Samo's secret all stars

Sports like cross country and soccer at Samo are always recognized for their progress and success, but what about the students who participate in sports outside of school? Oftentimes, because their sports are not officially affiliated with the school, they are not acknowledged for their achievements as they should be. Some of these students actually prefer the independence of their sport but many of them also feel that having their sport at Samo would make their lives much easier. Overall, whether or not their sport will ever be affiliated with the school, these athletes have an abundances of accomplishments that are worth an honorable mention. Horseback ridingHas it ever shocked you that there isn’t a horsebacking riding team at Samo? Just imagine looking onto the field and finding a team of horses walking on the track. Well, that’s an average day for Sofia Popescu (’20) when she is practicing at the Mill Creek Equestrian Center. Popescu was first exposed to horseback riding when she was eight years old and went on a trail ride in Zion National Park. She truly fell in love with the experience. After four years of persistence, she was finally able to convince her family to let her ride. At first they were hesitant because horseback riding is both an extensive time and economical commitment. In fact, Popescu says that it can take her up to forty minutes just to get to a trail. Although she has been avidly participating in horseback riding as her independent P.E., Popescu hopes that Samo will eventually create an equestrian team. Having a team at Samo would definitely make the experience easier for her. Competition participation and practice schedules would surely be much easier and organized by a knowledgeable coach. Unable to alter the status of the nonexistent Samo equestrian team, Popescu focuses on her individual riding career. However, riding outside of Samo allows Popescu to have a family outside of school and in her horseback riding community.“It’s nice to have a separate group of friends which don’t remind me of grades and school,” she says.She has been riding recreationally for over three years and has previously competed in a few barn shows, but is beginning to expand her horizons and broaden her competitive options. When it comes to competition in horseback riding, there are a variety of options and competition types available to riders. These events include barn shows, dressage, show jumps and off property. In barn shows, riders are tested on their ability to fulfill specific guidelines and requirements, in addition to receiving a cumulative score. Riders and horses in dressage must perform a choreographed routine and receive a score based on their performance. Show jumping is the event when the rides and horses must jump over a series of obstacles and are scored based on time and accuracy. Off property consists of riding on trails throughout nature that do not have specific paths. Popescu has recently been coached by a new dressage instructor in hopes of successfully competing in the coming season for dressage, as well as off property. These competitions are individually small building blocks that would ultimately aid in the growth and development of Popescu techniques. Along with success in competitions, Popescu dreams of competing with a horse of her own.“My hope would be to own my own horse one day and compete with him/her,” Popescu said.Even though this a pricy aspiration, it would help Popescu’s results in competitions because she would be able to familiarize and connect with the same horse rather than adjusting to a different one every time she rides.Equestria offers more to Popescu than just winning competitions. “[Horseback riding] made me more confident because there’s no room for being unsure on a horse or you’ll end up in the dirt,” Popescu said. As a skilled rider, Popescu must trust herself to ensure the overall safety of the horse and her own body. Horseback riding is a key aspect of Popescu’s life and has greatly shaped her personality and overall self.Ice-HockeyThe sunny Santa Monica weather and idea of skating around on a floor of ice do not seem to correlate, but Jake Adlen (’19) makes it work. Because the Samo ice-rink is currently closed due to the breakage of the ice freezer in the pool, Adlen must practice his sport outside of Samo. This junior is a player on the notorious Ontario Avalanche team, which competes in the Western States Hockey League. He also plays on the Ontario Empire, competing in the California Amateur Hockey Association. Needless to say, Adlen is very active in his athletics and devotes himself to his sport. He has been exposed to hockey for practically his entire existence because his dad played, so it has naturally grown to become a big part of his routine. “Playing hockey is my life. I live and breathe it during the season,” Adlen said.Adlen’s association with hockey is very frequent and shows his enthusiasm towards the sport. His extreme practice schedule of four to five times a week has recently led him to physical injury; he tore four ligaments in his ankle. However, the physical pain is all worth the benefits that one acquires from participating in hockey. Hockey has affected and improved Adlen’s personality and has overall morphed his charisma. “Hockey has affected every aspect of my life, whether that be my life long passion for fitness or how I treat others. Hockey created some of the best friendships I will ever have,” Adlen said.Being part of a team means trusting others and being a reliable source for your teammates to depend on. In hockey teams unification is especially important because in times of fights, a player must be able to trust his teammates to have his back. Although Adlen has formed a brotherhood with his teammates on Ontario Avalanche and Ontario Empire, he still wishes that Samo had a competitive team as well. He understands that this is simply impossible because the lack of an ice rink within our vicinity but hopes that, in the future, Samo will develop a hockey team. Adlen would love to play hockey in college, and possibly even play professionally in the NHL, although he understands the difficulty of this aspiration. He is working diligently to achieve this goal in hopes of finding a career in hockey so that he can continue to pursue what he loves. GymnasticsAlthough Samo does not have a gymnastic team, there are many students at Samo who actively participate in this sport. Among these students is Edie Graber (’18), who has been competing in gymnastics virtually her entire life.“I started gymnastics when I was four and kept going from there. It is the kind of sport that I am made for because I am short and strong!” Graber said.Even though she doesn’t practice her sport at school, gymnastics is her life. She currently competes for Broadway Gymnastic School and practices five times a week for four hours each. In addition, she competes at a professional level and plans to compete in college.While some people participating in outside sports wish their sport was officially recognized as a Samo sport, Graber loves that gymnastics is completely separate from her school life.“It gives me a chance to have a family outside of my school environment. Also, I have been going to Broadway Gymnastics my whole life, so switching to a Samo team, if it existed, would not be ideal,” Graber said.In addition to her hopes of competing in college, Graber strives to make it to Level 10 Nationals this year. She plans on meeting this goal by constantly practicing and working hard. “Gymnastics has taught me to have a good work ethic and to push myself, especially with skills that scare me the most,” Graber said. Ultimately, she feels that gymnastics has taught her many life lessons in terms of perseverance and meeting your goals. SailingSanta Monica Bay’s sunny weather and clear blue skies make sailing a perfect sport for Samo students to participate in. In fact, sailing has been increasing in popularity for those who love spending their days on the water. While sailing does seem to be the perfect Santa Monica sport, Samo does not technically have a sailing team. Instead, the Del Rey Yacht Club (DRYC) has a sailing team for high school students to participate in. This sailing team calls themselves Samo when they go to regattas (competitions); however, they are not officially recognized as a school sport.For this reason, students who sail must do independent P.E. While some may want sailing to be a Samo sport, many appreciate that it is an extracurricular activity separate from school. Sam Miller (’20) is one of those who appreciates having sailing as independent P.E.“Part of the reason I chose this sport was because I needed to do independent P.E. so that I wouldn’t have an AM period,” Miller said. The sailing team practices twice a week for two and a half hours to prepare to compete in regattas. The team competes in regattas all over the coast, from San Diego all the way up to San Francisco. Because these races are highly competitive, some wish that they had more time to practice. “While I like that sailing is independent P.E., if practice happened during school, we’d get to sail for so much more time than we do now,” Miller said.Overall, the sailing team is a very fun environment. The sport is competitive, but allows students to enjoy themselves. Although it is not officially a Samo sport, it is one that many students participate in and enjoy. Whether these students aspire to sail in college or are just doing it for their own personal enjoyment, the sailing team is undoubtedly a blast.RowingOver the years, rowing has become an extremely popular sport in Santa Monica. However, Samo does not officially have a rowing team. Instead, many Samo students who row compete for Marina Aquatics Center (MAC), a rowing club run by UCLA.These students practice in Marina Del Rey for varied amounts of time, depending on what team they’re on. In fact, Jason Brown (’20), a sophomore on the varsity men’s team, spends most of his afternoons and weekends rowing with MAC.“Varsity practices are six times a week after school and on Sunday mornings. Excluding our Sunday practice, we row for about 13 hours a week,” Brown said.While some students wish that rowing would officially become a Samo sport so they wouldn’t have to deal with ISPE forms, most appreciate that the sport is not affiliated with school. Because practice takes up so much time and is not very close to Samo, many students feel that having rowing for sixth period would just be too complicated.Eleanor Winterer (’20), a novice rower for MAC, feels that having rowing completely separate from Samo is appropriate. “I like that rowing gives me PE credit, and allows me to take the classes I’m interested in. Also, it would be very challenging to have rowing be a Samo sport because we don’t have the facilities at school, so I would have to drive all the way to my practice anyway,” Winterer said.The general consensus is that rowing should continue to be a sport separate from Samo. However, MAC coaches Zohar Abramovitz, Alexis McPhee, Megan Culberson and John Wojtkiewicz encourage more Samo students to try out for the rowing team.“The team is extremely vibrant and diverse, which is one of the main reasons I enjoy rowing with MAC. It is a great experience, so please come and try out,” Brown said.Even though rowing is ultimately not an official Samo sport, it is one that many students should seriously consider participating in. RockclimbingSophie Rubio (’21) takes the occasional hobby of rock climbing to the next, competitive level. She was first exposed to climbing at a camp when she was seven and loved it from the start. From her first involvement with the sport being a summer camp, Rubio has definitely progressed and advanced as a climber. She practices three times a week, for three hours each day at Rockreation Climbing Gym and competes at a national level. The competitions for rock climbing are unlike any other sport. The year is split into two seasons, bouldering in the fall/winter and rope climbing in the spring. For bouldering competitions, climbers are presented with six climbs and they have five minutes to get as far as they can on each one. For rope competitions climbers are given three routes and they have eight minutes to get as high on the 70 foot climb as possible. “I compete against other people from around the country. My favorite season is bouldering season because I like all the dynamic and interesting movements the routesetters come up with,” Rubio said.Her experiences with competitions and the essence of climbing as a whole has formed Rubio’s personality and sculpted her into the person she is today. Climbing has taught her many life lessons, as well as the physical learning and strength development.“I try to always have a positive attitude because if you fall on a climb you can’t always be frustrated and sad about it. I have learned to be more positive and to try to overcome and work through the challenges,” Rubio said. Although Rubio is successful in competitions and has experienced a lot of personal growth through rock climbing, she still wishes that Samo would create a team and become more involved in that aspect of athletics. Not only would more students be able to get involved, but the accessibility and overall knowledge of the sport would increase. She would not only get more practice time, but she will also gain friendships with others climbers on her team. “I would like rock climbing to become a Samo sport. Climbing is a great form of exercise and it is one of the most fun sports there is so introducing it to Samo would be very beneficial,” Rubio said.SurfingWhile most Samo students are sleeping in on late start Wednesday, Gabriel Ramirez (’19) is catching waves along the California coast.Growing up by the sea of Santa Monica, Ramirez has been exposed to surfing all his life and observed it in his community. Upon his first attempt, Ramirez struggled with surfing, but he developed perseverance as he began to establish his talent. Complementary to his newfound talent, Ramirez also began to attain a great love for the sport and hobby. Surfing is the perfect sport for Ramirez because it taps into his adventurous and nature loving side. “I feel really connected to nature when I’m doing it [surfing],” Ramirez said.His passion for surfing enticed him to join the Samo Surf Team. This affiliation requires Ramirez to attend and participate in practices three to four times a week, along with competitions against other schools. Although Ramirez does not have the opportunity to surf very often, he feels like limiting his practice time makes it more special when he is actually surfing. The team practices at different beaches, ranging from Santa Monica, Malibu or Huntington Beach and compete all along the California coast. Scoring and ranking of competitive surfing is unique from other sports. Judging is subjective because they are scored accordingly by a specific judge, not objectively by the numerical value of “goals.”“There are many factors that go into it [score], including the size of the wave, how long you’re riding it, the amount of tricks you do and the quality of the tricks you do. You are scored from 1-10,” Ramirez said.Along with the scoring guidelines, the nature of surfing also differs from other sports. Surfing has unique characteristics that most typical sports do not attain.“It’s unlike any other sport like soccer or basketball where there is always going to be a court or always going to be a basketball. The winds are constantly changing and you never know what to expect, so there are good days and bad days,” Ramirez said.Although Ramirez does not hope to professionally pursue surfing, he wants to continue actively participating in the sport as a regular hobby. His surfing related goals for the future include improving his skillset, traveling around the world to the numerous breaks he has heard about and continuing to surf throughout his old age.“[Surfing] keeps me away from the stress of school. All of my worries go away when I get in the water,” Ramirez said.