Q: How has your experience at LAHS been so far?

A: I have truly enjoyed working at LAHS for the past year and a half. The administrative staff is very supportive and the athletes are a joy to work with.

Q: What has drawn you to a career in athletic training?

A: I became interested in athletic training when I was an injured high school athlete and wanted to know how to care for myself. When I looked into it, I found out that athletic training is a wonderful and exciting way to embrace how the body functions and heals itself while providing health care services to the physically active population.

Every day brings new challenges and I am able to work with many different types of athletes, sports and settings.

Q: What is your opinion on LAHS’s policy of hiring athletic trainers for only two years?

A: Unfortunately, only 40 percent of high schools in California have access to an athletic trainer on a regular basis. With that in mind, it is a privilege both for myself and the athletes I care for that LAHS has been able to hire an athletic trainer.

If the situation arises, however, I would be willing and glad to stay longer than two years. This would create more consistency for the athletes, coaches, athletic trainer and support staff as well as develop stronger relationships with all parties involved.

Q: Describe day-to-day activities, what you do, what it’s normally like in the room.

A: I come to work in early afternoon to restock supplies, make phone calls, do paperwork and prepare for treatments to be administered that day. Athletes come in about an hour before practice begins to have new injuries evaluated, do rehabilitative exercises for established injuries, get taped, or get the team’s water ready for a game. Team practice times are staggered throughout the afternoon so I have a steady stream of patients to assist.

Next, I attend the sporting event being held that day to be able to respond if someone gets hurt during the game. At the end of the day, I fill out paperwork regarding the day’s injuries and treatments, organize and sanitize the room and equipment, and put ice outside the door in case it is needed before I return the next afternoon.

Q: What are your future plans?

A: I plan to continue working with high school athletes and educating youth about concussions.

The team had worked on improving their offensive play all season, and results showed when the forwards created many chances to score. This was also due to good communication between on-field players. The girls’ defense was also solid. Although the varsity goalkeeper was out due to a foot injury, freshman Elena Strawn, who had been pulled up from the junior varsity team, performed well.

“The game was a little frustrating because we played well as a team but made a couple mistakes that ended up costing us the game,” sophomore Haley Jones said. “I think we started the game off a little shaky but ended up playing well. We had a lot of good chances to score but sadly were couldn’t finish them off.”

The lone goal of the game was due to a spectacular cross by sophomore Paige Eller. She had passed the ball to freshman Rebecca Andrews, who had faked out her opponent and passed to freshman Allie Crum with the goal wide open for her to finish off.

For the majority of the game, Saratoga put pressure on the LAHS girls’ defense, threatening them to score many times. Though they were quick to move the ball down the field, they “were somewhat lacking in technical ability,” sophomore Maggie Kristian said. There was controversy over the two goals Saratoga had scored–they were considered to be off-sides, though the side referee did not call it.

“Saratoga is a very powerful team,” Maggie said. “They’re not afraid to push you around, and many of them, particularly number 14 in the defense, had a big foot. They’re also very fit; you don’t outrun them easily and they apply pressure quite well.”

The LAHS girls’ soccer team will play Palo Alto this Friday, February 10 in an away game starting at 3:30 p.m.

The game started off slow for the Eagles, who let a 2-2 score slip to 19-2 by the second quarter after 17 unanswered points. Homestead seemed to dominate the game with offensive quickness and defensive pressure that crushed the Eagles’ efforts. The Mustangs continued their momentum with consecutive steals, and it appeared that they had wrapped up the game by midway through the second quarter.

However, the Eagles refused to be counted out, and in the middle of the second quarter began to step it up. The team drove down the court for a few nice offensive opportunities, finishing out the half with a score of 12-25.

The Eagles exploded out of half time, and were able to quickly gain momentum. Strong play in the key by sophomore Meghan McDermott and senior Heather Sangster helped the team gain control of the game, and strong outside shooting by junior Ideen Seyed helped the Eagles close the gap to 26-33 by the end of the third quarter.

“The girls really picked up the pace in the second half,” Coach Kevin Lee said. “They focused in on defensive intensity and really executing our offense.”

With five and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Eagles took a 36-35 lead, up for the first time in the game. The momentum completely shifted, and after a few three point shots by Ideen and Lauren Amorese, the team found themselves up 44-36. The Eagles closed out the game strongly, finishing off the Mustangs 47-40.

“It was a must-win for us tonight,” Lee said. “We have two more games and we hope to end up 7-5 in the regular season, and hopefully be in contention for CCS playoffs.”

The Eagles will face Santa Clara next week on Tuesday, February 14.

Every year, high school sports cause 2 million injuries, 500,000 doctor visits and 30,000 hospitalizations. In almost every high school football game, someone on the field suffers a minor concussion. Despite the obvious dangers, high schoolers continue to turn out for sports tryouts in droves.

What inspires students to play despite pain and the obvious risk of injury? What effects do these injuries have on the lives of these students, both on and off the field?

At the time of injury
Going into his second season as a wrestler, sophomore John Naumovski was looking forward to a promising season ahead. But during practice, he was wrestling one of his teammates when he began to feel an intense pain that gnawed deeply inside his knee.

“I bashed my knee really hard against a wrestling mat, at least it is what I think happened, and it basically filled up with blood,” John said. “[My knee] was the size of a baseball, and I had to wait for it to drain out.”
John was aching from pain during the accident, as his mind drifted in and out of reality. He was confused about the cause of the injury but concluded that it must have been a freak accident where he landed hard on the mat the wrong way.

“It was pretty bad-looking at the time, so it grossed a few people out; it basically looked like there was a baseball sticking out of the side of my knee,” John said. “My coach was shocked that I could still walk.”
While out to rest his knee, John felt like he let his teammates down.

“The initial prognosis was pretty grim, so I thought I was going to be out for the rest of the season,” John said. “I was pretty depressed and unhappy … The junior varsity took over my varsity spot and he wrestled in my absence. I think the junior varsity wrestler lost some matches that I probably could have won.”

Over a span of a few weeks, John’s injury healed and he was finally able to start out again after taking many precautions. Taking it easy for the first few days during practices over break, he “came back full force” after his recovery.

The recovery
While hitting a serve during a match, sophomore Christian Beck, an avid tennis player, felt a tweak in his back that left a lingering pain. He thought it was a normal sore back until the sharp tingling sensation in his back became unbearable.

Christian’s doctor told him he had a lower back injury, and Christian was forced to wear a back brace for the majority of the time of each day for a few months.

“It was really stressful because I used to play tennis seven days a week, but then I had to take three months off from doing any physical activity,” Christian said. “It was a bad experience.”

Despite these limitations and the inconvenience of wearing a brace, Christian was determined to persevere and return to tennis. The injury had not affected his love for the game.

“I really couldn’t play through my injury because there was a lot of pain when I tried to play through it before, and I wanted to make sure it was completely healed before I went back to tennis,” Christian said.

Having previously injured his knee, Christian knew he couldn’t push himself too hard and had to take the healing process slowly. His knee injury, which had inflamed early in the eighth grade as a result of excessive hours of playing tennis, taught him a lot about being patient with aching injuries.

When he returned to tennis after many weeks without practice, Christian had to patiently improve his strokes and polish off the rustiness in his game. However, for Christian the perseverance seemed to be worth it to return to the game that he loved.

“You have to start out slow when recovering from your injury, and you have to get your rhythm and timing down because your body has forgotten it after a long period of time,” Christian said. “Relearning everything at a slower pace and being a lot more careful was the thing that helped me get back into tennis.”

Perseverance and long term effects
When junior Amanda Spielman stepped onto the soccer field for the first day of club soccer her sophomore year, she knew something was wrong. Her hip had been aching for the past couple of months, and although she had hoped the pain would go away, it had only gotten worse.

After multiple trips to over five different doctors, Amanda still hadn’t been diagnosed with any specific problem.
“I could tell that something was wrong because my body just wasn’t working right, but I didn’t know what,” Amanda said. “That was part of the frustration of the injury.”

Amanda suffered with the injury for almost a year before she was finally diagnosed with hip impingement, a condition where the hip rubs against the joint resulting in painful friction and loss of motion. After a year of pulling and tearing the ligaments in her hip, Amanda was forced to undergo surgery to correct her condition.

Five concussions and 10 broken bones later, Amanda is still playing soccer. To most, it seems almost unbelievable that someone would put themselves through agony and endure torn ligaments and broken bones in order to play. But to Amanda, it was never even a question.

“If I don’t know for sure what’s going on, my mindset is just to play through it,” Amanda said. “When you’re passionate about something like a sport, you just keep going.”

According to Dr. Donald Schreiber, an ER doctor at Stanford Hospital, the ER takes in patients with sports injuries every weekend without fail. He also stated that sports is one of the most common causes of concussions, with over 50 percent of concussions accounted for by sports injuries.

These injuries can have serious effects both on and off the field. According to Amanda, who has had five concussions, concussions have lasting impacts on schoolwork as well as athletic life.

“Just sitting through classes, and trying to focus on homework —that’s so hard for some people anyways—when you have this physical thing going on it’s just really hard, especially with junior year,” Amanda said.

However, Amanda’s repeated injuries are a definite exception of school sports. While many athletes will experience occasional sprains and be forced to take a break, few will face lasting damage in the long run.

“Most people who are doing sports are pretty healthy,” Schreiber said. “Their injuries usually heal up without any significant long term problems.”

Conclusion
Athletes like Amanda show us that they are willing to pursue their passion in sports despite drawbacks from injuries. However, by educating themselves about possible injuries and taking precautions, athletes can help themselves stay injury-free. Athletes who compete at a high level are often accustomed to pushing through the pain from contact and intense work. However, this disregard for bodily aches and pains can have serious side effects and consequences. Aside from the time athletes inevitably are forced to spend away from their sports, lasting consequences can negatively affect athletes life inside and outside their sport for years to come.

The season started on a sour note when the team fell to Cupertino High School and Gunn High School for the first two dual meets. However, the team has kept its composure and found a new mental toughness.

“The team has been hanging in there,” captain senior Chris Jimenez said. “We have been practicing really hard lately and are pushing ourselves.”

The team showed serious determination on Thursday, January 12 against Fremont High School, last year’s league winner. “The win over Fremont was big time,” Coach Randy Jimenez said. “We were down 28-0 after the first five matches and it looked like Fremont was going to [beat us]. All that did was light a fire in the kids and we ended up fighting back and beating Fremont 42-37.”

After the comeback, the team worked even harder rather than slack off after the win. The practices increased more in intensity to prepare for Saratoga High School.

“Going to Saratoga, I tried to keep preaching to the kids they needed to keep it going and they did,” Jimenez said. “We trained really hard all week and they were hungry.”

The efforts paid off as the team knocked off the Saratoga team by a wide margin of 66-17. Still, the team believes it has ability to further improve.

“They have come such a long way but there is more to learn and further to go,” Jimenez said. “They are ready to keep [going] and getting better and I would proudly put my team against any team out there. We might not win all the fights but [the] team will not just roll over and die. We will fight from the first whistle to the last.”

The Talon, with the help of the school’s athletic trainer, Amy Greenhaw, discusses beneficial remedies and tricks that enhance performance and prevent injury.

Stretching and warm-ups
Many coaches advise their players to get a good stretch before heading out onto the field. The popular conception is that stretching not only decreases the risk of injury, but also possibly enhances an athlete’s performance.
Stretching loosens muscles, which makes it easier to move and reduces unnecessary muscle strain.

“I think that both static and active warm-up are beneficial,” Greenhaw said. “I don’t think you should just do static stretching. You should do a warm-up before you stretch, because if you just pull your arm across your body your muscles are cold and they’re not going to stretch as much as they should be stretched.”

Greenhaw said that athletes should also stretch after an activity, in order to relax fatigued muscles.

Pain Medications
“Pain is a natural mechanism to tell your body that something wrong,” Greenhaw said. “By covering that up, you’re allowing your body to become more injured and you’re unaware of it.”

Sometimes, athletes who are not not already injured take medications anyway, which complicates matters if they are injured while under the influence.
“If they become injured during the game, they can’t fully explain to me what’s going on because it’s not how their body truly experiences the injury, it’s tainted,” Greenhaw said.

When hurt, it is important to take a break to avoid further damaging injuries. There are also many alternatives to pain medications depending on the injury.
“With cramps, I do different stretching methods with them that have been shown in the research to help the muscle ease, and then I do different functional movements,” Greenhaw said.

Sports Drinks and Water
Sports enhancement drinks usually have a mixed coverage in the media. Gatorade, for example, is considered to be nourishing and re-energizing because it contains electrolytes such as potassium, sodium and calcium. However, there’s a catch.

“I do not recommend full-strength Gatorade to my athletes,” Greenhaw said. “Yes, it does have electrolytes … but it has a high sugar content, and we know that it’s not good for you to go eat a bunch of candy bars and then go on the playing field because your body doesn’t perform well on simple sugars.”

Sports drinks also don’t react immediately; like nutrition, it takes some time for the carbs and electrolytes in the drink to affect muscles.

“Drinking it right when you get a cramp [does] not cure right away,” Greenhaw said. “[But] I haven’t seen enough supporting evidence in the research to take one side or the other on sports performance drinks.”

Instead, water is a safer and more natural choice.

“Hydrating the day before [a match] is very important, as well as the day of and after as well,” Greenhaw said. “I would say it would be very unwise to start drinking water the day of or right before the match.”

Nutrition: Carbs
Athletes’ plate should contain more carbohydrates than usual. Why?
“Carbohydrates are more easily broken down in your body,” Greenhaw said. “Carbs are quick energy for your body because it’s able to process them more easily and it is able to go straight into your blood stream.”

Studies have shown that consuming a carbohydrate-rich meal about 12 to 18 hours before a sporting event can help improve endurance as well as other elements of athleticism.

It is especially important to replenish and repair muscles by indulging in carbohydrates 30 to 40 minutes after a game. As few as 100 calories after the game can make a significant difference in restoring energy, which can be beneficial for the next day. For example, a runner can lose 30 percent of their energy during a run. Not eating within the next 30 to 45 minutes and instead eating 2 to 3 hours later results in only gaining 15 percent back, leaving the runner with 85 percent of their energy the next day.

Icy-Hot and Topical Ointments
Icy-Hot and other topical ointments are usually used to heal pain after being injured. However, topical medications don’t go deep enough into the muscle. Instead, they only touch the skin and upper muscles.

“All of the research that I have seen on products such as IcyHot, Tiger Balm, Bengay, of all those topical medications, none of them have shown to have a direct effect on the muscles,” Greenhaw said.

It is best to ice down an injured area instead of applying topical ointments.
“I tend to think that those creams are a psychological medication,” Greenhaw said. “They tend to make you feel better in your mind but they don’t actually work.”

Cold Therapy and Heat Therapy
Cold and heat therapy are used for different types of injuries depending on how far the injury has progressed. Cold therapy incorporates ice and cold baths to heal swelled areas and pain associated with a new injury.
“Cold therapy is most often used within the first 24 to 72 hours of injury, because there is usually swelling or pain associated with the new injury ,” Greenhaw said. “So you use cold to decrease the swelling and decrease the pain to that area.”
Ice is the best treatment for bruises (which are formed by damaged blood vessels) by decreasing the blood flow to the damaged area. Ice can also be used as a post-exercise remedy that relaxes muscles and prevents injury the next day.
“When you exercise, you get an increased amount of blood flow to the muscles that are used, so you can use that ice afterwards to decrease that blood flow,” Greenhaw said. “You don’t have to necessarily use it every day.”
Unlike cold therapy, which is generally used right after injury or right after exercise, heat therapy is used before exercise to relax muscles. Methods for heat therapy include hot baths and hot packs, but those don’t go very deep into the tissue.
“What I usually use for heat therapy is activity,” Greenhaw said. “So I have [the athlete] jump on a stationary bike and bike for 15 minutes, or I’ll have them go on a small jog and warm up the muscles because that’s what’s going to penetrate the deepest into the tissues and relax muscles.”

Although the team came into the season with high expectations, the Eagles did not start as well as they expected. After a win against Wilcox High School, the team lost six out of the next seven games they played.

“For the past couple of games I just don’t think we’ve been working as well as a team,” senior Nolan O’Such said.

A significant blow to the team was the loss of junior Steven McLean. Steven was hurt in the Eagle home-opener against Monta Vista High School in early August when he had to leave the game due to an ankle injury.

The Eagles have also suffered some tough losses. The team was unable to close out games against teams such as Lynbrook and Monta Vista, losing 50-54 and 44-49, respectively. They hung on in the fourth quarters but could not walk away with wins.

After losses against our rival Spartans (38-67) and a one-point deficit loss of 67-68 against Santa Clara High School at home, the players look to learn from their mistakes and find ways to close out and win games. They look to use all the help they have from the bench to maintain the energy the team is looking for to finish the games late in the fourth quarter.

“We’re a young team,” senior Josh Tabula said. “We have to set the rhythm. We have to stay consistent, play hard and get all of our players involved.”

In order to keep their CCS hopes alive, the team must play one game at a time.

“From here on out things are going to change,” Nolan said. “We’re going to start coming together and winning more games down the stretch.”

League rules prohibit players from competing in the same club and school sport, at the same time. However, they are allowed to practice with their club for different sports.

As a member of both the school’s cross country team and a club soccer team during his freshman year, junior Sean McLoughlin was able to participate on both teams. Sean made improvements in soccer by participating in both sports, as this cross-training made him more fit and improved his endurance.

“Even though both sports coincided, my cross country coach let me be a part of both teams,” Sean said. “They went well together, and I ended up benefiting from both.”

If two sports do not coincide well together, playing them at the same time can be detrimental to an athlete’s performance. For junior Ally Bakos, balancing high school water polo and club softball hindered her abilities. After having to miss weekend water polo practices for tournaments, she realized that she wasn’t excelling in either sport, so she chose to give up softball. Ally also played club water polo and swam for the school during the spring, and both sports proved too taxing to be done at the same time. Ally would miss weekend conditioning for swimming to save energy for water polo practice. She decided to focus on water polo.

“I finally was able to relax and enjoy trying to become the best that I could, which has ultimately made me a much better player,” Ally said. “Never forget the purpose of playing a sport, which is to have fun doing what you love.”

What it comes down to is how competitive each team is. If the high school team is not improving the student as an athlete, then the player chooses what satisfies him or her. This is the case for many experienced players who are part of a team that is new or has few players of the same caliber.

Playing on two different teams at the same time exposes athletes to different coaching while also allowing them to develop relationships with new players. If students decide to continue playing the sport during college, these different coaching and playing environments allow the players to better assimilate into their college teams. They are forced to change their playing intensity to match a variety of skill levels. For players whose club team is more competitive than the school team, they see playing for the school as an opportunity to be exposed to the different levels of competition, which will also be useful for college.

Senior Lucas Champenois, goalie for the boys soccer team, plays club soccer for most of the year. Lucas said his club practices prepare him more for college than those of the school.

“But high school soccer helps too because it’s different,” Lucas said. “I get to see different teams and players, so playing a lot and seeing different things help build experience.”

There will be instances where club and team sports coincide. However, coaches of school teams, not the players, decide whether practice is mandatory or not. If coaches see that club practice is not interfering with individual school sports like track, they can let players slide.

It’s up to the player to understand themselves physically and make the decision to do both based on their physical capability. Simultaneously playing on two teams can take up a lot of time and energy but can also hone a player’s skills. If scheduling conflicts do occur between both teams, students need to make sure their position on the team is not at stake.

“We’ll do a lot better by the end of the season,” freshman Annie Gaffney said. “Obviously since we won the Paly tournament, we have the potential.”

The Eagles, currently 6-4-2 for CCS qualification, have lost three in a row to Monta Vista High School, Los Gatos High School and Mountain View High School (MVHS).

The MVHS away game, a 0-3 loss, has been a note for the team to reflect on and hopefully boost morale. The team looks to return the favor and beat the Spartans in a home game on Wednesday, February 1.

“The Mountain View game was a let-down but really a good thing overall,” junior Audrey Mays said. “I think it made the team realize that we needed to step up the level and start winning again.”

“Our team’s chemistry is amazing compared to last year where we won games because of individual players,” midfielder senior Harry Rojas said. “This year we don’t have those superstars; we still have really good players, but we work as a team and we pass the ball.”

Although the team went undefeated in the annual Homestead Christmas Cup, it lost another two starters before the January 11 match against Mountain View High School (MVHS).

“We definitely could have done better if we had them, but they’re not the whole team either,” Co-captain senior Lucas Champenois said.

Without the 2 starters, the Eagles still managed to dominate possession over the ball and get over 10 shots on goal. MVHS had far fewer opportunities but was able to convert them into goals.

After the Eagles’ 0-1 loss to MVHS, they dropped to second position and went on a tie frenzy against Saratoga High School (0-0), Milpitas High School (1-1), Gunn High School (1-1) and Palo Alto High School (0-0). The consistent ties allowed Homestead High School to bridge the gap and surpass the Eagles to take second in league.

To break the ties, the Eagles decided to take a risk and went on the offensive against Homestead on Friday, January 28. The Eagles moved midfielders such as Harry to the forward position and dominated against the higher-ranked team, winning 3-1.

“In the beginning of the year, of course we were motivated to play soccer, but we didn’t know how good we were going to be,” Harry said. “Even our coach told the Town Crier or The Talon that we’re going to be fighting to stay up in the De Anza Division and we might fight for third. But now, everything has fallen into place and we feel like we can win the division.”