BEAR WITNESS
|
DECEMBER 2021 |
9
BHSBEARWITNESS.COM
SPORTS
“(Heather Cooper is) what keeps coaches coming back. That’s what keeps the parents who are 10 years removed come in. That love.” - Tony Carason, photographer who manages volleyball team’s social media
SPORTS BRIEFS
SPORTS COVERAGE
Coverage breakdown
Field hockey Final record | Record:1-11 The team had a transition year. With many of last year’s seniors graduating, the team notched one win under their belt against Live Oak this season.
Football Final record | 6-4 Varsity lost their last league game to rival Leigh in an unfortunate shutout score of 28-0. The Bruins went head to head with the Longhorns on Nov. 6 on Leigh territory. Leading up to the game, the Bruins had just taken a win against Westmont, with a close match of 27-23. The Bruins did not qualify for CCS and placed fouth in the Santa Teresa bracket in their division.
27%
of 7 meets, including playoffs Field hockey
Jazzy Nguyen, Abbey Rhodes, Nolan Zils, AManda Day, Makayla Wu, Vivian Trinh, Juliette Bonacum/Bear WItness
Cross country The boys team placed ninth overall at their CCS final in Belmont, led by seniors Antoine Moret, senior and Dominic Clima. The girls team placed eighth, led by juniors Lauren Peters and Isabelle Moret and senior Megan Cubiss, who placed 19th, 22nd and 42nd, respectively. Antoine Moret represented Branham at the state finals in Fremont on Nov. 27.
Cross country
Girls tennis Final record | 6-8 Seniors Meena and Neela Iyer brought Branham back to the playoffs for the first time since 2002. Though the sisters lost to Los Altos on Nov. 17 in two sets (1-6, 3-6), they said they were proud to begin a new tradition of excellence for the team. Boys Water Polo: Record: 12-0 The boys water polo team ranked first in their inaugural season, with senior Matt Knudsen earning league MVP. The team failed to advance in finals after a loss to Pioneer in the first round of BVALs. Girls Water Polo: Record: 7-5
The girls team finished their inaugural season with 3-8 loss against Santa Teresa. — Compiled by Alan Schaeffer
16.6% of 12 matches Football
100%
of 10 matches, home or away
Volleyball
ALAN SCHAEFFER Sports Editor
ABBEY RHODES
Special Projects Editor
alking past the bleachers of a typical home W football game, one is greeted by a wall of screaming students covered in blue.
The Blue Crew, the student cheer section, holds up Cindy, their mannequin mascot. Blu the Bruin highfives fans in the stands. The sideline cheer team leads the Bruin Beat. The pep band plays “Industry Baby” by Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow during breaks in play. When the team scores, cheers erupt from the crowd wearing navy and Columbia blue. After the game, posts flood social media, sharing photos and recapping the night’s score, from ASB’s @ seewhatsbruin and the Bear Witness and players’ and journalism students’ personal accounts. At Branham and throughout the United States, football culture rules. According to Gallop Polls, nearly 40% of Americans say that it is their most-watched sport. The National Football League is also the world’s most lucrative professional sport, bringing in $16 billion in accumulated revenue, which includes advertising dollars, audience attendance and apparel purchases. The football-centric coverage is also disproportionate on the social media pages from ASB and the Bear Witness, with a combined follower count of more than 6,000 in the community. In auditing our own fall sports coverage, the Bear Witness’ social media pages have covered 100% of football games, whether they’re home or away. The only fall sport that comes close was volleyball, which received coverage on a quarter of its league games. The team has been on a historic run, having reached the NorCal semifinals.
This year, the publication has covered all 11 football games (100%) compared to 10 volleyball games (45%), three cross country meets (27%), two field hockey matches (16.6%) two water polo games from either boys and girls teams (14%), and two tennis matches (12.5%). The lack of attention paid to other sports such as girls tennis, boys and girls water polo and field hockey is demoralizing for their athletes, who say that they are constantly fighting for attention. “It just feels like they don’t listen to us,” said senior Lindsay Freitas, a field hockey player and ASB leader. Field hockey games see almost no fans across their 17 league games, compared to the full bleachers and packed crowds that she has witnessed at football games. Additionally, the games are used as tentpole events for themed weeks, such as Homecoming and Dig Pink Week, which was originally a volleyball event. “Football is the big attraction here at Branham,” she said. “You don’t really want to go up against the moneymaker.” ASB Activities Director Christina Hillman pointed out that ASB sees football games more as events because of the amount of attendance that they receive and advertise them as such. “We need to build momentum with our Blue Crew and student section,” she said. “Once that momentum is built… we can get students to view other sporting events as events rather than being about the sport itself. Then when they actually attend the games, they will realize how cool some of these sports are to watch.” During outreach once a week, ASB creates slides to inform students on upcoming events at Branham. According to Freitas, ASB does their best to include updates about all sports events in these slides. However, she believes that little attention is paid to the information given during outreach and social media reaches
CULTIVATING CULTURE ZIV GALPAZ
Engagement Editor
MAKAYLA WU
D
of 32 matches, including historic playoff run Water polo
14%
Football has long dominated our attention, and for athletes in other fall sports, it’s long overdue for a change
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Staff Writer
25%
Editors’ note: The Bear Witness acknowledges its disproportionate coverage of football over other sports during the fall season, not just this year, but as far back as we remember. While writers are encouraged to cover sports and topics that they are interested in, it has perpetuated this bias. As we move on to winter sports, we are working to improve our coverage to make it timely, accurate and representative.
espite their loss against West Valley High School in the NorCal semifinals that ended their historic season Nov. 13, the Bruins still have lots to celebrate for. Ranked 73 in California, it’s easy to argue that Branham’s volleyball program is one of the best in the region. This season’s CCS division II win and the fact that they are again league champions will further cement their reputation. Head coach Heather Cooper credits the program’s success to the community of athletes, family and supporters that she’s helped build. Even without the built-in culture of larger pro-
grams such as football, they’ve found a way to bring attention to themselves, and often pack the gyms for home games. She’s called the girls team that she’s helped build a sisterhood, saying that she saw something special with the current history-making squad. “I knew my gut was telling me the way we’ve been winning this season, there was something truly special about it,” she said. “I used that to my advantage and created the culture that I wanted it to be. And it worked, and here we are.” The wider Branham community has also embraced the team. The Bagel Bar in Campbell, owned by senior Taylor Boehner’s family, donates proceeds from its a blue-and-white swirled Branham Bruin Volleyball bagel to the team. Players like junior Ava Medina treasure the en-
students better. “We have to pick and choose what events we advertise [on social media]. If you push out 20 graphics on the same day, no one’s gonna listen to you,” Freitas said. “So we try, but I always think there’s more that can be done.” Senior Adi Arora who plays quarterback and cornerback has also noticed the amount of attention his sport receives from the Bear Witness and from students. He also wants other sports to be covered just as much. “They deserve, at minimum, attention and support from ASB or the school,” he said. “(The Bear Witness) advertises every single football game, but (it would help) to advertise that the school really hits hard on other sports,” Freitas said, in reference to the Bear Witness’ sports coverage. Bear Witness co-editor-in-chief Nolan Zils acknowledges the bias and said that the timing of football games when most students are most available — Friday nights make it an easy sport to cover. Zils has covered nearly all football games and took on the volleyball coverage during their playoff run. But he said that should not be the mindset of student journalists. “(A good journalist) is caring enough to think, ‘okay, it may not be the most convenient and I may not like what needs to be covered, but these are the voices that are not being heard.’” Even with small improvements in the coverage of other sports, and equal funding and resources provided, athletes still envy the amount of attention given to football, and want some of that for their sport, their fellow athletes, and themselves. “I think part of being an athlete is about competing and doing things for yourself, but it’s always nice to see pictures of you,” said Bear Witness co-editor-in-chief Jazzy Nguyen. “And I think that it’s nice to see different sports being covered.”
History-making team inspires a loyalty among players and coaches like no other
vironment of their team that they’ve created. “It’s like a place for me and my teammates to escape,” said Medina. Among the satellite of supporters is professional photographer Tony Carason, Cooper’s longtime friend whom she describes as a blessing to have. Carason, who has been involved with Branham Volleyball for the past 12 years, helps promote the program through the social media he manages. In-between and during matches, he helps keep engagement with the program high. For their recent NorCal round two win over Buchanan High School, the Branham Volleyball Instagram account posted frequently set results of the close game with videos of gameplay and reactions. He also shares moments off the volleyball Carason says that his favorite part about the
volleyball program is the family and the people. But it’s Cooper who is the heart of the girls and boys programs, which she took over in 2008 and 2013, respectively. “It starts with the coach,” Carason said. “She puts her heart and soul into this, and she’s been doing it for so long. And that’s what keeps me coming back. That’s what keeps coaches coming back. That’s what keeps the parents who are 10 years removed come in. That love.” Although Cooper describes her coaching style as “hard and critical at times,” she knows that the girls understand that it’s because she wants them to accomplish great things. “It’s just the culture that we bring in here,” Cooper said. “The dedication and the passion, and it’s blood sweat and tears at times, but it’s worth it.”
