With the holiday season winding down to a close, Redwood High School Athletes share the experience of celebrating with friends and family while still grinding in their sports every day.
By: Abigail Zapata
For many athletes, their sport can tend to have a disconnect with their family members during the holiday season.
Angel Bombela, ‘27, and varsity wrestler shares how even though his sport is time consuming, his family still manages to remain a big part of his life.
“[The way I balance training with the desire of wanting to spend time with my family is that] we compromise with my family coming to the tournaments. Whether that be out of the state or even in town, so that helps me spend time with my family and also be able to play the sport I love.” Bombela says.
Being a wrestler during the holidays is not easy, and it could even determine whether or not you get to spend holiday meals with your loved ones.
Bombela says, “Thanksgiving dinner I have had to cut out entirely because of making weight. Also having a Christmas feast with family is something I have had to cut out.”
The holiday season is typically the time you use to spend as much time with your family as possible. For a lot of athletes, it’s hard to do that.
Emily Carvalho, ‘28, found a way to ensure that she can not only celebrate and be with family, but also make sure she gets her training in. She says, “I do a lot of training early in the morning before school, so that during school I am fine, and then after school I train a lot too.”
Redwood Varsity Girls Basketball had an insanely busy schedule with being on the road constantly and always having practices.
Lucky for Janize Gonzalez, ‘28, she has an extremely supportive family who is willing to adjust their schedules to fit hers just right. She says, “I think that with all the different tournaments in preseason and then all the games, I feel like my family has to be able to drive me, obviously because I can’t drive yet.”
“They have to get out of work early and then not only that but they choose to come and support me throughout every game.” says Gonzales.
Many athletes despise the fact that they need to go to practice everyday, but Gonzales has a different perspective on it.
“I believe that playing a sport in the winter is definitely a commitment. You have to be able to go to practices every day, especially throughout winter break. Even though it’s meant for students to take a break from school and sports, it’s the fact that we need to go to school every day.” Gonzales says.
Although playing at the varsity level comes with a whole lot of commitment, Gonzales loves her sport enough to where it doesn’t feel like a chore. She says, “I just think you really need to love your sport and really enjoy being on the team to commit to all those things.”
Abigail Zapata
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