Rafaeli

Celebrity crush?

Peter Johnson’s sister

Bar rafaeli

Drake

Nittai

Favorite sibling?

Talia

Nittai

Talia

Calculus

Favorite subject?

Choir

Biology

Biology

being the oldest

Favorite part of being a senior?

Bossing the underclassmen

College apps

college apps

ym

Nickname?

Yahli mahli

La pulga

“3 in 1 night”

Favorite TV show?

Men in blazers

The Office

The Office

Favorite athlete?

Alexis Sanchez

Santi cazorla

Alexis Sanchez

20%

60%

40%

The office santi cazorla

inside the mind of (‘18)

Jared Wulburn as told to Jamie Cullen

ON TRANSITION TO PALY

My transition to paly has been great. Once we found out my dad got the Stanford job, I immediately got registered at Paly so I was able to play with the basketball team in the summer. Right off the bat I mixed perfectly with the guys and loved playing with them. Miles [Tention (‘17)] and I got along great to begin with since both our dads are Division I basketball coaches and we had great chemistry on the court. School wise I got used to block schedule pretty quickly and have enjoyed every minute of being a Paly Viking.

ON TEAMMATES

I love my teammates. We’re all pretty close for the most part and they were extremely welcoming of me being the “new guy.” I’ve always thought that as teammates you have to be close to one another and come together as brothers. This year we’ve done that and we all know what we have the potential of accomplishing this season.

ON STANFORD BASKETBALL

So far they’ve done pretty well. With the talent level that we have, defense will be a a big part of the success the team has. Reid Travis and Dorian Pickens will be the keys to success on both ends of the floor this year as well as next year. With the staff we had at UAB, once we got the recruits that we put the time into and devoted recruiting too, the program picked up and UAB became a household name in college basketball.

ON THE BASKETBALL SEASON

Basketball is going great. We just finished up our preseason with a scrimmage at Menlo and we dominated through the entire game.

We came out and punched them in the face and attacked their weaknesses extremely well.

We’re all excited to get it rolling and show that we can make big things happen this year.

Winter SPORTS PREVIEWS

by MAX JUNG-GOLDBERG and ETHAN STERN

Wrestling

Players to Watch: Seth Goyal (‘17), Sara Aguilar (‘17), Bryan Tsang (‘18) Key Losses: Did not have any seniors last season

Overview: Last season was a difficult one for the wrestling team, suffering from a small roster of players, many of whom were first year participants. The team did not have a single senior and the limited experience played a significant role in the team’s overall performance. But that should not change this year. “Last season was pretty tough, since there were only about fifteen people on the team,” Bryan Tsang (‘18) of the team said. “A lot of the first year wrestlers like me had to be pushed up to varsity since there weren’t enough people on the team. There are a lot of new faces this year, mostly freshmen and sophomores. Some of the freshmen came from middle school wrestling which helps with the experience level of our team. As for the returning wrestlers, we have continued to improve ourselves greatly.”

Last year leadership was thin, but, returning seniors Seth Goyal and Sara Aguilar have filled those roles for the team.

“They are the only seniors on the team so they have the age over us and both are incredibly skilled at wrestling,” Cooper Kim (‘18) said. “Lots of new wrestlers and wrestlers trying to get better look up to them as role models. They have the most experience in high school wrestling and can offer great guidance and are all around good people so that’s a plus.”

This new positive environment the program has created brings excitement for the upcoming wrestling season.

DECEMBER 2016

Girls' Basketball

Players to Watch: Lauren Koyama (‘17), Carly Leong (‘18), Skylar Burris (‘17) Key Losses: Maddy Atwater (‘16), Coco Lovely (‘16), Lex Harris (‘16) Overview: This year will be a story of new roles for the girls basketball team. Last year was a spectacular year with a tight knit group that had been playing basketball together outside of Paly for a long time. The balance of chemistry and skill the team harnessed resulted in a CCS championship. The team was led by seniors Maddy Atwater (‘16), Coco Lovely (‘16), and Lex Harris (‘16). With these three key players gone from the team, the girls lack their rebounding presence and main ball handler. This is not to say that the 2016-2017 teams won’t be able to handle their own. A fierce sharp shooting one-two-punch of Lauren Koyama (‘17) and Carly Leong (‘18), will return from last season. This team is looking to make a run back to back years. Koyama believes with a few adjustments, the team will reach success.

“If we adjust to a new type of play that makes up for the lack of rebounds while taking advantage of the talented guards we have we should be able to be a solid team,” Koyama said.

With the rest of the league looking to take down this powerhouse, Koyama and the whole Lady Vikes basketball team is ready to fight to keep their spot atop of the league and compete in the CCS playoffs.

16 | T H E V I K I N G |

w w w. v i k i n g s p o r t s m a g . c o m

Boys' Basketball

Players to Watch: Miles Tention (‘17), Max Dorward (‘18), Bryant Jefferson (‘18), Jack Simison (‘17) Key Losses: Justin Hull (‘16) Overview: The headline of last year’s boys basketball season was that they were always one step away from being a great team. That final touch the team needed was experience, Now that the team has had a year to mature with minimal losses in terms of numbers, even with the superstar Justin Hull (‘16) graduating last year, this year’s projections seem to be very favorable. With losses to rival Gunn and an early exit from last year’s playoff tournament given by Cupertino, the team will be coming out hot.

Coach Peter Diepenbrock has made a strategic change to lean on the team’s full court press more heavily in hopes of keeping opponents uncomfortable throughout the game.

Junior shooting guard Spencer Rojahn’s thoughts on the defensive changes were positive, “It means we have to get in better shape which we have through more conditioning and lifting over the off-season. I believe that it will create easy scoring opportunities which was something we were missing last year.”

With more roster spots being covered this year, the boys basketball team is set up for success.

Senior Jack Simison is hopeful for the season, “Our tough loss last year will help us mentally for the playoffs this year… Our goal is to win league and get into the open division for CCS and compete like we always do from there.”

Girls' Soccer

Players to Watch: Reilly Filter (‘17) Emily Tomz (‘18), Darrow Hornik (‘18) Key Losses: Jacey Pederson (‘16), Ansley Queen (‘16), Heidi Moeser (‘16), Allison Lu (‘16), Nika Woodfill (‘16)

Boys' Soccer

Players to Watch: Neil Verwillow (‘17), Matt Knowles (‘18), Xander Sherer (‘18) Key Losses: Alessandro Reale (‘16), Ariya Momeny (‘16), Cam Huard (‘16), Cole Tierney (‘16), Dami Bolarinwa (‘16), Declan Cassini (‘16), Eli Friedlander (‘16), Reuben Kramer (‘16), Roberto Sotelo (‘16), Sid Srinivasan (‘16), Max Hallberg (‘16) Overview: The boys soccer team is coming off of an outstanding season where they went undefeated in regular season play and were SCVAL champions. They then advanced into the open division bracket of the Central Coast Section playoffs, but lost in the first round to Watsonville. Falling short of their goal last season has given this year’s group fire and drive to get back into the playoffs.

“We want to win league, and then win C.C.S, simple as that,” Matt Knowles (‘18) said. “Last year’s loss has made us extra motivated to win it this year.”

The team loses 11 players from the 2016 class but the returning seniors have all the capability to step and fill those roles this year.

“I don’t think we are going to have any problem in terms of leadership,” Senior Captain Neil Verwillow said. “I was a captain my junior year so I’ll be expected to step up and fill some leadership positions. There are a couple other guys, namely Jack Stoksik and Derek Schoenberger, who both made varsity their freshmen year and are starting to handle a bit more of the load on the team.”

The team has all the pieces to make a deep run into the C.C.S. playoffs and they have a chip on their shoulder that motivates them and makes the boys soccer team one to reckon with.

Overview: After a successful 2015-2016 campaign the girls soccer team looks to continue rolling into another strong season. Finishing in second place in the SCVAL regular season standings just behind rival Mountain View, the team compiled a 16-2-1 overall record and qualified for the Central Coast Section open playoffs. Unfortunately, the team suffered a devastating loss to Archbishop Mitty in the first round of CCS last year. The strong 2016 senior class that included Jacey Pederson, Ansley Queen, Heidi Moeser, Allison Lu, and Nika Woodfill have all moved on to college, but that is not keeping this year’s team down. They look to dominate league and advance deep into the open division of CCS. “Our goal for the season is to win the league, make it all the way to the CCS finals like two years ago, and this time take home the victory,” Emily Tomz (‘18), a returning center mid, said.

Centerback Reilly Filter (‘17) said, “We lost some really great seniors, but I still think we stand a chance winning the league and CCS without them.”

New leadership will have to step up this year for the Lady Vikes soccer team, but they are ready to prevail as league champions and compete for a CCS championship.

DECEMBER 2016

BY THE NUMBERS: The Distribution of Sports Among Teachers Other - 21% Track and Field 13% Volleyball - 5% Tennis - 5% Cross Country - 5% Swimming - 5% Baseball/Softball - 11%

54 total responses 114 total sports

Soccer - 10% Football - 10% Basketball - 15%

Teacher Athletes

by TALIA MALCHIN and PETER SNODGRASS

Teachers Who Played Varsity College Sports Did not play - 59.3% Played - 40.7%

“

MOMENTS OF GLORY...

I was the 13 year-old world champion in BMX racing in 1983, a title I won while racing in Slagharen, Holland.

-CRAIG BARK I once had the fastest 20 yard slit of the electronically timed 40 yard dash in school history. Not sure if it still stands. We beat LSU and Georgia while I was there. That was a lot of fun! I believe I was All Academic SEC one year. I didn't have a lot of playing time though but a good time was had by all.

- CHARLES TAYLOR

My competitive dance team placed 1st Overall at many of our competitions. We won Best Overall for our lyrical routines my 9th grade year, and often received Platinum awards, which is the highest category given at a competition. My senior year of high school, our Varsity dance team went to Nationals and placed as well.

-ALANNA WILLAMSON

Inducted into the Lewis and Clark College Sports Hall of Fame for my tennis career.

-DEBBIE WHITSON

”

BOYSV. GIRLS The Natural Gap:

Comparing the physiological differences between male and female athletes.

HORMONES Higher estrogen levels allow females to store more body fat than males; the leanest female athletes have approximately 8% body fat while males have approximately 4%.

Females tend to have more flexible joints, giving them a greater range of motion.

Testosterone enables males to have larger skeletal structures.

Males have a larger proportion of Type 2 muscle fibers, which are used to generate power, strength, and speed.

Testosterone increases production of red blood cells, which absorb oxygen, giving males an aerobic advantage, increasing stamina.

Males have larger muscles which hold more glycogen (sugar that you use for energy) so they are able to “work� for longer, leading to higher stamina.

by TALIA MALCHIN and MARA ZENGER

ACHIEVEMENT GAP

INJURIES

The mean difference in Olympic performance has been about 10% between men and women for all events.

Girls are more prone to knee and shoulder injuries because of weaker surrounding muscles and looser supporting tissues, making their joints less stable.

The mean gap in Olympic events is 10.7% for running, 8.9% for swimming, and 17.5% for jumping.

When performances improve, the improvements are proportional for each gender.

NCAA free throw and three-point shooting percents are almost identical.

Over the past century, men’s Olympic swimming times have improved less than women’s times have.

Girls are more prone to concussions because they have weaker necks.

Injuries are especially common in the foot or lower leg (tibia) among women with the “female athlete triad,” a combination of inadequate calorie and nutrient intake, irregular menstrual periods, and bone loss. Eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa, contribute to this triad.

Flat feet and abnormal alignment of the girls’ feet contribute to small tears in the supporting tissues along their arches and heels.

Girls have more pelvic misalignment which can cause joint pain and muscular strains.

Studies conducted by the University of Florida and Stanford have shown that men have higher pain tolerances than women.

Photo of Keller Chryst courtesy of Bob Drebin

RUNS IN THE FAMILY

22 | T H E V I K I N G |

The Chryst family has made a name for itself nationally. Viking dives into how they stay connected through football.

by SKYLAR BURRIS, BRYAN LOOK, and DILLON SCHEEL

w w w. v i k i n g s p o r t s m a g . c o m

Photo of Jackson Chryst courtesy of David Hickey

E

very family has a legacy: something that is passed down from generation to generation. For some, their legacy is an heirloom or a tradition; for the Chryst family, that legacy is football. Many families may claim to be united through sport, showing their passion as fans by buying season tickets or committing to watching every game live, but the Chryst’s take it a step further, dedicating their passion to football on the field as well as off.

The Chryst family has deep roots in Palo Alto High School athletics; Keller Chryst

(‘14) played varsity football for three years, after spending his freshman year in North Carolina, and varsity basketball for one year, Gillian Chryst (‘15) played varsity volleyball for three years and varsity basketball for two years, and Jackson Chryst (‘19) started as quarterback on the varsity football team as a sophomore, his first year on the team. However, the family’s engagement in sports did not begin at Paly.

George Chryst, the grandfather of Keller, Gillian, and Jackson, spent 14 years as the head football coach at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, and

before that he coached at the University of Wisconsin and at a nearby high school for 16 years. He raised five kids: Cathy, Dolly, George (Geep), Paul, and Rick Chryst. George Sr. was an adorned coach and mentor, and his son Paul credits his father with his coaching techniques to this day.

“That’s all that drove him were the players, and that I know I got from him,” Paul said in an interview with TribLIVE after his father’s passing in 2014. “It was just to give the players the best chance. I hold that pretty tight.”

Paul is currently the head coach for

DECEMBER 2016

Photo courtesy of Shelley Chryst

Above: Keller Chryst (‘14) carries the ball as the running back for a youth football team in North Carolina.

Left: Jackson Chryst(‘19) shoots a three pointer as a young child.

Photo courtesy of Shelley Chryst

Right: Gillian Chryst (‘15) drives for the basket in a home matchup against Gunn during her senior year.

the University of Wisconsin, who compete in the Big 10 Division I football team. Paul also played football in college. He attended the University of Wisconsin and played as a quarterback. George Sr.’s oldest son, Rick, played baseball at the University of Notre Dame.

However, he still found his way into football after becoming the commissioner of the Mid-American Conference in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletics.

Geep, Paul’s older brother, is Keller, Gillian, and Jackson’s father, and also happens to be the former quarterback coach and offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers. He worked with the team from 2011 to 2015. Prior to being with the 49ers, he worked with the Carolina Panthers and the Arizona Cardinals.

In his college days, he played football for Princeton as a linebacker.

With career background in mind, it’s hard to argue that the Chryst family does anything but embrace the world of sports. Almost everyone in the family is involved with athletics of some kind, whether professionally or unprofessionally. Despite the geographical distance between between the Chryst family, football always manages to bridge those gaps.

“Football also brings our extended family together [with] my [Uncle Paul] at Wisconsin,” Gillian said.

“I think it’s really cool that my cousins know [what] it’s like to grow up moving around for football so much.”

For a week or two every summer, the Chryst family reunites at their cabin in Wisconsin. According to Jackson, they talk about what happened in the past year and their plans for the future, but the conversation almost always focuses on football.

“Our whole family is rooted in football,” Jackson said. “It’s different than most families because, I don’t know how other families bond, but [we bond through] football. That’s something easy we can always talk about.”

Of course, being so football-oriented has more benefits than just being a conversation starter at family reunions. With a National Football League (NFL) quarterback coach as a father and a starting Division I quarterback as a brother, Jackson knows he's lucky.

“The good things are that I can always go to [Keller or my dad] for help or [they] can help me with anything that I need more understanding with,” Jackson said. “[I] definitely have connections to the football world, so if

[I] want to go places to play football, [I] really can.”

After a game, Jackson knows he can count on his father to help break down film with him, and encourage him to work hard to get better. If he has any questions, Geep is there to answer them. Over the summer, Keller will work out with Jackson to improve his skills.

Sometimes Keller will even take Jackson over to Stanford to use the facilities there, and Jackson gets a feel for what it is like to be a Division I Athlete. According to Jackson, Keller’s support is a major motivation to be the best he can be. Jackson’s mom, Shelley, also acts as a support system for all her kids.

“My mom is more caring and she doesn’t really [get down on me based on] how I play one day,” Jackson said. “She’s usually there to say, ‘It’s alright’ or, ‘There’s always the next day.’”

Gillian noticed a similar level of support from her mother: “My mom is our number one fan and would always take us to every practice, team event, and game.”

Shelley’s constant love and care is what allowed the kids to lay down a strong foundation in sports; they could commit and take their passion for sports to the next level knowing that they had always someone there to lean on. As a coach at the highest level of competition, Geep is busy. This means a lot of responsibility falls on Shelley to shuttle her kids from one practice to the next and being there on the sideline at the games.

Still, all the kids would agree that Geep affirms their interests with heartfelt support.

Gillian remembers one specific moment where Geep’s presence meant a lot to her: “My senior year of high school he made it to my senior night against Gunn and saw me play the whole game and I didn’t even know he was in the stands until after the game was over,” Gillian said.

Jackson fully recognizes his father’s support, too, especially with regards to his football life. Jackson said, “My dad will help me break down film. He’ll encourage me to work harder.”

Geep does whatever he can to work closely with his kids. Gillian was also able to further describes Geep’s support for her brothers’ football lives saying, “I always see my dad helping and coaching the boys up on plays or giving them small bites of advice when they are at home looking at their tap or watching football on TV.”

“Our family is rooted in football...

That’s something we can always talk about.”

– Jackson Chryst (‘19)

Photo courtesy of Shelley Chryst

DECEMBER 2016

When Geep is around, he makes his time spent with his kids meaningful. His years of coaching experience helps him provide insight that has proven to have a meaningful impact on both Keller’s and Jackson’s playing. Thanks to their father’s involvement, both boys were introduced to the game at an early age.

Jackson first started playing football around the same age that he started kindergarten. After watching his brother play; he knew immediately that he too wanted to play. He started out playing in the backyard with his brother and dad, and started playing competitive flag football at the YMCA that same year. From there, his love for football took off.

Jackson recalls one of his most exciting memories was that his first touchdown was a pick-six.

“Well, I started playing really young with my brother, and that was when I first fell in love with it,” Jackson said. “We both spent a lot of time playing football, and obviously my dad was coaching football so I spent a lot of time around football and realized I really liked it.”

Despite the long list of positive experiences, there are a few drawbacks to being committed to athletics the way the Chryst family is. One being having to move whenever Geep switches teams to coach. Keller and Gillian were both born in Arizona while their dad was working with the Cardinals.

From there, the Chrysts moved to San Diego where Jackson was born, back to Arizona, to Wisconsin, North Carolina, and finally settled in the Bay Area. " T h e downsides of moving are leaving your friends behind and the fear of it messing up school,” Gillian said. “Other than that it would be not having the same house that is a home, by that I mean a lot of my friends have lived in their house all their life, but for us we have moved so many times it is just a roof over our heads.

I have moved to six different states in 13 years and that doesn’t even account for

all of the different times I have moved houses!”

Even though moving has been taxing, Gillian always manages to look on the bright side.

“I have moved a total of [six] times, but it just made me really good at making friends,” Gillian said. “Thankfully we have been in [Palo Alto] for a while now and the fact that Keller plays across the street from where we all went to school is super cool.”

Moving has become a normality as a result of being the kids of an NFL coach, but staying in the shadows of a family member or sibling is something that almost all families can relate to. From academics to extracurriculars, there’s always a sense of competition in the family, and with competition comes pressure.

Jackson has the unique opportunity of being able to learn and follow in his brother’s footsteps. Of course having a brother who plays Division I football is really hard too; there’s a lot of expectations that come along with that.

“I can always go to him for help or he can help me with anything that I need more understanding with,” Jackson said. “[But] there’s a lot of pressure on me to succeed considering he’s done so well in football and I feel bad if I don’t succeed as much as him.”

This occurrence of passing down talents and ideas from generation to generation in a family is not a new one, yet it forms forms a special bond within a family. Families that share serious common hobbies are pretty rare, but they allow each unique member to contribute something to these common ideals.

Of course, the Chrysts aren’t the first family to employ this strategy to find success and unity.

Fa m i l i e s such as the Harbaughs, the Mannings, the Currys and many others have also shared success in the sports world throughout a family tree.

Paly graduate Jim Harbaugh (‘82) is also from a family full of football. Jim played both football and basketball after moving to Paly before his junior year and went on to play college football at Michigan and played 15 seasons in the NFL.

“My mom is our number one fan and would always take us to every practice, team event, and game.”

– Gillian Chryst (‘15)

Photo courtesy of Paly Madrono 2014

His father, Jack, coached high school and college football for nearly 50 years including 14 years as the head football coach at Western Kentucky University.

His brother, John, has been coaching football since 1984 and is currently in his ninth season as the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens.

Obviously the connection between the Jack, John and Jim has grown and strengthe n e d through football.

Both Jack and John learned a lot from their father.

“That’s why Jim and I are coaching, because of our dad,” John said in an interview with Echo Entertainment in 2011.

“You grow up and you watch your father and that becomes your idol I think. That’s maybe the job of a dad; be a role model for your kids.”

“My dad, I say this with all honesty and sincerity, is one of the greatest coaches to ever coach high school or college football,” Jim said in the same interview.

Both John and Jim clearly have a great amount of respect for their father. Using his leadership and hard work of their own, both Jim and John have been more visibly successful than their father Jack.

The two brothers faced off in Super Bowl XLVII as the coaches of the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens respectively. The game was nicknamed the “Harbaugh Bowl.”

Another uniquely athletic family that is also quite connected to Paly is the Pedersons. Father Stu Pederson played in a handful of games with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Children Joc (‘10) and Tyger (‘08) both played college baseball and Jacey (‘16) is currently playing soccer at UCLA. Joc went on to also play for the Dodgers and was selected to the 2015 NL All Star Team. The oldest child, Champ (‘06), is a motivational speaker and was highlighted in the cover story of Viking 10.2.

Champ has Down syndrome, but that has never held him back from enjoying the athletic world with his family. He has both learned a lot from and taught his siblings a lot to help them in the sports world.

“I know I definitely wouldn’t be where I

am without my parents and the way they raised me,” Joc said in an article in the Players’ Tribune. “Champ has always kept our family close and brought us together. I don’t think we would be the family we are without him.”

It is truly compelling to watch families like the Harbaughs and Pedersons achieve such a high level of success in the sports w o r l d .

When we dig deeper we can find that there is a method behind such miraculous achievement. In both of these Palo Alto examples, the families united under one common passion. Their lives revolve around their love for this passion; the parents offer supporting examples and the siblings compete for success. We may have a hold in yet another Palo Alto legend with the Chryst family. Their passion for the game of football creates an atmosphere similar to that of the Harbaughs and Pedersons. Three College level coaches, one Division I Athlete, and a family filled with support and competition, the Chrysts are a recipe for success in the world of football.

“My dad, I say this with all honesty and sincerity, is one of the greatest coaches to ever coach high school or college football,” – Jim Harbaugh (‘82)

5-0 11 2 130.8

Record

Total Touchdowns

Interceptions Passer Rating

[Keller Chryst as a starter at Stanford]

Photo courtesy of Bob Drebin

VIKING SCIENCE with

JACK STOKSIK

by SAM GUILLET and BRYAN LOOK

Going into his senior season, Jack Stoksik (‘17) is looking like a star for the boys’ soccer team. The left-footed midfielder is primed for a big season. To learn more about his skills, we put him to the test in the second installment of Viking Science.

5.5 seconds

Viking wanted to test Stoksik’s dribbling skills so we asked him to perform a four cone zig zag dribbling drill as diagrammed to the right.

During his best trial, Stoksik completed the drill in just 5.5 seconds. He touched the ball seven times with his left foot and six times with his right for a total of 13 touches and 2.4 touches per second.

Stoksik is also a very talented shooter. Along with being able to shoot screamers as diagrammed below, Stoksik also showed us his ability on finesse shots. On a few free kicks from just outside the box to the right of the goal, Stoksik was quite impressive as he bent shots to the far post using his dominant left foot. We measured him, using a marked soccer ball and a slow motion camera, imparting an impressive 1500 degrees per second spin horizontally on the ball. According to ESPN Sports Science, during Lionel Messi’s goal against Iran in the 2014 World Cup he imparted 2100 degrees per second of spin.

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Ben

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28 | T H E V I K I N G |

peak angular velocity:

1400˚ per second

w w w. v i k i n g s p o r t s m a g . c o m

viking t ries:

juice cleanse

H

ere at Viking, we have taken advantage of this recurring “Viking Tries” short to try a plethora of different sports. From competitive eating to more standard sports such as beach volley-

and their diet: a juice cleanse.

Viking’s very own Editor-in-Chief, Steven Marinkovich, along with his close friend and fellow staff member (Coby BEN CLEASBY and STEVEN MAR Head Columnist/Co-News INKOVICH Editor) Ben Cleasby were the two members of the staff who took it upon themselves to think outside the box and experience a juice cleanse for themselves.

A juice cleanse is where, for a set time period, you only drink juices (no food) in an attempt to try and clean out your system as well as potentially lose weight. The effects of a juice cleanse are hotly debated in this social media driven world. While some online articles say that a juice cleanse is counterproductive and just makes Photo by Steven Marinkovich people eat more when they finish, Pressed Juicery’s pamball, we have nearly exhausted all of the phlet on cleanses claims that a cleanse is sports us at Viking could try. simply a “fresh start” or a “do-over for our This issue, the staff decided to go down bodies.” a different route, trying something that Despite the debate, Ben and Steven could have a profound effect on athletes thought a cleanse would be fascinating

to experience themselves so they could make their own judgements.

The two Viking members headed down to Stanford Mall and popped into Pressed Juicery to get their materials for this cleanse. Both rookies to the game, Ben and Steven opted for a one day cleanse instead of the three day cleanse or the full week cleanse.

The cleanse consisted of six different juices for the day, varying from ‘Vanilla Almond’ to ‘Greens 3’ and ‘Roots 2.’

While both Ben and Steven had no idea what was coming for them, they walked into school on that morning of the juice cleanse with distinct optimism.

“I’m kind of excited,” Ben said. “It may absolutely suck, but just think about how refreshed we will feel when we’re done.

We’ll be like new people.”

The six juices were to be drank within two hours of each other. Ben and Steven began with their first juice of the day at 10 A.M. and had another every two hours from that point on. The first couple of juices were fine, with no real negatives to report in terms of taste or how the two staff members felt.

“The one thing that was really hard to deal with was watching other people eat at brunch and lunch,” Steven said. “Espe-

cially because our friends knew we were cleansing, they did not make it easy.”

The two staff members started to feel the pain of the cleanse on their third juice.

As the two of them sat on the Senior Deck during an uneventful Flex Tutorial, they embarked on the juice that was known as ‘Roots 2,’ consisting of carrot, kale, romaine, spinach, parsley, apple, lemon, and ginger.

“My mom warned me about the Roots 2,” Ben said. “She does juice cleanses fairly regularly and she doesn’t even like how the Roots taste.”

Following their first setback of the day, the two went home and had to finish this adventure by themselves.

“The afternoon/evening/night was awful,” Steven said. “I just sat at home with nothing to do and had to keep taking down these juices. I wasn’t sure how much more liquid my body could take.”

Both Ben and Steven felt the desire to just stop the cleanse in the evening because it was getting really difficult, but they both powered through and knew since they made it so far, there was no point in stopping so close to the finish line.

Both of the staff members made it an

early night, just trying to get onto the next day so they could eat, but things didn’t exactly go to plan for one of the two.

“I went to bed at 10 P.M., which was all fine and good,” Steven said, “But then I woke up at midnight and had to use the bathroom. As soon as I reached the toilet, all the liquids just came out of me, I vomited. I was shocked, but I guess my body just couldn’t keep down all of that liquid.

Because of that, I wouldn’t recommend a juice cleanse to any of my friends. It just wasn’t worth it; it was a really awful experience.”

With an eventful ending to a long, strenuous day, the two finished their juice cleanses with similar, but also differing opinions of what they had experienced. Steven, as just stated, ended the day very anti-juice cleanse, while Ben was definitely more optimistic.

“I really didn’t enjoy it,” Ben said, “However, I could see why someone would do it. If you’re really committed to it, I’m sure you could get through the cleanse and experience the benefits more than Steven or I did. As someone who really had no motivation to do this juice cleanse, it was hard for me, but if someone really wants to do it, they could.”

Photo by Steven Marinkovich

GO !

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Would you like to advertise here?

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Viking Magazine would like to thank our sponsors..

Fara Marinkovich Alisa Stern Fred and Nancy Bjork Jackie Lin Caitlin Smallwood

Viking is fully funded by ads and sponsorships, if interested in supporting the magazine through a sponsorship please contact vikingads@ gmail.com

Lacrosse

Baseball ACCUSATIONS MADE: Baseball is more physically tiring False.

Baseball is more complicated False.

Baseball has been around longer False.

Lacrosse has Simple plays False.

Flow Not gonna deny this one

Jamie Cullen and Christian Rider argue against the accusations made by Peter Snodgrass and Ben Cleasby in the previous issue of Viking. WARNING: this is not meant to be taken literally.

This is a response to the Last Word column last issue. All staff members respect every sport.

L

by JAMIE CULLEN and CHRISTIAN RIDER ast issue there was an unjust article published that claimed baseball is better than lacrosse in nearly every category. Well, after thoroughly reading through our colleagues’ arguments, Viking’s very own lacrosse players are here to dismantle their arguments and explain why lacrosse is the superior sport.

First off, Snodgrass and Cleasby said that lacrosse is a “new sport.” Well, just like many political figures, they did not do their homework. Lacrosse has been around for much longer than baseball.

Lacrosse was created by the Native Americans as a way to please the creator, a substitute for war, and many other reasons. Lacrosse has been in America before baseball started to rear its ugly head into the American lifestyle.

Another argument from Snodgrass and Cleasby is lacrosse has too many simple plays. While this is not true, at least lacrosse plays can be drawn up. Baseball what are you going to draw up? How to steal a base? Anyone can run in a straight line without any obstacles in the way.

There are two situations in baseball that require any thinking: a pop fly (in which case you have to wait before you run to the next base until the other team either catches it or drops it) and a pickle.

In lacrosse, however, there are endless

situations. For example, what if there is a fast break off the face off? Or what to do when the ball is shot and you get the ball back? Or what to do on a clear.

If you can eat sunflower seeds or chew gum while playing a sport, it does not require any athletic skill. Saying baseball is more physically demanding is similar to saying that politicians never lie. It’s just false. After playing a baseball game, I never come off the field thinking ‘wow that was a physically demanding game.’

However, after every lacrosse game, after being on the field for the whole game, I am physically and mentally exhausted. A short burst sprint for a couple yards cannot be compared to a full field sprint for however long you are on the field for.

To play lacrosse, you need passion. Unlike other major league athletes, major lacrosse players aren’t given huge contracts. With a sport like baseball, half of the reason major league players seek baseball as a profession is because of the amount of money they receive. This makes the dream of playing baseball easily corrupted by money. However this corruption cannot happen in lacrosse simply because professionals are not paid that much. This emphasizes the fact that to play lacrosse professionally, you really need to be passionate about it.

You cannot look at all swag in a baseball helmet, baseball uniform, and baseball pants. The only feature of baseball that allows for any kind of swag is the sunglasses, but that lacks individuality.

In lacrosse, the helmet can look swaggy with a little bit of tilt, your flow hanging out the back, plus loads of different accessories can be used. Everyone can look unique and show off their swag.

And primarily to answer their question about why every great lacrosse player is an average baseball player: lacrosse players felt that their athletic ability was not being put to their actual potential and that their hair was not being flaunted enough. So they sought out a sport that allows them be an athlete and let their hair flow in the air.

DECEMBER 2016

Social Athletes

by SABRINA HALL and TESS PREISING

An in-depth look at what it means to be a professional athlete on social media, and the sponsorships, opinionated posts, and controversies that come along with it.

photo by Haley Chalmers

S

ocial media is often used to convey a person’s ideal image in an attempt to convince others that they are worthy of being followed and liked. As the impact of social media grows, the more necessary it becomes for athletes to learn how to use social media to their advantage. It is becoming harder to gain and maintain a large fanbase without incorporating social media. Therefore, in order to preserve popularity, many athletes believe social media to be a crucial aspect in gaining brand deals and big contracts, and also assisting in self-promotion.

Like any other celebrity, sports stars are reliant on their fans to stay relevant. Because tastes are always changing and constant online interaction is necessary to appease a large fan base, social media is the ideal tool to stay connected. From Twitter to Instagram, reaching out to fans and engaging with fans is an action that helps to change a celebrity’s image. Gone are the days where people are forced to gaze upon their favorite players during games and wonder about what life is like for a professional athlete; now these observers can glance at their respective social media accounts and get daily updates that lift the veil on the previously mysterious extravagant lives of professional athletes.

“If you’re an athlete who is using social media to promote your brand, and is able to financially gain from it, then that’s considered a success. That said, there are also athletes out there who use social media for only personal reasons (oftentimes, they like to troll just like anyone else). The end result is usually retweets, replies and more follows. If that’s what the athlete is trying to accomplish, then that’s considered a success as well,” PR and social media expert Chris Navalta said, when asked about the success of athletes who have a professional influence over their social media accounts.

According to Forbes, 20.5% of internet

users have Twitter accounts, a number that is projected to grow up to 4% by 2018. Considering the stag- g e r i n g number of people who are online, the impact that Twitter

“Putting players front-and-center on social media can help fans connect to their favourite team members or sporting heroes and set the stage for exciting, shareable content, which can help enhance your brand’s profile. Players and athletes are key in enabling sponsors to connect with the audience in a way that doesn’t seem like a sales pitch, this way people are more receptive to the message,” said the blog Crowdsight.

Sponsored posts can cost companies thousands of dollars, especially if the desired athlete is well-known. However, these deals are imperative if a company wants their products to be advertised successfully.

“There’s a lot of money to be made when it comes to posting on social media through endorsements and sponsored content. I anticipate players like LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant would be paid close to [$10,000 per tweet]. But even if you’re not at the

h a s worldwide is vital to the success of athletes longing for a high level of fame along with the franchises eager to stay relevant. The NFL’s recent deal with Twitter marks an important effort to reach a younger, more diverse audience; viewers of Thursday night football can now livestream games and watch from anywhere. This digital footage on Twitter can now reach audiences across the globe, and people can watch for free Observers can glance at their during the course of the 2016 NFL Regular Season. respective social media “As your audience diversifies, accounts and get daily as their viewing habits diversify, your distribution models updates that lift the veil on the have to follow,” said Elizabeth previously mysterious Lindsey, Wasserman’s (a sports management agency) manextravagant lives of aging partner of brands and professsional athletes. properties. “You went from prime time broadcast to cable.

You went from online viewing to mobile apps. Now we’re getting to social.” level of those players, you can still make In the world of professional athlet- decent coin just from typing 140 characics, athletes not only have to sell them- ters,” Navalta said. selves, but products as well. Athletes are The kinds of sponsorships made availtheir own brand, and if they gain a large able to each athlete depends on their enough following, hundreds of compa- area of expertise. Brands will usually only nies will want to begin partnerships want to support an athlete that is directly with that athlete and the image relevant to the product they are trying to they have created for themselves. sell, but this can change occasionally. It This partnership will thus result is generally harder if the company wants in more popularity for not an athlete to sponsor a certain product only the athlete, but also the outside of their specific sport, because product. most people will not be intrigued by an Using social media as advertisement if it appears that the moda means of advertising el does not associate with the brand. has achieved an im“Typically the brands that are most remense growth in pop- lated to the specific sport (or endemic) ularity among compa- are the most common for sponsorship. nies around the world, For example, I represent endurance athand paying athletes for letes so footwear is by far the most comsponsored posts allows mon, followed by clothing and nutrition. for the product to reach Non-endemic (or sponsors not related to the eyes of millions. the sport) are more rare and typically ath

DECEMBER 2016

Draymond Green

(@money23green)

Sport: Basketball, power forward on the Warriors Instagram Followers: 1.7M Twitter Followers: 685,000 What they post: Sponsored brand deals (Nike, Smile Direct Club), pictures with teammates, proof of charitable acts, support of Michigan State (his alma mater) Fanbase: Mainly Warriors fans, and those who appreciate basketball Alex Morgan (@alexmorgan13)

Sport: Soccer, forward on the Orlando Pride in the NWSL and United States Women’s national soccer team Instagram Followers: 4.3M Twitter Followers: 2.77M What they post: Pictures with teammates and husband Servando Carrasco, sponsored brand deals (Nike, Procter & Gamble, Always), soccer related activities Fanbase: Those who appreciate soccer, fans of her sports illustrated covers

letes have to have worldwide notoriety to be able to get those sponsorships. (e.g., LeBron James being sponsored by Sprite Soda)” Chris Douglas, President of Presidio Sports Management, said.

Some athletes, due to the business gained from using social media correctly, choose to bring in outside management to help them run their respective accounts. This will allow the athlete to not feel stressed by the types of posts they should publish in order to gain popularity, and instead focus more on their own private life.

“Athletes have so much on their mind on a day-to-day basis.

During the season, they’re studying their playbook, viewing game film of their opponents, getting to practice on time. And they still have their own personal to-do lists to think about. While some pro athletes manage their own social media accounts, others simply don’t have the time to focus on it. Some athletes are still trying to understand why social media is important to their brand. So what happens is that they turn to savvy professionals who understand how to convey the athlete’s message efficiently,” Navalta said.

However, there always remains a struggle of how often and when to post on social media in order to achieve maximum recognition. There have been instances where many fans will un-

“Athletes have so much on their mind on a day-to-day basis. During the season, they’re studying their playbook, viewing game film of their opponents, getting to practice on time. And they still have their own personal to-do lists to think about.

While some pro athletes manage their own social media accounts.”

- Chris Navalta, PR and Social Media Expert follow a popular athlete due to repeated posts taking up their feeds or boring content posted. Therefore it is important to not only post what benefits the athlete, but also center the posts around what the fans would want, in order to increase the popularity of the athlete.

“Whether it’s a company or professional athlete, I’ve been taught to limit social media posts to 3-4 times a week. Quality is better than quantity in this case. That said, there are times when it’s necessary to post multiple times per day. Such times include promoting a guest appearance, or “live tweeting” while watching a game. Fans tend to like that stuff,” Navalta said.

According to Chris Navalta, only about 15% of athletes use a professional agency to handle their social media accounts. This is due to the fact that some controversy will occur if a fan follows an athlete’s social media account and discovers that the social media account is not run by the athlete, and therefore there is no connection between the fan and the athlete.

“Most of the time, fans are just shaming the athlete on social media. If they read a tweet that doesn’t sound anything like the

athlete’s voice, they may just say something like “this is clearly not “so and so” tweeting.” It’s crucial for the professional to understand the athlete’s voice, so it’s a seamless process to write and post the tweets,” Navalta said.

As the struggle of maintaining a properly run social media account persists, there has also been disagreement over athlete behaviors on media platforms. According to an article on RBB titled, “Social media’s influence on sports and why you should care,” fans

are now closer than ever to our professional athletes.

The article describes how tweets posted after a November 11, 2010 NBA game between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat caused much controversy. After the Boston win, the Celtics star Paul Pierce posted a tweet regarding his 25-point performance, the tweet said: “It’s been a pleasure taking my talents to south beach now on to Memphis.” Pierce caused plenty disagreement on Facebook and Twitter after indirectly offending Lebron James and the Miami Heat organization. Pierce’s aggressive post showed the effects that star athletes can have on social media by merely posting their opinions.

In addition to more opinionated posts, athletes have posted content to their public platforms that was intended for a more private audience. For example, Draymond Green posted a phallic photo on his Snapchat story in early 2016.

“I kinda hit the wrong button and it sucks that it was meant to be private”, Green said.

The impact from publishing such a private photo on a public platform will affect the athlete for awhile. Because of the nature of the internet, even though Green’s photo was deleted from Snapchat, it can still be found and is still talked about when Green’s name is brought up. Therefore, athletes have turned to more companies to take over their social media profiles in order to confirm that there will be no costly mistakes when posting.

Because athletes are expected to act as role models and to be people that young fans can look up to, displaying a level of acceptance and celebration of all types of bodies is vital to curating a widespread sense of body-positivity. Athletes who act against that expectation are shamed and expected to own up to the wrongs they have committed.

One example of this controversy is Serena Williams; she was the subject of an article in People Magazine, and participated in a photoshoot for the spread. Williams’ body in the photos that were released was nearly unrecognizable to what it looks like in real life. It was then realized that People photoshopped the pictures and people were horrified. Williams then responded to the controversy by posting the unedited versions and taking the time to send a message of appreciation to women everywhere who do not feel as though their body types are not represented in media.

Williams is an example of an athlete who handled controversy gracefully, something that shifts the situation from being one of

Ronda Rousey (@rondarousey)

Sport: Mixed martial arts and judoka Instagram followers : 8.8M Twitter followers: 3.32M What they post: Pictures practicing martial arts and judoka, pictures on talk shows, photoshoots, favorite songs, sponsored by Bud Light Fanbase: Fans of martial arts and judoka, fans of her modeling Neymar Jr. (@neymarjr)

Sport: Soccer, forward on FC Barcelona and the Brazilian national team Instagram followers: 62.5 M Twitter followers: 26.3 M What they post: Photos from games, pictures with his family, pictures with teammates Fanbase: Soccer fans, Brazilians photos courtesy of Creative Commons

Lebron James (@kingjames)

Sport: Basketball, small forward with the Cleveland Cavaliers Instagram folowers: 26M Twitter followers: 33.5 M What they post: Pictures with family and teammates, appreciation posts of other athletes, lots of love for Cleveland Fanbase: Supporters of the Cleveland Cavaliers, young basketball players

Serena Williams (@Serenawilliams)

Sport: American professional tennis player, won 22 Grand Slam singles titles and several Olympic gold medals Instagram followers: 4.7M Twitter followers: 13.6K What they post: Selfies, pictures with friends, tennis related photos, dancing pictures, sponsors posts (hair/makeup stylists) Fanbase: People who appreciate tennis, admirers of Williams

blame and shame, to one of awe and inspiration.

In terms of high school athletes hoping to be recruited, social media is something that must be closely monitored, as most schools will investigate possible recruits’ accounts.

Teenagers frequently forget that not just their friends have access to what they post, coaches are easily able to see what athletes are viewing, liking, retweeting, and getting up to on the weekends.

“Every single school does it,” Oregon State player personnel and on-campus recruiting coordinator Darrick Yray said to ESPN. “You have to, especially since you’re investing almost $500,000 in a player’s development over a four- or five-year period.”

High school recruits must be hyper aware of the pictures that they and other post online, for fear of offending coach-

es from honorable athletic institutions. Yes, coaches know that teengers like to have fun with their friends and they do occasionally make bad choices, but they want to reward the athletes that model the level of responsibility that they expect of the players already on their team. If prospective athletes truly want to play at a collegiate level, they must be able to prove to coaches that they have the ability and poise to represent the university well.

“I censor my social media because I don’t want coaches to see something that is not an accurate depiction of who I am” Lauren Koyama (‘17) said.

It is difficult to separate people from their profiles, so the actions that are made public over social media eventually become part of the user’s reputation in real life as well. Athletes have lost sponsorships,scholarships, contracts, and been part of federal investigations based on poorly-thought out posts on various platforms. Controversy is an enemy to those who attempt to please many, so athletes who hope to achieve an aura of celebrity or to play sports at a certain school have to tread with caution.

Through the difficulties that social media brings upon athletes, the reliance on companies to escape the pressures of social media or sponsorship deals to gain more popularity have increased for many athletes. In order to achieve a solid fanbase that many rising athletes desire, they will want to obtain a consistent social media profile to accommodate the widespread popularity of technology in today’s day and age. The impacts of social media is an important factor in an athlete’s life, whether they want to be a part of it or not.

Missy Franklin (@missyfranklin)

Sport: Swimmer, currently holds the world record in 200-meter backstroke and American records in both the 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke.

Instagram followers: 414K Twitter followers 465K What they post: Swimsuit line (@speedousa), swimming photos, pictures with family and friends, part of the Team Wheaties brand Fanbase: Young swimmers Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano)

Sport: Soccer, a forward on Spanish club Real Madrid and the Portugal national team Instagram followers: 81.6M Twitter followers: 48.1M What they post: Pictures with teammates, pictures of his accomplishments, sponsored posts (mainly Nike), pictures with his son, behind the scenes of photo shoots Fanbase: Anybody with eyes photos courtesy of Creative Commons

Life in the

G Al

Three goalies, who are on varsity water polo, lacrosse, and soccer, talk about the struggles and differences they face compared to field players.

by HAYLEY LEVINE and MARA ZENGER

M

any sports don’t re- unlike their “field player” counterparts. quire a goalie or a playThere is an inherent leadership that er whose only job is to comes with being a goalie. Because make sure that the ball of their ability to see the entire field, doesn’t end up in the they can give specific direction that ofback of the net. Howev- ten benefit the rest of the team, as they er, soccer, water polo and lasee a different perspective of the field. crosse are three sports that Palo Alto High School’s girls water have one player who’s polo goalie, Joanna Falla (‘17), different from the rest. has seen how these dynamThere are special ics play out in the pool, and rules and equiphas learned to love playing ment for goalies goalie. that are not of use “I just like to see the to regular field whole game being played players. In soccer, a out,” Falla said. “As a goalie, goalie can use their you...try to help your teamhands inside the 18mates out if they don’t see a yard box, and wear play forming or they don’t see gloves for protection and an open player.” grip support. Lacrosse goalies Goalies are vital as they are the last have a different style stick than the rest line of defense. However, it is important of the players and wear much more pad- to realize that the reason the ball gets to ding than a field player. Water polo goal- the goalies is because it got through the ies have the ability to touch the bottom rest of the field players first. However, deof the pool, hold the ball with two hands, spite this reality, goalies will often times and punch the ball with a clenched fist, blame a loss or goal on themselves.

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“Being a goalie is a lot of fun, but it can also be very detrimental to one’s self esteem...it all comes down to you in the end, so when the team loses, it can really feel like it was all your fault,” Falla said.

Being a goalie requires a certain set of skills along with a much different mindset than that of a field player. Goalies have to be prepared at all times as they may have to face balls or pucks being hurled at them on a moment’s notice.

“To be a goalie, you need to be okay with getting hit in the face a lot,” Falla said.

The skills required to play such a position are almost complete opposites: the goal of the field players is to get the ball in the back of the net, but the goalie’s job is to keep it out.

“When a field player looks at the scoreboard, they can see how well they’re doing by how many goals they made. When a goalie looks, they see how many times they messed up,” Falla explained, “and when they’re practicing their shots I’m practicing blocking them.”

Being a lacrosse goalie is a quite dif-

ferent and difficult position, but it can be extremely rewarding as well. Palo Alto High School’s boys’ lacrosse goalie, Alec Cohen-Schisler (‘17), has learned how to balance the two very different aspects of his position, giving him a great appreciation for the sport.

“It’s very different from any other sport I’ve played in any other position,” Schisler said.

“Once I started playing goalie it was a whole different sport, it’s the most stressful but the most rewarding position.”

The warm-up during practices and games are also different for a goalie than for a field player. There are different practices and drills that certain players work on, but they all come back to the same fundamental drills that help them no matter what position they play. As a goalie, there are different drills that are done to prepare that field players don’t participate in.

“While field players are passing, practicing shooting, practicing defensive moves, I will be getting shot on by a coach or another teammate,” Schisler said.

During games goalies do a lot of talking, directing the players to do certain things, especially when the team is on defense. The game is very quick and communication from the goalie to the players is very beneficial for the play.

There are special defensive packages in lacrosse like sliding and man-on-man. It’s important to make sure that the players know who’s moving to defend and it’s primarily the goalie’s job to ensure the players aware of it.

“It’s really important to communicate who’s sliding if you’re sliding from adjacents or from across the field,” Schisler said, “in different zone defenses it’s extremely important to say where the defender should be and always have an open communication with them.”

In order to stay in shape, the goalie also has to participate in conditioning.

There’s some conditioning that both the field players and goalies partake in, but there are some conditioning drills that are only helpful to the performance of the goalie.

“I do all the running and conditioning with my team,” Schisler said, “I have to maintain a squatting stance for very long periods of time which is taxing on

the back and spine but it also builds up endurance. I need to maintain my upper body strength for clears where I have to throw the ball all the way across the field.”

This is also true for water polo as Falla does certain exercises in order to stay warm while in the pool to make up for the lack of swimming she is able to do during the game.

“I do the same warm ups as everyone else, but I do extra leg exercises to make sure I’m warm,” Falla said.

On top of all the conditioning, there are some hits that the goalie takes that the field players don’t usually take. All of the hits that goalies take are in order to make sure that the ball doesn’t end up in the back of the net.

“Getting hit by a rubber ball at upwards of 75 miles per hour can be very painful and cause a lot of bruising, but it’s all worth it to block a shot,” Schisler said.

Palo Alto High School girls’ soccer goalie Clara Luehrs (‘18) is another example of someone who has had a lot of preparation and training to make her as successful of a goalie as possible.

“It’s like any other position, you train for it,” Luehrs said, “it comes with a lot of responsibility but it’s also very rewarding.”

There’s different training that a goalie needs that field players don’t, and soccer is no exception as there are many differences between the two types of positions.

“We focus more on shorter footwork, we don’t do as much long distance sprinting,” Luehrs said.

Just like in water polo and lacrosse, a soccer goalie has to be very vocal with their defenders and take control of the defense to make sure they are aware of the

things around them. When the team is pushing up the field on the attack, it’s the goalie’s job to make sure that the other players aren’t leaving their marks behind.

Lots of directional vocals are given by the goalie to make sure that the defenders are applying the pressure in the right place as well as making sure each player has support from their teammates.

“Normally, players do listen to what I have to say because I can actually see what’s going on,” Luehrs said, “I’ll tell them drop back or shift over, it depends on where there are players or where I think the ball is going to go.”

The physical demands of being a goalie are often times very different than those of field players, and although they might not be required to run or swim as much, their job requires other types of physical demands. Just like field players have to condition to stay in shape on the field, a goalie has to maintain their technique and stay in shape as well.

“It’s a lot of lateral strength, you have to have strong legs and have to make sure that your hands are strong so the ball doesn’t fly through,” Luehrs said.

At the end of the day, each player has important role in securing their team a win. The way in which players in different positions go about achieving this may be very different, but their differences are what allows their goals to be achieved.

Each position is important in a unique way, and without any one of them, the team wouldn’t be able to function.

ROWING TO

by HALEY CHALMERS and QUINN KNOBLOCK

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t’s 4:30am on a Monday morning, and their alarms are going off. They crawl out of bed, grab their school bags and head off.

The sun begins to rise on their drive over to Redwood City. Although they would rather be in bed, they continue this painful morning routine twice a week. Dedicated to their sport, this is their life. The life of a rower.

Rowing, also known as crew, is a sport that requires dedication and hard work all year round. However, the sport has not gained the recognition it deserves. People have begun to associate crew as an easy way to get recruited to top league schools, without acknowledging the real commitment it takes to be a

London Olympics of 2012. Though it can be physically and mentally straining, Watson has grown a strong appreciation for the sport for the relationships it has given him.

“Rowing is definitely the hardest part of my day to day both physically and mentally. Waking up at 4:30 in the mornings on a consistent basis to test your body’s limits isn’t always enjoyable, but what makes rowing kind of the ultimate team sport is that you know without a doubt in your mind that the other seven people in your boat are pushing themselves just as hard. ” Watson highlighted that the time commitment required for his team is an upward of 20 hours a week. His practices consist of physical practice in the water, but also land training.

moments, when you’re at the start line of a big regatta, glance across at the other boats lined up next to you, sit up, feel the butterflies deep in the the pit of your stomach. “As the race umpire calls your club’s name and says ‘Attention Row,’ and the entire world stops still, and you know that you’ve done everything necessary to win. That’s why I love rowing.”

While the sport may be physically, mentally, and time consuming, most rowers agree that the sacrifice is worth the reward: the possibility or reality of winning.

Kimmi Chin (‘17)

Kimmi Chin has been rowing for Norcal Crew since she was a freshman. She was originally a volleyball player, but

“As the race umpire calls your club’s name and says ‘Attention Row,’ and the entire world stops still, and you know that you’ve done everything necessary to win. That’s why I love rowing.”

-Clay Watson (‘17) competitive rower.

Viking has decided bring to light the life of a rower to help reveal the truth about the common misconceptions associated with the sport. Here is the insight from Paly students who have experienced the realities of the crew lifestyle and reflected on what the experience has been like for them.

Clay Watson (‘17)

A recent commit to Columbia University, Clay Watson has been rowing since the incoming summer of his freshmen year, and was intrigued in the sport when he watched the

“Land training consists of rowing on the erg machines, biking, running, weight training and the occasional yoga session,” Watson said.

From biking, yoga, and weight training, crew workouts are distinctly different from other sports. The sport itself is one of a kind.

“Rowing is kind of a unique sport just in that you train for months and months for countless hours all for just a handful of races across the entire year which only last for six or so minutes each. But what makes all of the grueling hours of training worth it are those few rare moment over the course of a year, perfect

decided to change sports after hurting her ankle prevent further injuries.

Over the course of Chin’s four years at Paly, she has had to adjust and adapt constantly to the rigorous commitment needed as a member of the team. One of the most important aspects of her life as a rower are people she has met through the whole experience.

“As I spend so much time rowing, I have made new friends with the same schedule that over the years have morphed into not only an incredible team but a family,” Chin said.

All of the hard work Chin has invested week after week has landed her a

RECRUITMENT

Insight from Paly’s rowing community about the life and recruitment process of a competitive high school rower.

spot on the roster on the women’s rowing team at UCLA. “It was extremely rewarding” Chin said. “After the months of speaking to coaches and spending the time to get faster was relieving knowing that it has helped me for the next four years of my life.”

Chin will be rowing as a part of the UCLA class of 2021.

Bryce Doughman (‘16)

Bryce Doughman has been rowing for Norcal crew since the beginning of his sophomore year. Now, in one of the most rigorous years of high school, he credits crew to his time management skills.

“Crew does take up a ton of time, but it enables me to be accountable for everything that I do. This means that I have learned to stay on top of schoolwork and everything else I need to do, which has made me better at time management and keeping up with life,” Doughman said.

Doughman knew going into crew that it would be a large commitment, that’s part of the reason he joined.

“I started crew because I wanted to find something I could be passionate about, and that I could devote my time to,” said Doughman.

However, Doughman has learned lessons much bigger than those only pertaining to the fitness aspects of crew.

“Aside from the physical benefits that this sort offers, there is much to be learned about discipline and hard work. There are a lot of talented rowers, but the best rower in the world is going to be the hardest worker, period. This sport gives structure, mental and physical discipline, friendship, and grit like nothing else I know,” Doughman said.

As he continues to row at a compet-

itive level, Doughman has high hopes of future recruitment.

Madeleine Frick (‘17)

Madeleine Frick rowed for Norcal crew through the duration of her entire sophomore year. Though Frick participates in several other sports, she thought crew would be the perfect fit over the others.

“I started crew because thought it was a cool sport that I had the right body type for” Frick said.

Although Frick had two successful seasons, she came to realize that the sport was too much of a time commitment.

“It was way too mentally and physically strenuous. I realized I didn’t genuinely have interest in doing it every single day in college, so I decided to quit so I could spend more time focusing on my academics” Frick said.

If Frick had continued to row through her junior year, she would have looked into recruiting. However, she decided that even though her success as a rower could help her chances of being admitted to schools, the sport was not a right match for her.

Alix Barry (‘18)

Alix Barry has been rowing for Norcal crew for four years. As a captain of her team, Barry has shown strong leadership qualities and extreme commitment.

“Being a second year captain, I’m needed to organize practices and give feedback to the coach by taking in criticisms the team has and wants the coach to hear,” Barry says of her leadership role.

The time commitment Barry spends on crew, 15-18 hours per week, is not only due to her leadership position, but is also just apart of the time commitment crew requires of any athlete.

While the sport is painstakingly consuming, Barry credits it with a great deal of her happiness and social life.

“Crew has been the hardest and the best thing that has ever happened to me

and it’s hard to explain but I’m the happiest when I’m rowing… I’ve met my best friend through crew and I wouldn’t have asked for more amazing friendships than the ones crew has given me.”

Barry is currently in the recruiting process, and will continue working to achieve her mission to row in college.

The Crew Difference

Joining a crew team requires commitment that is more than just that of a sport, but also an entirely new lifestyle.

Often other athletes joke around saying they should have done crew so they could have easily gotten into an Ivy League. But the commitment is much more than most people realize.

After experiencing the entire recruiting process, Chin understands the rigor and dedication required to actually continue as a collegiate crew athlete.

“Rowing is known to be a sport so easily recruited because so few people know about it or do it,” Chin said, “but like any sport you can’t just walk in, row for a month, and think you’ll get recruited.”

“After trying it [rowing] out for myself I gained a ton of respect for people who do go to college and row,” Frick said. “They put in so much effort and work into getting good at such a crazy sport”.

Each and every crew athlete is dedicated to their sport and work hard to be noticed and recruited by colleges. It is important to recognize their hard work and accomplishments and give credit where credit is due. Viking wishes all past, current, and future rowers the best of luck in their endeavors.

Tee Time with Stephanie Yu

by RYAN CHANG and NICK SMALLWOOD

Viking staff takes a closer look into the Girls Golf team’s successful season.

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any kids often hear that hard work pays off, but maybe that is wrong. Just ask Stephanie Yu and the girls varsity golf team at Palo Alto High School (Paly). The team placed sixth in the Northern California section and missed states by just three spots, yet nearly nobody at Paly knows of their unparalleled success.

Football, for example, received constant coverage despite a season that was nowhere near as successful as the Lady Vikes season. While the football team’s season highlight included beating the then league leader, Wilcox High School, the girls golf team managed to place second in Central Coast Section (CCS). After doing so well in CCS, the girls golf team managed to place sixth at Norcals, causing them to miss state by a mere three spots. Despite falling short in their goal of making it to the state competition, the team was still proud of their accomplished season.

“I would say that our goal was to make it to

states, the last and most prestigious tournament in high school golf. More importantly though, we aspired to give our all and always remain optimistic no matter how we were playing, because at the end of the day, we’re still a team,” Stephanie Yu (‘18), a junior for the girls golf team who won the CCS individual title, said in her interview with Viking.

When Viking talked with the team, it was clear that every player was bothered by the lack of coverage in Paly publications. Despite finally getting coverage on InFocus, they were still hardly mentioned, and when they were it was often misconstrued. As a result, the girls on the team often feel as though they are less important than their more represented counterparts.

“I feel disappointed that Paly girls golf always receives so little coverage no matter how well we’re doing. I’m not sure why it’s been like this, since we put in as much or more work than the other Paly sports teams, but I do know that both my coach and my teammates have at one point or another been upset over this,” Yu said, regarding the team’s lack of coverage despite their outstanding season.

One factor that may influence the low

coverage compared to other Paly sport programs could be the format of matches and tournaments. Rather than each hole being played against another team, each team’s point total is scored against everyone else. As a result, there is not very high attendance at each set of holes.

With less attendance at each match and no definitive winner or loser, it becomes harder for each publication to report how well each team is doing.

That being said, this is no excuse for the abysmal coverage around the school all season. The girls golf season has likely yielded more success than any other Paly sports program will all season.

As well as having a great overall record during their season, the girls golf team accomplished their bigger goal of creating team camaraderie.

“I’ll cherish the memories of making friends and just hanging out as a team more. We have so many stories to tell from grabbing boba and dinner after matches,” Yu said, clearly proud of the connections she made throughout the season.

The team also faced a funny, yet bonding experience while at Norcals together.

While in Salinas, in the middle of Califor-

nia, they managed to get lost in fields of none other than the vegetable broccoli.

This experience, while obviously humorous, was also an experience that brought the whole program and team closer together, and solidified their bond.

Their season, however, did not come without many challenges as well. The team struggled while competing in their local league, placing fourth, which was not ideal.

“I think the team’s greatest challenge this year was not believing in ourselves enough.

Statistically, we had the lowest scoring average as a team in our league. I know that we are as good or better than any other public school out there; it’s just a matter of believing in ourselves, having that confidence, and knowing that we are good,” Yu said

ALL SMILES The girls’ golf team poses for a picture after yet another successful match. when asked about some of the challenges their team faced.

There is no worse feeling than being an athlete and doing well, while not being recognized for the effort put forth.

We should teach kids that hard work does pay off, not the other way around.

Golf is not an easy sport, and the fact that the Paly girls golf team receives almost no coverage is a harrowing and disturbing fact that shows the prioritization of some sports over others - a habit that society must kick before it is too late.

“I think the team’s greatest challenge this year was not believing in ourselves enough.”

- Stephanie Yu (‘18)

DECEMBER 2016

Let us

paly madrono 2016-17

KNOW...

The Madrono staff [you know, those guys ^] would love to hear from YOU: • Have an idea for something we should cover? Let us know!

• Take a cool photo we might want to put in the book? Let us know!

• Interested in joining us on the staff next year? Let us know!

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Stop by MAC 104 during 6th period and say hello!

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The Last Word...

The Past, The Present, The Future

by BEN CLEASBY and PETER SNODGRASS

Weeks ago, we wrote of lacrosse and baseball (a noteworthy satirical piece). We received backlash from the lacrosse community and love from the baseball community, all the while, stirring up Paly’s pot. This edition, we decided to tone it down and write about the backbone of Paly Athletics.

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fter reading an article criticizing our athletic department and its inaction, we decided to clap back. We believe Athletic Director Kathi Bowers and her predecessors (Jason Fung and Earl Hansen), have done an outstanding job since our district cut funding to Paly athletics completely in 2001, according to Palo Alto Online. Not only has the department given student athletes a better chance to succeed through new facilities, great coaching hires, and an outstanding training staff, but it has managed to keep every sport afloat economically while upholding strict safety standards.

This academic school year marks the first year since 2001 where our district pays for more than just our coaches and athletic trainers. This year, our district has pledged $50,000 to our athletic budget, a miniscule amount compared to the actual money needed for Paly sports. Every year, our athletic department, alongside our boosters, fundraise between $250,000-350,000.

An astounding number, but it does not even give enough credit to the fundraising efforts our boosters have done.

When looking at its budget, the athletic department keeps one thing in mind: player safety. Thus, the distribution is obviously going to be skewed.

For a sport like soccer, not much is needed (in economic terms) to ensure a player’s safety. However, for football, a lot is needed. Every year helmets must be reconditioned, pads must be washed or replaced, and ripped jerseys need to be refurbished. This costs an astronomical amount, yet, it is necessary. The same argument can be made about busing

teams around. If you look at teams with the biggest budget, cross country is very close behind the football team because it costs so much to bus their team to events.

It is important to understand that each sports team also has its own pot to take money from. In this pot, there is money from all of its own fundraising efforts. For example, money from the snack shack or money from a restaurant fundraiser would be included. What the team chooses to do with this money is up to the coach of the team. For example, football chooses to have a team lunch before a game while baseball chooses to buy brand new jerseys that our athletic department did not allocate money to. Using this model, sometimes it may seem like other sports are allocated more money than others.

Yet, that idea is untrue. Money is allocated based on need, where safety is the priority. In the instances where it seems like football may get the most money, they are actually dipping into their own pot from fundraising.

While many sports have faced turbulence the past two years due to gym construction, the challenges they have faced will be worth it once they are able to play in a $30 million gym.

As seniors who will never get to cherish the gym, the sacrifice we have made is worth it for our younger peers. We, and many of our peers, are excited for the opportunity to see a brand new gym to represent Paly.

For many years, baseball has watched as their outfield was devoured by freshman football players in the fall.

However, this year, a new initiative was made to keep the outfield pristine, making freshman football practice on

the lacrosse field. Furthermore, the costs for new turf in the outfield and lights for both the baseball and softball field would be close to $2 million. With an athletic department receiving little to no funding from the district, the only option for fair equity between sports would be from private funding. Yet, even if Paly did receive this private funding, it would still be up in the air if the city would allow lights.

As three year Varsity sport athletes, we would like to commend Kathi Bowers, Jason Fung, and Earl Hansen for their jobs as Athletic Directors.

Additionally, we would like to thank the insanely hard work our sports boosters have done and all the volunteer hours they have spent to make sure Paly sports has a future. We believe without these strong efforts by many, Paly sports would not be as amazing as it is already.