I interviewed some of the current Enochs High School women athletes about their fall season. The series of questions I asked these participants included their sport background, how women’s sports differs from men’s sports, and their overall experience as well as future with their sport. I sought out a variety of athletes from different levels or who have just started playing. All of the women I interviewed said that school and sports have made their schedules very busy and have little time to spare. Their coaches and teammates, however, have all been supportive of their teams and helped them perform as one while building tight bonds with each other.
Sophomore Laila Green is on the girl’s JV water polo team as a field player. Her uncle, who also played water polo, convinced her to try out for the Enochs team and she has been playing for two years now. She enjoys the friendly sport and is grateful for how close the team has gotten and their support for each other. When asked about any bad moments that happened, she replied, “During hell week, I was very slow… I didn’t know how to do pretty much anything. So, it was really a struggle.” Laila’s friends encouraged her to keep going and have a positive mindset. The coaches helped the players a lot by giving them advice, having one-on-one conversations, and organizing practices for the levels. In this sport, her team’s main goals are to get open, to get to the set, and to make a goal. I asked her to describe how women’s water polo and men’s water polo differ from each other and she answered, “I think the guys are more fast-paced, their shots are a lot harder; which makes it more interesting to the viewers.” Besides that, she added, the crowds would equally be the same. Her most memorable event would be the bus rides to other schools because they get to have a lot of fun and listen to music. To her, team bonding is a major factor in how they perform. They would have events at least twice a year to help them become closer to one another. Laila’s weakness is not being the fastest at swimming but her strong points are her egg-beater kicks and her shots. She plans on being on the water polo team throughout her high school career.
Junior Bianca Burkett is on the Enochs girl’s golf team. She started playing golf at the age of five or six years old and has been on the golf team since freshman year. This year, she is switching between ranks one and two, which are the highest ranks in golf, going down to six. Being in that position, she feels as if there is a little pressure on her because she would have to pick up her teammates if they don’t perform well. “I think that little bit of pressure makes me want to play better,” she added. On August 29th, the Enochs team played against Turlock; from what she says is a very good team. They went into the match with the mindset that they weren’t going to win. Instead of seeing their match as a loss, they looked at it as an opportunity to critique their skills. By the end of the game, Bianca and her teammates focused on the positives and saw how much they had improved from their last match. If the team has a bad day they create a positive environment by uplifting each other and taking the weight off their shoulders. The coaches are their biggest supporters. She said, “Our coaches never put too much pressure on us and the number one thing is to have fun.” I asked how the women’s and men’s golf team contrasted with each other and Bianca said the women’s team is very bonded together while the men’s team are more serious and competitive with each other. The coaches on both teams are also different from each other. She commented, “What I like about golf is that it’s very individual but it’s still very much a team sport.” For golf, the score for every player is important because they get tallied together at the end of the match. Lastly, she wanted to add that women in sports are more overlooked than men in sports at any level. People seem more critical of female athletes in how they perform. Bianca plans on pursuing golf into her college career and will afterward play it as a hobby sport.
Seniors, Taylehn Tobin and Katelyn Reeves are on the varsity cheer squad for Enochs this year. Taylehn has done cheer for fourteen years while Katelyn has done cheer for ten years. While Taylehn has been on the Enochs cheer squad for all four years, it is Katelyn’s first year on the squad. With their experience from past years, they said that school cheer is different from all-star cheer. Two types of crowds watch cheerleaders for high school cheer, conventional crowds and expressional. At football games or basketball games, the cheerleaders are the ones who hype up the crowds. For competitions it’s the opposite, the crowd is more for the cheerleaders’ support. I asked how Taylehn felt about last year’s rally, and her comment was, “Last year, when we had that incident where everyone left [the school rally before we performed], it broke our spirit. It’s understandable though, because in the past we haven’t done too many exciting things that made them want to watch our routines. This year, we’re trying to change things and make the rallies more interesting.” Taylehn’s position is a flier and Katelyn is her sidebase. Though they’ve only met this year, they have a lot of trust in each other which is of major importance during their stunts and tumbles. Team bonding happens wherever these girls are. During the summer, the senior cheerleaders had a pool party, they got to know each other better in cheer camp, and even during practice individual stunt groups bonded. The coaches provide extra time after practice for the stunt groups who are willing to stay longer. I asked if they had anything to say about cheer and Taylehn said, “I think cheer is becoming more of a sport and this season I want to prove it. In the past, people thought we only stood on the sidelines, waving our pompoms. Now, I want people to see us as athletes too, not just there for show.” Katelyn said, “The district allowing us to add in stunting and tumbling has definitely helped people view us as athletes because now they think ‘I don’t know if I actually could do that. I could wave poms around but I can’t do flips in the air like that’.” High school cheer is becoming more of a competitive sport. These girls believe that they’ve gotten better from last year and want to show their improvement in this year’s competitions. Both Taylehn and Katelyn plan on cheering in college.
Junior Adelina Dianne is on this year’s JV football team. It is her first season playing; she’s wanted to play since her first high school football game she went to during her freshman year. Since it is her first time, the coaches have helped her improve a lot. She went into this sport not knowing much but now she understands most of the positions and what they do. Her positions include being a kicker and a backup linebacker. Adelina is a strong defensive player coming from her soccer background while offense in general is a more pressured position. She wears a compression sleeve because she has had problems with her knee this season which hurt her as a player. There have been times when Adelina has wanted to quit due to her injuries but she has kept her head up and says she’s gotten worse injuries from soccer. Her most memorable moment would be the team huddle after winning the Sylvan Bowl, “Everyone was so happy and energized, it truly felt like we were a family,” she said. When the question of how she was treated on the team came up she said she was pretty close with her teammates and is equally compared to the guys. They don’t see her as a girl but as one of them. She would like to tell women in sports, “Don’t let little things like gender or skill level stop you from doing what you like. You can do anything if you work hard for it,” she said, finishing off the interview.
