By Yvette Lin, Staff Writer
Eyes focused and hand steady, sophomore Alexis Castellanos watches her teammate as she swings her arm back for the throw. Ensuring her mask sits snugly on her nose, Castellanos confidently snags the ball and tosses it to the other member of their group. She, along with 22 other softball players, participated in the district’s first day of in-person conditioning after 13 months in quarantine.
PHOTO COURTESY/ Temple City Sports
“Our goal as a program is to prepare these athletes for their future
in life off the field,” Moranchel said. “And that never stopped.”
“I’m relieved to hear that we are taking steps towards normalcy and was really happy to see my friends and acquaintances,” Castellanos said. “On the other hand, I’m afraid that the virus could spread during practice even with the precautions we take.”
L.A. County health officials cleared the way for high school sports on Feb. 23 following a drop in confirmed COVID-19 cases. As of March 9, cases in L.A. County dropped to 5.9 confirmed cases out of 100K individuals, fulfilling state guidelines and allowing schools to resume in-person practice with safety protocols.
“It’s definitely been a challenge for our athletes to keep up their training during quarantine, especially when parks were shut down,” varsity softball coach Allison Moranchel said. “It’s not a full team practice quite yet, but we are so excited to be able to get back on the field again!”
Besides weekly Zoom check-in meetings, members of the softball team continued to practice during quarantine by completing weekly drills for defense, pitching and hitting. With parks closed and in-person contact limited, coaches provided the players with video examples and worksheets detailing how to log daily practices.
Players used Blast Motion sensors to record their swing speeds and other data that they later reported to coaches for feedback. The team also participated in a “Couch to 5K” program that consisted of cardio activities and endurance training before ending with a 5K run on Feb. 7.
“The assigned practices and 5K program really helped me stay in shape because it gave me a guideline on what to do each day,” freshman Kaylee Won said. “I just hope to be able to safely see people outside my family as soon as possible.”
The softball team began in-person practices on March 8 and restricted close-contact activities to follow social-distancing requirements. They plan to meet Monday through Thursday on a weekly basis to work on conditioning and group batting practices in smaller stations.
Only cross country, water polo, swimming, soccer, volleyball, baseball, softball and football have resumed practice; other teams such as basketball and golf plan to start practices in late March.
In accordance with safety restrictions, all practices must be outdoors, and teams must spread out across the school to maintain proper social distancing requirements.
“We won’t allow the past to derail our plan, and we won’t get caught up in what we cannot control in the future,” Moranchel said. “One pitch at a time, one out at a time, one inning at a time and one game at a time; success will come in the form of our long-term goal for a championship.”