Many Bearcat athletes are staying optimistic through CIF’s spring cancellation of all sports on April 3. Many are continuing to work hard through quarantine. Students participating in swim, dive, track, boys tennis, baseball, softball, and track were all stuck inside for the two weeks waiting to hear the CIF’s final decision for the 2019-20 sports schedule, and the cancellation took a toll on a lot of dedicated athletes.

BECCA STROUD, SOFTBALL

Four year varsity player Stroud is one such athlete has found ways to stay in touch with her sport and competitive mindset with typical optimism.

It has given her more time to play spike ball and wiffle ball, as well as allow her to focus on academics.

“I have been working on preparing for AP tests [for] statistics and literature,” accompanied by, “a lot of Wii and Yahtzee.”

Stroud has prioritized staying in shape as well. “I exercise around five to six days a week. I have exercised on my own more because usually I would have been practicing and playing games 5 or 6 days a week and that was my exercise.”

Still, there’s sadness.

“I miss the team camaraderie and the competitive aspect of playing in a game. I miss getting to play in rival games,” Stroud said. “What I miss most of all is getting to be with such good teammates and coaches mostly every day.” 

TATIANA SMELTER, WATERPOLO

Senior Smeltzer, the soon to be division one water polo player for Cal State Northridge, is another athlete who’s spring season was cut short.

“The team was super excited for this year because we only had three senior girls so we wanted to go out with a bang. This social distancing has unfortunately drifted us apart, but we continue to lift each other’s spirits every once in a while.”

While they never got the chance to go out with that “bang,” Smeltzer still finds hobbies and pastimes to stay positive throughout quarantine.

“I have a large family so it’s easy to find new activities to do. In staying positive, I focus on all of the new things I’ve been able to try in quarantine like painting, longboarding , puzzling, organizing, crafting and photography.”  

JOSH RAMOS, Volleyball

Senior volleyball player Josh Ramos was also sad to hear the news that dreaded Friday. He played volleyball for the team experience.

“Honestly, I’ve always been in sports for the friendships. I miss goofing around, In n’ Out, and the long rides home. I feel like there were so many memories we could have made this year.” 

This bitter ending to the season has also taught Ramos not to take friendships for granted, and won’t let COVID 19 knock him on his feet.

“Knowing that when this is over I’ll value my friends more than ever before, and if I can get through this while still working hard at my classes and passing AP Exams it’ll be a testament to how not even a pandemic could stop me.”

All three students have high goals and expectations going into college as well. Stroud will be attending Cal Poly to pursue a major in Business Administration. At Cal State Northridge, Smeltzer plans on majoring in Business Marketing on top of her athletics. Ramos is still deciding between UC San Diego and Cal Poly, but plans on majoring in Electrical Engineering nonetheless. These athletes, along with the rest of PRHS’ Bearcat athletes, continue to strive for success, and COVID 19 is only a bump in the road for them.