BIG RED Harvard-Westlake School • VOL. 8 • NO. 2 • February 2013
JOIN THE CLUB Players from the top-ranked girls’ soccer team followed their coach by switching club teams. P. 18
FIELD HOCKEY: Head coach wins coach of the year p. 12 HEALTH: Weight lifting and concussions p. 14 BASKETBALL: Dean Chris Jones doubles as JV assistant coach p. 22
BIG RED February 2013 • VOLUME 8 • NO. 2
thePlaybook
ROBBIE LOEB/BIG RED
ATHLETE HEALTH
COACHES
3 TEAM DOCTOR
14-17 FIT TO PLAY
22-23 A DOUBLE LIFE
4-9 PHOTO GALLERY
Controversial topics in high school athletics include athlete head injuries and weight training.
Upper School Dean Chris Jones doubles as an assistant coach on the junior varsity boys’ basketball squad in his first year at HarvardWestlake.
BY JACK GOLDFISHER, PATRICK RYAN, AND SAM SACHS
BY AARON LYONS
BASKETBALL
GIRLS’ SOCCER
18-19 JOIN THE CLUB
Before heading to Vanderbilt to play SEC football, varsity quarterback Chad Kanoff ’13 is finishing his stint with Wolverines athletics in a basketball jersey.
Most of the girls on the varsity soccer team, along with their head coach Richard Simms, switched clubs this summer.
theStaff
editors-in-chief: Michael Aronson, Luke Holthouse managing editors: Robbie Loeb, Grant Nussbaum, Patrick Ryan adviser Kathleen Neumeyer
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BY LIZZY THOMAS
staff Jordan Garfinkel, Jack Goldfisher, Tyler Graham, Miles Harleston, Eric Loeb, Aaron Lyons, Marcella Park, Lucy Putnam, Sam Sachs, J.J. Spitz, Lizzy Thomas
Big Red staffers weigh in on all things Wolverine athletics.
12-13 FIELD HOCKEY
26-27 REBOUND
BY MICHAEL ARONSON
10-11 ROUND TABLE
YANKEESFANSUNITE.COM
Pinstripe Pitcher Big Red staffer Grant Nussbaum chats with former Wolverines’ pitcher and current New York Yankees’ player Nik Turley ’08 for a question and answer session. Page 24-25 »
Erin Creznic won the Coach of the Year award for the CIF Southern Section. Her assistant coach was a former Wolverine field hockey player.
20-21 BASKETBALL COLUMN 28 BATTLING INJURY 29 RUGBY 30 FENCING
BIG RED is a publication of the Harvard-Westlake Chronicle, the upper school newspaper at Harvard-Westlake School, 3700 Coldwater Canyon, Studio City, CA 91604, produced as a part of Advanced Journalism classes. The school has 1,500 students in grades 9-12. For any questions, or to purchase a subscription or to advertise, please contact us at chronicle@ hw.com or at (818)487-6512. Copies of BIG RED are distributed free on campus to students and faculty and are mailed to friends and family by subscription at $15 per year. Letters to the editor can be sent to editors-in-chief Michael Aronson and Luke Holthouse, at maronson1@hwemail.com or lholthouse1@hwemail.com. BIG RED is a general interest magazine about athletics, including teams and individual athletic pursuits of HarvardWestlake students and faculty, as well as health and fitness topics. For seasonal coverage of Wolverine teams, see The Chronicle or www.hwchronicle.com.
On the Cover: Girls’ soccer team captain Hannah Lichtenstein’13 keeps possession of the ball from an Alemany defender. Cover Photo by Jack Goldfisher
WHAT’S UP, DOC? BY JORDAN GARFINKEL attended the Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago. Ferkel did a one-year fellowship at the Southern California Orthopedic Institute, where he now heads the fellowship program. He specializes in knee, shoulder and ankle injuries, and has operated on professional athletes including NBA players Ray Allen, Andrew Bogut, Stephen Curry and Manu Ginobli. He has operated on both Jason ’97 and Jarron Collins ’97, NBA players who started their basketball careers in Taper Gymnasium and played for the Stanford Cardinal. Ferkel lectures all over the world and is a consultant to the NFL, MLB and the NBA., Throughout his 30-year tenure as a physician for the football team, Ferkel has treated several different types of injuries on the field. “They’ve ranged from concussions, to fractured wrists, to fractured ankles, tears of the ACL and dislocated shoulders. We’ve called ambulances before and there have been a number of times where I have sent a patient to Valley Presbyterian Hospital after the game, then I would go to the hospital to fix the
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I DO IT FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS. THE MOST IMPORTANT IS TO GIVE BACK TO THE COMMUNITY. SECONDLY, I LOVE SPORTS MEDICINE, AND I WANT TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF THE CARE FOR ATHLETES,” FERKEL SAID. fracture or treat him that night.” Ferkel has also had to treat his son, Eric Ferkel ’98, who played football at Harvard-Westlake and Washington University in St. Louis. “When he was playing at Harvard it was very, very difficult for me to be the team doctor, when your son’s out there,” Ferkel said. Both Eric and his sister, Megan ’02 were sports editors on the Chronicle. Eric has followed in his father’s footsteps and is also an orthopedic surgeon. “As a rule, I don’t treat the spectators because I can’t go into the
PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF RICHARD FERKEL
He might be the original Fanatic, having been on the sidelines for more Harvard-Westlake and Harvard School home and away football games than any other person. Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Richard D. Ferkel, who played high school football in Rockford, Illinois and as a UCLA Bruin, has been the school’s team doctor for more than 30 years and personally attends almost all the games, sending an associate from the Southern California Orthopedic Institute, where he is head of sports medicine, when he can’t be there himself. As a high school athlete, Ferkel was introduced to the field of sports medicine as a patient, not a doctor. “I was inspired from doing sports my whole life, and having injuries and seeing orthopedic surgeons treat me,” he said. “I used to follow an orthopedic surgeon around for a number of years when I was growing up in high school. He got me interested in orthopedic surgery.” After playing defensive back for the Bruins, Ferkel transferred University of California, Berkeley to pursue a biochemistry major. He
Dr. Richard D. Ferkel has been the Wolverine team doctor for more than 30 years and has treated professional athletes including Ray Allen, Stephen Curry and Manu Ginobli.
stands. I have to be on the field. But, occasionally I’ve had to treat cheerleaders who got injured,” Ferkel said. “I have at the end of the game gone into the stands and helped spectators as well. We’ve had heart attacks.” “I do it for a variety of reasons, the most important is that it’s a nice way to give back to the community,” he said. “Secondly, I love sports medicine, and I want to improve the quality of the care for the athletes. That’s something we’ve been trying to work on for all these years.”
popCULTURE Wolverine Athlete
March Madness winner?
Metta World Peace is...
Oscars Best Picture?
Favorite winter sport?
DUKE
TERRIBLE AT BASKETBALL
“DJANGO”
GIRLS’ SOCCER
SOPHIA GONZALEZ ’15 Water polo
MICHIGAN
VIOLENT
“LINCOLN”
WATER POLO
DAVID MANAHAN ’14 Cross Country and Track
ALABAMA
I DON’T KNOW
“LINCOLN”
SOCCER
MICHAEL SHENG ’14 Basketball
HANNAH LICHTENSTEIN ’13 Soccer
JACK GOLDFISHER/BIG RED
in the grid DUKE
A LAKERS PLAYER
“DJANGO”
GIRLS’ SOCCER
Courtney O’Brien ’15, above, dribbles in the girls’ soccer team’s 3-3 tie with El Camino Real. The team was ranked as the top team in CIF early in its season.
BIG RED WINTER 2013 • 3
OUT OF MY WAY Point guard Mike Sheng ’14 forces his way around an Alemany defender in the boys’ basketball team’s 64-52 loss to the Warriors on Jan. 11. Sheng had 11 points, two assists and three boards in the matchup. Photograph by JACK GOLDFISHER
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BIG RED WINTER 2013 • 5
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KICKING & SCREAMING Boys’ soccer player Matthew Gooden ’15 jumps on Beau McGinley’s ’13 back after McGinley scored a goal to put the team ahead against Chaminade in a Wolverine victory on Jan. 9. Photograph by LUKE HOLTHOUSE
BIG RED WINTER 2013 • 7
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IN SEASON All of the winter sports seasons are in full swing as the teams eye CIF playoffs. The girls’ soccer team is towards the top of the rankings in CIF. The girls’ water polo team is seeking a third straight CIF title after a move up to Division III. Boys’ basketball beat Loyola for the first time since 2010 in December. Ty Gilhuly ’13 scored two game-winning goals in the span of a week. Natalie Florescu ’13 leads the girls’ basketball team in scoring. Wrestling has struggled in the early season despite wins by individual wrestlers. Photographs by JACK GOLDFISHER, PATRICK RYAN & LUKE HOLTHOUSE
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Wolverine roundtable
Members of the Big Red staff give their take on key issues in current Wolverine sports.
Q: Who has been the MVP of the winter season so far? Holthouse: As the only remaining member from the 2010 team
that won a State Championship, Natalie Florescu ’13 is the clear leader of the girls’ varsity basketball team. She brings not only a ton of talent to the court every game, but her four years of experience as a varsity player make her an invaluable asset to her teammates on the court. As a starting guard and captain of the hoops team, she led the team in scoring with 12.5 points a game during the first half of the season, accounting for over 25 percent of the 45.1 points the team averages again. As the team makes its rounds through Mission League play the rest of the season, the team will need her to keep her hot shooting hand if the team is to compete for a league championship.
Ryan: My vote for MVP is Morgan Hallock ’13. Despite being the
focal point of the Wolverines’ attack, drawing double teams frequently throughout the game, she has managed to score goals for the team when they are needed, but also is able to defer to teammates like Sydney Cheong ’14, Rebecca Armstrong ’14 and Kassie Shannon ’13 who can score from the outside. She has led the team to two CIF Division IV championships, and is one the main reasons why the team has been competitive in Division III since moving up this year. I am confident her strong play will continue as she tries to capture her third CIF ring in three years.
Nussbaum: It’s difficult to choose anyone but Ty Gilhuly ’13 for
winter season MVP thus far. Gilhuly is not only the boys’ soccer team’s scoring leader and assist contributor, but has consistently come up big for the Wolverines when they’ve needed it most. He scored two late gamewinning goals for the Wolverines in January, one of which came off a free kick in stoppage time. The senior forward has helped the team preserve a winning record in the Mission League despite injuries to several team members.
Q: Which team has the best chance to make a run in the CIF playoffs? Holthouse: The numbers don’t lie. According to a recent CIF
coaches poll, the varsity girls soccer squad was ranked the best Division I team in the entire Southern Section. That’s a pretty good indicator that this team is for real, right? Well, if that’s not enough, the team finished in first place at the Mater Dei Premier Invitational, one of the most competitive girls’ soccer tournaments in the country, and was undefeated through their first several league games. I think this team should roll through Mission League play en route to its second straight league title and make a deeper CIF run then last year’s team, which was knocked out in the quarterfinals of playoffs to San Clemente. In fact, the Wolverines probably wouldn’t have a problem with San Clemente if they met again in playoffs, as they beat San Clemente 4-0 at the Mater Dei Tournament.
Aronson: When forward Derick Newton ’14 was at 100 percent,
the boys’ basketball team showed it could beat some of the best teams in Southern California. The boys topped Loyola and Chaminade, both of which are in the Los Angeles Times’ top 25 teams in So-Cal. With the unpredictable nature of high school basketball playoffs, the Wolverines are definitely contenders as Newton heals his shoulder and returns to the hardwood.
Nussbaum: I have to agree with Luke that girls’ soccer has the best
In the box Forward Catherina Gores’ 15 receives a pass in the girls’ soccer team’s 5-4 victory over Chaminade. JACK GOLDFISHER/BIG RED
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chance to make a deep CIF run. Since the squad’s ever-convincing 8-0 victory against Calabasas in the first game of the season, girls have had everything going for them. They have several viable scoring threats such as Catherina Gores ’15, Quinn Frankel ’16 and Hannah Lichtenstein ’13, have shown excellent chemistry on the field throughout the season, and have the veteran leader a title contender in any sport or league needs in senior captain Lichtenstein. Although head coach Richard Simms felt the need to change the team’s formation to a 4-4-2 early in the season, it’s clear from their 9-3-1 record that the girls have had no trouble finding their niche, and that should translate well for CIF competition.
Michael Aronson Editor-in-Chief
Luke Holthouse Editor-in-Chief
Patrick Ryan Managing Editor
Grant Nussbaum Managing Editor
Q: Which winter team has the biggest challenge ahead of it?
Walking the line
Aronson: “Impressive” doesn’t even begin to describe the last two
seasons for the girls’ water polo team. Los Osos should just forfeit if they ever have to face the Wolverines in a CIF Championship again. But with the move from Division IV to Division III, the back to back CIF championship title winners have a difficult task ahead of them with tougher out of league opponents. I’m confident though that dominant scorers like Morgan Hallock ’13, Kassie Shannon ’13, Rebecca Armstrong ’14 and Sydney Cheong ’14 will give the Wolverines a solid chance at winning a 3rd straight CIF Championship.
Ryan: The biggest challenge that any team will face will be the boys’
basketball team reverting back to top form as Derick Newton ’14 returns from a shoulder injury. Newton injured the same shoulder his freshman year and was averaging a team high of 19.5 points per game and 6.7 rebounds prior to getting hurt. Repeat injuries in particular require time for athletes to play at their highest level even after they are able to return to play. Point guard Mike Sheng ’14 will be asked to carry more of the load along with Alex Copeland ’15 and Chad Kanoff ’13 as Newton starts to go back to his prime performance and fitness levels. Once Newton does do this, however, the Wolverines as a whole will be able to play at their best and will certainly be top contenders in league and CIF.
LUKE HOLTHOUSE/BIG RED
Forward Ty Gilhuly ’13 chases down a deep ball in the boys’ soccer team’s 5-4 win against Chaminade. Gilhuly scored the winning goal in stoppage time.
Q: What has been the best moment in winter Wolverine athletics? Holthouse: Reminiscent of Manchester City’s miraculous comeback
to beat the Queens Park Rangers in the final game of last year’s English Premier League to snatch the league title away from rival Manchester United, the varsity boys’ soccer team found itself trailing 4-3 to a team it really should have been beating in the final minutes of crucial league game on Jan. 9 against Chaminade. Though the game may not have had such dire impacts on the league standings as the “football” match across the pond, the game was a must win game for a team that was in danger of falling to 4-8 on the season and 1-2 in a league the team hoped to win going into the season. But much like Manchester City’s two goals in stoppage time to turn a 2-1 loss into a 3-2 win, Ty Gilhuly ’13 found the back of the net off a corner kick with less than five minutes to play to equalize then came back down the field a few minutes later in stoppage time to net the winner. In a season that’s been plagued by injuries and slow adjustment to the coaching styles of first-year program director Lucas Bongarra, the team really needed a victory against Chaminade. Senior captain Gilhuly answered the call and got his team that victory in what’s been the best comeback I’ve seen this season.
Aronson: Coming off of a rough loss against Alemany at home, the Crossover Guard Alex Copeland ‘15 tries to get past a double team in the Wolverines’ 64-52 loss to Alemany. JACK GOLDFISHER/BIG RED
boys’ basketball team needed something to lift its spirits. Guard Bryan Polan’s ’14 beyond the arc shooting against St. Francis was exactly what the boys needed. With time winding down against the Knights and the Wolverines’ leading scorer Derick Newton ’14 sidelined due to a shoulder injury, the scored remained tied at 52-52. Polan sinked a three-point shot at the buzzer to give the Wolverines the “W” and momentum heading into the team’s first regular season matchup against rival Loyola.
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BEST IN TOWN BY LUKE HOLTHOUSE The California Coaches’ Association confirmed something on Jan. 7 that Kacey Wilson ‘13 has been saying for a long time. Wilson, who has played field hockey for Head Coach Erin Creznic every year since she came to Harvard-Westlake in seventh grade, has called Creznic one of the best coaches around. Finally, six years later, the CCA’s Southern Section selection committee indicated it agreed and named Creznic the Southern Section Fall Coach of the Year. “I wasn’t even surprised,” Wilson said when her coach won the award. “I’m surprised she didn’t get this earlier. She’s always been such a supportive and nice woman.” Creznic led this year’s girls’ field hockey team to the Los Angeles Field Hockey Association Championships. While the team fell a goal short of beating Huntington Beach and ultimately lost in sudden death overtime by a score of 1-0, the team was able to capture
the Sunset League championship and finished with a record of 16-22 along the way. Creznic coached the entire season while pregnant with her son, Theodore. When the team met for its first summer practices in late August, she was seven months into her pregnancy and was set to give birth on Nov. 2, less than a week after the Wolverines’ last scheduled regular season game against Bonita on Oct. 27. However, with the team advancing through the first two rounds of playoffs, Creznic’s season did not end until after the championship game on Nov. 1. “He ended up coming a week late by Caesarean section, but I didn’t know that at the time obviously,” Creznic said. “I think [the players] often were more concerned that my water was going to break or I was going to go into labor at the field than I was. I was pretty confident he would wait until after the season because I was determined to coach.”
Creznic first came to HarvardWestlake in 2002 as an assistant coach to the team. The girls won the LAFHA championship in 2004 while she was an assistant, and usually advances to at least the semifinals of playoffs, but has not won the LAFHA championship since she became head coach in 2006.
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“We’ve won it before, but this is the farthest we’ve gone in recent year,” Creznic said. “Frankly, the field hockey in general has gotten so much more competitive. By far, this is the best game we ever played at Harvard-Westlake.” After she was promoted to head coach before the 2006 sea-
WHEN WE GET KIDS AT HARVARD-WESTLAKE IN SEVENTH GRADE, THEY PRETTY MUCH HAVE NEVER PLAYED FIELD HOCKEY BEFORE,” CREZNIC SAID. “WE’RE THE EPITOME OF VERTICAL INTEGRATION.”
NATHANSON’S
COMING HOME BY J.J. Spitz
S PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF BRENNA MOELJADI
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ix years ago, Brenna Moeljadi ’07 was on the field, making tackles and connecting passes. At games this season, Moeljadi can be seen scribbling notes about points she wants to make at halftime, or yelling instructions alongside her former coach Erin Creznic, Head of the Field Hockey Program. Moeljadi played on the varsity field hockey team for three years as a center midfielder and center defender while she was in high school. This year, she was appoint-
ed as a new assistant coach for the team, in addition to the other assistant coach, Sara Owens, and the goalie coach, Sara Joyce. Moeljadi began playing field hockey in eighth grade and continued throughout high school. She was consistently a prominent player on the team, accumulating a California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) title, the CIF-SS MVP award, and the Harvard-Westlake MVP award over her high school career. Moeljadi was chosen to be on
the CIF-SS All-Tournament team for three years and was the varsity team captain during her senior year. She then went on to play at the college level at Indiana University, where she played sweeper during her first two years and center midfielder during her last two years. “You develop a really big family within your team,” Moeljadi said. “It’s a lot of ups and downs, but in the end, it’s probably the best experience I had in college.” One obstacle for Moeljadi was
Field Hockey Head Coach Erin Creznic won Fall Coach of the Year for the CIF Southern Section. son, she was hired to teach English at the Middle School for the 2007-2008 school year. Today, she is the only varsity head coach that also teaches full time at HarvardWestlake. By coaching players for six years and also teaching some of her players in English, Creznic says she has been able to develop very strong relationships with her players, particularly with this year’s senior class because it was the first group she coached and taught from seventh grade on. Creznic coaches both the field hockey team’s off-season club team as well as the two middle school field hockey teams. Because the high school season is in the fall while the middle school season is in the spring, Creznic can guide both age groups and keep her coaching messages consistent all six years of a player’s career. She cited the program’s ability to attract a large number of players who stick with the program from seventh grade until they graduate as the key to the team’s continued success.
“When we get kids at HarvardWestlake in seventh grade, they pretty much have never played field hockey before,” Creznic said. “We’re the epitome of vertical integration.” Unlike girls’ sports like volleyball and soccer, most players do not need to practice on club teams year round to make the field hockey team, which is a no-cut sport. Instead, the off-season HarvardWestlake club field hockey team participates in various weekend tournaments throughout the year. Creznic said it is optional for players to participate on the club team, but the majority of players do because they genuinely enjoy playing the sport. She said that while her program does not prepare as many athletes for Div. I level field hockey in college, the program has still competed for regional championships every year because each team is led by a cohesive group of players that have stuck with the program since seventh grade. This year’s team will graduate 12 seniors and only Taylor Lee ’13, who commit-
ted to UC Berkeley but missed the whole season with an injury, was recruited to play Div. I in college. “Generally, we have really smart players, and they have to rely on that more than their athleticism sometimes,” she said. “They really come together as a team because we don’t necessarily have the AllStar athletes or recruits that other teams might have. This year’s group worked really well as a team.” Creznic said she was particularly proud of the success of her players at Harvard-Westlake as students, not just athletes. She said that many play two sports, participate in extracurriculars and four of her six seniors in the 2012 class went on to study at Ivy League schools. “I still want students to participate in other aspects of HarvardWestlake,” she said. “I feel like we can be an incredibly strong team without limiting students in what they can participate at HarvardWestlake. I think we can win without going crazy and just doing field hockey 24/7.”
COACH OF THE YEAR Eric Creznic coaches her team from the sidelines before giving birth to her son.
AARON LYONS/BIG RED
Former Wolverine field hockey player Brenna Moeljadi ’07 returned to the sidelines of Ted Slavin field to be an assistant coach for the varsity field hockey team.
fracturing her hip during her sophomore year, and she was granted a medical red shirt after only three games. Although she was out for the rest of the season, she came back and was named to the First Team All-Big Ten team two years in a row, in addition to numerous other accolades. Moeljadi ended her collegiate career with 20 goals, 16 assists and 10 defensive saves. After graduating from college in December of last year, Moeljadi coached a Hollywood Field Hock-
ey Club team during the spring season. During the summer, she coached at several college camps, including Indiana University, Northwestern University and the University of Louisville. Once Moeljadi became an assistant coach at Harvard-Westlake, her goals were to increase the team’s intensity while still providing a fun atmosphere for the players. Her experience as both a high school and college athlete has helped her implement new drills
during practices that translate directly to the games. “Having Brenna, who was a player, as our coach really helps us because she has a player’s perspective on how to do things,” varsity player Maddie Oswald ’15 said. “She has helped me a lot on my one v. ones and strokes.” Creznic and Moeljadi kept in touch after Moeljadi left high school, and have developed a better relationship than the usual player and coach relationship, Moeljadi said.
“Brenna has been a great asset to our team this season. It is always wonderful to get young coaches, who have just finished playing at the college level, to come and share their enthusiasm, love, and knowledge of the sport,” Creznic said. Moeljadi volunteers as a research assistant at the Los Angeles Orthopedic Hospital, where she works closely with UCLA professors. In her free time, Moeljadi likes to spend time with friends and stay active by hiking and biking on the beach.
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Knockin’ Heads Concussions and head injuries affect HarvardWestlake athletes both on the field and in the classroom, and as these problems come to the forefront of athletic debate, Harvard-Westlake is taking measures to ensure player safety.
BY JACK GOLDFISHER On Sept. 5, the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys opened the National Football League season to fireworks and applause and a nationwide audience of 20 million screaming fans. That same day, a Neurology and Science journal published the results of a study of 3,439 retired professional football players, showing that veterans of NFL combat are four times as likely as the general population to die due to brain diseases including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and Lou Gehrig’s disease. Additionally, in the past 20 years, almost 3,000 former players have brought lawsuits against the league charging league officials with neglect and endangerment of players. In response, the league has donated almost $50 million to health research institutions to show a commitment to player health, according to League officials. However, the dangers of head injuries extend far beyond the realm of professional football, to a multitude of high school sports. “I’ve had several major concussions, all related to lacrosse,” Ross O’Shea ’14 said. “I am definitely cautious about the long-term effects because even though your brain does heal, you always know that you are always going to be at a disadvantage because you become more susceptible to receiving concussions in the future.” “I missed two days of school [because of my injury], which was pretty bad,” water polo player Ben Hallock ’15, who sustained a concussion and a broken eardrum during a match, said. “I would go
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and see [athletic trainer Milo Sini] and he would continuously perform the concussion tests on me. Right when it happened Milo asked me to remember three words and asked me to remember them for the next two weeks,” Hallock said, “I think [the words] were girl, dog, and I don’t remember the last one.” Sunday warriors and other athletes who suffer multiple concussions are at an increased risk of depression and are more likely to commit suicide than athletes who don’t sustain concussions, according to a UCLA head injury study. Furthermore, high school athletes are in even more danger, because their brains haven’t finished developing yet. The average brain finishes developing at age 25, and thus athletes in high school are at increased risk for long-term damage, the study said. Furthermore, many players struggle having to be off the field and having to endure the long recovery process that goes along with head injuries. “A concussion isn’t like other injuries in the sense that there is no treatment, no medicine or painkiller that can be taken to speed up the process. The fastest way to recover is the natural way,” O’Shea said. In recent years, HarvardWestlake has taken steps to combat long-term negative impacts of head injuries. “The school was also very responsible with the handling of my concussions, allowing me to not use my brain, and allow it to heal properly,” O’Shea said. All Harvard-Westlake coaches
REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF YAHOOSPORTS.COM
are now required to pass a head injury education course before they are allowed to coach their respective teams. The online training program, offered by the National Federation of State High School Associations, features sport-specific training and general health information. “Unlike typical sports injuries such as torn ligaments and broken bones – structural injuries that you can feel with your hands or see on an x-ray – a concussion is a disruption of how the brain works. It’s a problem with function, not structure,” said Dr. Mick Koester, Chair of the NFHS Sports Medicine Advisory Committee. The school has also recently developed a relationship with the UCLA sports medicine program in which the college studies Wolverine athletes and works to improve post-concussion rehabilitation techniques.
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THERE ARE A LOT OF FACTORS THAT ARE OUT OF YOUR CONTROL, BUT HARVARDWESTLAKE TAKES EVERY PRECAUTION TO ENSURE SAFETY,” BIBLE SAID.
“The health of the student-athletes is our number one priority,” said Athletic Director Vince Orlando, “Our school has fewer injuries than others; Harvard-Westlake is really on the cutting edge of athletic health programs.” One measure the athletic department has taken to improve player safety is yearly football pad and helmet reconditioning. “In college football, teams don’t even use the same helmets twice,” said Athletic Director Darlene Bible. ”There are a lot of factors that are out of your control, but Harvard-Westlake takes every precaution to ensure safety.” “Another step we’re taking is having team coaches emphasize good form,” Orlando said, “In football, tackling with proper technique can eliminate some of the risk of a head injury,” Orlando said. Additional reporting by Luke Holthouse and Sam Sachs
NATHANSON’S
PHOTOS BY PATRICK RYAN/BIG RED
HEAD BELOW WATER Ben Hallock ’16 lies facedown in the pool, above, after a blow to the head during the boys’ water polo team’s loss to Mater Dei in CIF playoffs. Trainer at left, and Milo Sini, kneeling, treat Hallock after his injury. Chaplain Father J. Young is behind him and his mother is at right.
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Weighting Game Weight training has always been popular with high school students, but many schools are beginning to start adolescents on lifting programs at younger ages. High schools have also hired full time strength coaches to supervise the athletes.
BY PATRICK RYAN When Greg Bishop first came to Harvard-Westlake as an assistant strength and conditioning coach in 2004, weight training was something the football team and a few other varsity teams participated in. In the years since he has been here, the program has grown to add many more teams at all levels choosing to lift, plus the addition of the weight room at the Middle School allowing athletes to start earlier and learn the fundamentals. There are many benefits to weight training, including in-
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creased kinesthetic awareness, or knowing where your body is in space, and also increased strength allowing athletes to handle larger workloads. “We are training the muscular system to lift heavier and heavier loads, so that you can produce more force and two they are better accustomed to going out and practicing,” Bishop said. “By beginning weight training a few months before you go out to start practice, as opposed to sitting on the couch, you have a better chance of avoid-
ing injuries.” Bishop said there is no age that is too early to begin weight training, but many factors contribute to whether athletes can participate, including their ability to follow instructions, qualified supervision on hand, and also a desire to want to consistently lift. “It is important for parents to utilize certified coaches to train their children in order to get the most beneficial training based on each child’s chronological age and developmental age,” the National
Strength and Conditioning Association says on its website. “This will provide a safe environment in which to promote long-term health and athletic development.” The seventh graders at the Middle School, for example, can begin during their second semester, but they are doing exercises with wooden sticks and PVC pipes, with the intention of improving technique before moving onto bigger weights. Weight training has had to deal with the stigma that strength train-
HEAVY DUTY Thomas Oser ’13 does a dumbell bench press, left. Marc Chattrabhuti ’15 prepares to do a Romanian dead lift, middle and top right. Oser lifts a 315 pound barbell in preparation for a dead lift, bottom right. Photographs by PATRICK RYAN
ing can stunt a child’s growth and can be harmful, but Bishop believes that the new generation of health care professionals have proven that strength training can be beneficial for student athletes. Parents still have concerns regarding their child lifting, despite studies with separate groups of kids showing that there is no difference in the average height of adolescents that lifted weights and those that did not. “There is still a misconception that kids are going to be lifting heavy weights, they think well, if my kid is in the weight room, they are going to be lifting weights that are heavier than they are,” Bishop said. “There is still that myth that it will stunt your growth, but that’s not true.” There have been studies that show children’s bone densities can increase from load-bearing exercises, helping their health in the long term by reducing the risk of them
developing osteoporosis when they get older. Whether a team lifts is determined by the coach and varies from year to year. The boys’ soccer team has just started lifting as a team this year. “I enjoy lifting as a team, it builds a sort of relationship with the rest of the team, it creates this unity and chemistry that each sport needs,” Alberto Rivera ’14 said. “Especially in soccer, if you don’t trust one of your teammates, that’s definitely not going to help out the team. Lifting, apart from the physical strength it gives you, it definitely makes you stronger, it also creates this unity for your whole team.” Sports participation has increased in recent years, making the cumulative workload on student athletes larger, meaning that the strength and conditioning staff has to accommodate more practices and games on a student’s schedule.
“The weight lifting coaches do a good job in creating different workouts for different sports,” Alec Dominick ’15 said. “I started the beginning of ninth grade, and I never really did the fundamentals but the coaches did help me along the way and it was really easy to gain the basic knowledge of lifting.” The strength and conditioning coaches all create programs for athletes based on their sport and experience in lifting, but the basic movements are very similar for any workout, ranging from girls’ basketball to boys’ water polo. “This is my first time lifting and I haven’t learned all the exercises, so Coach Bishop goes with me through the exercises,” Nico Lubkeman ’15 said. “Lifting helps because it increases our stamina and also our vertical, and I play power forward so it helps me defend myself and also drive to the basket.”
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THERE IS STILL THAT MYTH THAT IT WILL STUNT YOUR GROWTH, BUT THAT’S NOT TRUE,” BISHOP SAID. BIG RED WINTER 2013 • 17
JOIN THE CLUB Most of the girls on the Wolverines’ varsity soccer team made a switch last summer from the Westside Breakers to the Real So Cal club. The varsity girls’ soccer team was ranked #1 in CIF early in its season.
BY LIZZY THOMAS
T
BALL CONTROL Chloe Castaneda ’15 dribbles up the pitch in the girls’ soccer team’s victory over Alemany on Jan. 14.
JACK GOLDFISHER/BIG RED
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IT’S MY LAST YEAR IN CLUB, SO I DIDN’T REALLY SEE THE PURPOSE OF SWITCHING TO ANOTHER CLUB, OR BACK TO REAL,” GELLIS SAID.
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NATHANSON’S
Alyse Gellis ’13
his past summer saw the club soccer equivalent of an exodus, as the Westside Breakers club team which most of the girls’ varsity soccer team played for migrated to the Real So Cal Soccer Club. Varsity Girls’ Head Coach Richard Simms led the move. For, in addition to the coaching job he’s held at Harvard-Westlake since 2005, Simms was a longtime coach for the Westside Breakers, until he switched to the more competitive Real So Cal club this past summer. Forward Courtney Corrin ’16 was one of those who made the switch. Corrin joined the Breakers when she was 8, and played there until a few months ago. Playing for Real So Cal, which practices in Woodland Hills while the Breakers play in Brentwood, can be geographically inconvenient for Corrin. “Club takes a lot of time,” she said. “It’s far away from my house.” It’s a problem that Malanna Wheat ’14 faces as well, now that she’s moved from the Breakers to Real So Cal. But the switch required little thought for Wheat, who met Simms when she was eight and tried out for his Breakers team. While Wheat made the team, her family moved to North Carolina that year, and she didn’t see Simms until they moved back freshman year, and Wheat returned to the Breakers. “Richard [Simms] is probably like a second dad. I see him every single day,” Wheat said. Club play, Wheat says, is an avenue to get recruited by colleges, with its showcase tournaments and decreased emphasis on team success. And for right fullback Wheat, it’s especially important. “In soccer, with high school and club recruits, they usually take center player, but I play right full-
back,” Wheat said. “I know that Richard has a lot of power, and he can get me where I want to be.” Not all the players were willing to leave the Westside Breakers, in spite of the six national championships Real So Cal touts and its position in the highly competitive Elite Clubs National League. Alyse Gellis ’13, who actually played for Real So Cal before switching to the Breakers at the end of seventh grade, stayed. “It’s my last year in club, so I didn’t really see the purpose of switching to another club, or back to Real,” Gellis said. “I’m not really insanely serious about soccer, so Breakers was just a better place to stay.” Mikaela Hong ’14 took it a step further, quitting club altogether as her team left. “With junior year, I wanted to focus on my singing. I added a capella, and I wanted to focus on things I wanted to do in the future. Soccer isn’t necessarily one of those,” Hong said. Regardless of which team Hong and her school teammates play for though, club soccer eats up a substantial amount of time. “Club is a huge commitment. It’s taken up a lot of my time since I was 12,” Gellis said. In spite of a CIF rule that prohibits club competition during high school season, in the few months leading up to soccer season, two-hour club practices on top of the school team’s two-hour practices and homework routinely push Corrin’s bedtime back to midnight. And yet, Corrin continues to play, for both her teams. “High school season is so short, and club is for extra practice. Just to be a part of a team and travel —that’s part of the reason I do it,” Corrin said.
ON THE ATTACK Quinn Frankel ’16 runs past a defender in the girls’ soccer team’s 2-0 win over Alemany on Jan. 11. The team was ranked #1 by CIF early in its season.
JACK JACKGOLDFISHER/BIG GOLDFISHER/BIGRED RED
BIG RED WINTER 2013 • 19
DRIVING Sam Weintraub ’14 drives to the basket.
ROBBIE LOEB/BIG RED
FILLING THE GAP Big Red staffers Eric Loeb, right, and Sam Sachs, left, give their take on the current state of boys’ basketball.
BY ERIC LOEB AND SAM SACHS
JACK GOLDFISHER/BIG RED
OUT OF MY HOUSE Clinton Hooks ’13 reaches to block an Alemany player.
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With a recent injury to star forward Derick Newton ’14, which seems serious enough to keep him out for a few weeks, there are multiple Wolverines who will need to make up for all he brings to the court, not just his 19.5 points per game. Newton brings everything to the court. In addition to leading the team in scoring, he is second in assists, fourth in blocks, second in rebounds and fourth in steals. He has the length, size and quickness to guard all five positions on defense, and create mismatches regardless of who is guarding him. He was one of the primary reasons for the implementation of the new, “drive and kick”
offense Coach Greg Hilliard has implemented for this season. As the team’s second ball handler, Newton would occasionally bring the ball up the court himself to initiate the offense, or trail behind point guard Michael Sheng ’14, who we believe has the most burden to pick up in what will be the toughest stretch of the season for the team. In the new offensive scheme, most plays either start off or end with Newton driving from the top of the lane, surrounded by shooters Clinton Hooks ’13 and Sheng, with sophomore slasher Alex Copeland ’15 cutting to the basket, or catching a safety valve pass and driving to the hole, all with
either Sam Weintraub ’14 or David Winfield ’13 ready to put-back whatever is left after the shot. We believe that the most logical player to take over Newton’s role as not only the team’s primary scorer, but also distributer is Sheng. Second on the team in shot attempts and first in assists, Sheng will need to boost his numbers, not just through the extra time with the ball and shots he will get with Newton out, but even further. Sheng has shown the ability to get into the paint with ease throughout the season, as well as shoot pull-up jumpers, similar to Newton. Sheng should dominate the ball with Newton out, and
will now be responsible for even more aspects of the game than he already is as the point guard. Where Sheng will have the biggest problem is replacing Newton as a finisher inside, and since Sheng will have to carry more of the duties as a ball handler and shot creator, another spot up shooter will be needed. Newton is perhaps the strongest player on the team, and this strength suits him well in the paint. Without him, ailing big man Winfield will have to pick up more of the slack as an interior scorer. Winfield possesses the sheer size to be able to feast on the offensive glass and punish teams for rotating on defense and having a guard drop down to guard the 6’9” center. Winfield has taken huge strides as an offensive player, and the key for him may be staying healthy. His height and length make him a potent weapon on the offensive boards and a force defensively. Son of baseball Hall of Famer by the same name, Winfield
figures to see increased playing time as he gets back into basketball-playing shape. Newton’s ability to space the floor will also be missed. Newton is one of the leaders in three point attempts and has shown a consistent stroke from behind the arc. Bryan Polan ’14 has seen increased three point shot opportunities since the injury and should continue to get these shots. Polan hit a buzzer-beating three point shot against St. Francis to win the game in the Wolverine’s second game after Newton’s injury. Polan has upped his scored average to 7.7 points per game including the Chaminade game in which Newton got injured. There is no doubting Newton’s importance to this team, but his injury will give Sheng, Winfield and Polan an opportunity to step up. Aided by the consistent contributions from seniors Chad Kanoff ’13 and Hooks the Wolverines could salvage this season despite an injury to their premier player.
SWATTED Guard Mike Sheng ’14, right, blocks an Alemany player in the boys’ basketball team’s loss to the Warriors.
JACK GOLDFISHER/BIG RED
AIR JONES Upper School Dean Chris Jones’ other job as a JV basketball coach for the Wolverines is not his first brush with the sport. Jones played semiprofessional basketball for the Pittsfield Shamrocks and volunteered as an assistant coach for the Kenyon College women’s basketball team.
BY AARON LYONS Upper School Dean Chris Jones is living a double life. No, he is not a superhero; however, in addition to his duties in deaning and college counseling, he is coaching the junior varsity boys’ basketball team. Jones grew up playing basketball in Chicago. He played for his high school and went on to play for Williams College. Jones played half a season with the semiprofessional team, the Pittsfield Shamrocks. His first coaching experience was at Kenyon College. While working in the admissions office there, he volunteered as the assistant coach of the women’s basketball team. “It was a really good experience for me because even though technically they are the same game, they are played very differently in a lot of different ways,” Jones said. “It really got me to appreciate the fundamental aspects of the game.” Jones left Kenyon briefly but returned four years later to help coach the men’s team. He then moved on to coach at Columbus Academy. He spent 10 years as the head basketball coach before moving to HarvardWestlake this school year. “I let them know when I was going through the hiring process that I would really love to be involved with basketball if that was at all possible,” Jones said. “When I
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got here, I talked to a few folks and wound up meeting with Coach [Greg] Hilliard and just letting him know I had a lot of interest in it and if he would be interested in me, and so we talked about what would be a good fit, at least for the first year and then we’ll see what happens moving forward.” Jones said that being the coach of the JV basketball team was a good way for him to be involved without being overcommitted. However, he said that balancing his job as a dean has become easier with the help of other deans. Jones said that although he would eventually like to be a part of the varsity program, he is content with being the JV coach. “I know that my voice is being heard, and it’s needed because there are only two of us [coaching],” Jones said. Jones said that what he likes most about coaching is the personal relationships that he gets to build with players. “Getting to know a set of kids outside of the normal school way of getting to know them, you really get to see them in a different light.” He said that as a coach, he enjoys the refreshed pressure from new players every year leading to different chemistry and changing the family dynamics. “It keeps me involved with the sport that I love,” Jones said. “It’s been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.”
LUKE HOLTHOUSE/BIG RED
PLAYMAKER Chris Jones watches from the sideline in the JV boys’ basketball team’s 59-44 win over Chaminade on Jan. 9.
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IT KEEPS ME INVOLVED WITH THE SPORT THAT I LOVE,” JONES SAID. “IT’S BEEN A PART OF MY LIFE FOR AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER.”
NATHANSON’S
THROWBACK THROWDOWN Dean and JV basketball coach, Chris Jones, dunks in a game playing for Williams College. This is his first year as a part of the school and the basketball program. PHOTO PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF CHRIS JONES
BIG RED WINTER 2013 • 23
WORLDWIDE LEADER IN SPORTS
Nik Turley ’08, right, pitches in a Yankees minor league game. Turley was added to the team’s 40-man roster after pitching in the minors for five seasons. Turley may pitch in Yankee Stadium, below, this season.
BRONX BOMBER Former Wolverine pitcher Nik Turley ’08 was promoted to the New York Yankee’s 40-man roster in November after pitching in the farm system for five seasons.
BY GRANT NUSSBAUM
Q: A:
What’s it like to know that you’ll be experiencing every baseball player’s dream and competing in the majors? I don’t know, it’s kind of hard to explain. Every little kid that plays baseball, it’s their dream to play in the majors, so to know that I have that chance, maybe even this year, it’s just a really cool feeling. It’s hard to explain.
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Q: A: Q: A: Q: A:
How does it feel to be playing for the winningest organization in sports? It’s the Yankees, you know. Whenever someone thinks about baseball they think of the New York Yankees. It’s an honor to be part of this organization — to wear the pinstripes, it’s definitely an honor.
Did you look up to any pitcher in particular when you were growing up? I looked up to Andy Pettitte.
Would you say it’s an honor to be teammates with Pettitte? Yes, I get compared a lot to Pettitte actually — that’s an honor in itself. It’s really cool. I got the chance to meet him, and he’s a very good guy, which adds on to how much I respect him. I get the opportunity to play with him this spring training, and hopefully during this season at some point, and that’s really cool.
PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF HYSLIMO.COM
Q: A: Q: A:
What have been the turning points or big moments in your career thus far? A couple years ago, I threw a combined no-hitter, that was a pretty big moment. Also getting called up to double-A and pitching in the playoffs — I guess every level you learn something different, and you have to be getting better to move up — so finally getting up to Double-A and doing well was a big moment.
How did your experience pitching in the minor leagues compare to pitching at HarvardWestlake? There’s not much to compare. The talent level is way, way higher. To go from high school to the minors right away, there’s a huge jump in the talent that’s around you. In high school you can get away with throwing 85 [miles per hour] and not really having a curve ball or a change up. Luckily, you’ve got to be able to throw 90 if you’re trying to get away with throwing a fastball, but once you get into any level in the minors, it doesn’t matter how hard you throw. If you’ve only got one pitch, you’re not going to do very well —that’s the difference right there.
Q: A: Q: A:
PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF MICHAEL BARON
How much different do you expect the majors to be from the minors? I don’t know, I hope it’s not the same difference from high school to pro ball. If it’s a difference like that, it’s got to be tough. I feel like it’s pretty solid in the higher levels of the minors — Double-A, Triple-A. From what I’ve heard, it’s pretty similar, it’s just the guys are more consistent. And then you have your superstars of course, which makes everything a lot harder. Pitching against Albert Pujols is definitely different than pitching against some guy in Double-A or Triple-A.
What sort of effect did your time playing baseball at Harvard-Westlake have on you in playing in the minors and making it to the majors? What I learned from playing baseball at Harvard-Westlake, especially from Coach LaCour, was hard work. He really taught us to work hard, and that’s helped me throughout my career. Without that, I don’t know if I’d be here, where I am right now.
BIG RED WINTER 2013 • 25
FROM TEAM TO TEAM
Chad Kanoff ’13 runs past the line of scrimmage in the football team’s homecoming loss to Cathedral.
JACK GOLDFISHER/BIG RED
BACK ON THE COURT After a year where he focused purely on football, Chad Kanoff ’13 returns to basketball for his senior season.
BY MICHAEL ARONSON After being a part of the CIF Championship winning boys’ basketball squad in 2011, Chad Kanoff ’13 hung his basketball jersey in his closet to focus on football. While taking a hiatus from basketball, the varsity quarterback racked up a list of achievements on the gridiron including a 117 quarterback rating, over 3000 yards passing, 38 touchdowns and the Mission League Offensive Player of the Year award, all just in his senior season. After football season, Kanoff wiped the dust off of his number
26 • BIG RED WINTER 2013
21 basketball jersey to make his return to the hardwood. Kanoff is now back on the court and boasts averages of seven points and seven boards a game through the first half of his senior season. Kanoff decided not to play basketball after his junior year football season because he needed to focus on weight lifting and honing his football mechanics. He said that he probably would not have the skills he has now in football if he had played basketball his junior year. However, he is excited to be
playing basketball again this season after committing to play football at Vanderbilt. “I had a lot of stuff I needed to work on,” Kanoff said. “But I want to make sure before I go to college to play football that I take some time away from it.” While Kanoff enjoyed experiencing basketball games as a fan again last year, he said he is glad that he is back on the court. “Watching basketball games from the sidelines was a lot of fun,” Kanoff said. “But it was hard. Some games you wished you would play,
but it gives you a cool perspective.” Kanoff ’s best games include a 17-point and 10-rebound performance against Crespi and six blocked shots en route to the Wolverines’ 10-point victory over rival Loyola on Dec. 29. Kanoff said the biggest challenge transitioning back onto the team was getting his legs in shape. “Basketball conditioning is way different from football though,” he said. “I’ve been getting in better shape now than I was because I’m not used to running. It’s a lot different, but it’s a lot of fun.”
MULTI-SPORT ATHLETE
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JACK GOLDFISHER/BIG RED
I WANT TO MAKE SURE BEFORE I GO TO COLLEGE TO PLAY FOOTBALL THAT I TAKE SOME TIME AWAY FROM IT,” KANOFF SAID.
Chad Kanoff ’13 looks down the field in the football team’s homecoming loss to Cathedral, left. Kanoff, who committed to play football at Vanderbilt, quit playing basketball during his junior season to focus on football, but returned to the basketball team this year for his senior season.
NATHANSON’S
GRANT NUSSBAUM/BIG RED DANIEL KIM/BIG RED
BACK ON THE COURT
Chad Kanoff ’13, above, shoots a layup against Chaminade this season. Kanoff, below, links arms with teammates in the boys’ basketball team’s 2011 CIF Championship victory.
BIG RED WINTER 2013 • 27
Comeback Trail
Despite facing an injury that has shortened and ended many professional athletes’ careers, Matthew Glick ‘15 is on the road to recovery as he looks to get back out on the field for the football and boys’ soccer teams.
BY TYLER GRAHAM When Matthew Glick ‘15 first found out that his doctor had diagnosed him with a torn ACL, he was crushed. Glick had heard about the many world-class athletes who have had similar injuries, and how grueling the recovery is to try and make it back to full health. Coming into this year, Glick was slated to start at kicker on the football team and he had a chance to compete for a starting midfield position on the varsity soccer team. Glick also plays on a very competitive club soccer team, which competes in the Coast Soccer League. The team he plays on, Santa Monica United, is in the premiere division of the Coast Soccer League and ranks 20th nationally and fifth in California. “I was shocked because I had been told previously that it was just a knee sprain and I would be out six to eight weeks,” Glick said. “Knowing the seriousness of an ACL tear, I knew it would be season-ending which was extremely disappointing and shocking, as I would have to miss my sophomore football season as a starting kicker, my CSL season as a premier player and possibly my entire school soccer season.” Shortly after his surgery to repair his ACL, Glick began a rigorous physical therapy program. “I do physical therapy three times a week,” Glick said. “One of those days is aqua therapy where I do exercises in the water. With regular physical therapy I do a lot of weights, core training, balance work, and now that I have become stronger, jumping and running.” When Glick began his physical therapy, he realized that having a bad attitude and being down wasn’t going to help him get back on to the field. He had to attack every day with a positive attitude and driving motivation to return to being the athlete he once was.
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Glick’s optimistic attitude allowed him to find good things that he could get out of his injury. “I think the ACL tear will make me a better athlete,” Glick said. “I now know how to prevent the injury and am improving strength in areas I had weaknesses in. Hopefully, if the recovery continues as it is, I will be a stronger, more determined and more passionate athlete.” Glick has badly missed the heat of competition and the camaraderie he has with his teammates. He can’t stand watching games from the sideline because he so badly wants to be out on the field contributing to a win. As he sits on the bench watching his teams play, he is able to appreciate what sports meant to him and how hard it is for him not to have them in his life. “It’s pretty amazing to see something you have done all your life be taken away from you. I know when I return I’ll value my time playing sports even greater,” Glick said. Glick met with his physical trainer and surgeon in early December where they further discussed the timetable of his return. “We went over my test results from a biomechanical evaluation done on my knee four months after my surgery,” Glick said. “The doctor was pleased with the results but he said I needed a couple more months to be able to fully return to sports. He just said to keep doing what I was doing and I would be back to playing competitively soon.” Glick feverishly awaits his return to the field and as everyday passes he can feel his rehab paying off as he inches back to 100 percent. “Right now I am just working on the little things so I won’t reinjure it when I start playing again,” Glick said. “I think once I start playing I will be slightly tentative but I will progressively get more into it and after that I’ll be good to go.”
MICHAEL ARONSON/BIG RED
BEFORE THE INJURY Matthew Glick ’15 prepares to take a penalty kick in a varsity soccer game last year against Loyola. A torn ACL has since relegated Glick to the sidelines, in soccer as well as football.
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I THINK THE ACL TEAR WILL MAKE ME A BETTER ATHLETE. I NOW KNOW HOW TO PREVENT THE INJURY AND AM IMPROVING STRENGTH IN AREAS I HAD WEAKNESSES IN,” GLICK SAID.
NATHANSON’S
IN THE RUGBY CLUB
IN THE TRENCHES
Olan Moon-White ’15 advances the ball in a match playing for the Santa Monica Dolphins, his rugby club. He also played for the Wolverines’ football team that advanced to the playoffs for the first time since 2009.
Photographs printed with permission of Johnny Knight
Olan Moon-White ’15 started his football career with no previous experience, only having played rugby, and still manages to play both today.
BY MILES HARLESTON
O
n Aug. 13, 2009 new seventh grader Olan MoonWhite arrived at the Harvard-Westlake middle school campus for the first day of football practice and embarked on the first step of his long journey as a football player for the Wolverines that took him from a seventh grader new to the game to a varsity athlete. He had never played before, but he planned to use his experience as a rugby player to guide him as he learned the ways of this foreign game. But rugby could only do so much for him as Moon-White navigated himself through unfamiliar waters. No one knew what to expect, including Moon-White himself, when the athletic foreign kid with the funny accent first stepped onto the field. Moon-White was not totally new to collision sports though, having some experience as a rugby player. “It was special. Nothing like rugby. Sure it helped to have played, but I had to start from scratch. While most of the other players had played it since they were
young, I had to learn everything on the go,” said Moon-White about his first experience as a football player. The transition from rugby to football isn’t as smooth as one might think and certainly is not as easy as Moon-White made it look going from a lost 12-year-old to a valued contributor to the varsity football team. Although both games share a physical aspect, they have many differences. “They’re two completely different games,” said Moon-White. “Sure, they’re both high paced, physical contact sports, but they are also very, very different. Rugby is more of a conquest type game; you really have to have control over the game for 80 minutes, whereas football is more of a fast-paced game. Rugby is a non-stop flowing game, while football is a series of drives. Also, there are so many different aspects to football. “There’s offense, defense, kickoff, punt, field goal…in rugby there’s just 80 minutes of all out, straightforward rugby. Put it this way, football is a series of sprints, while rugby is a marathon.”
Moon-White had many challenges adjusting from rugby to football. He had to adjust to playing with pads on. “Having a full suit of armor on while playing changes everything,” said Moon-White. Doing everything with pads takes a huge adjustment. Players’ vision is obstructed by a helmet while their bodies have to carry around the extra weight of pads and a helmet. He also had to adjust to the
“
WHILE MOST OF THE OTHER PLAYERS HAD PLAYED IT SINCE THEY WERE YOUNG, I HAD TO LEARN EVERYTHING ON THE GO,” MOON-WHITE SAID.
different flows of a football game and a rugby game. While rugby continuously flows, football has periodic stops after plays and drives. Now Moon-White is a standout athlete in both sports. He is on the varsity football team, and his rugby team, the Santa Monica Dolphins, is ranked first in the state. Moon-White earned a spot on the first team all-state team as a right winger and third team as a fullback.
NATHANSON’S
BIG RED WINTER 2013 • 29
DRAW YOUR SWORD Justin Yoo ’15 competes in a fencing tournament. He has been fencing since the age of seven and is now one of the top épée fencers in the country in his age group. Photographs printed with permission of RYAN YOO
EN GARDE
Korean-born fencer Justin Yoo ’15 ranks among the top épée fencers in his age group in the country.
BY MARCELLA PARK It was in a Pasadena shopping mall that he first met fencing. Since then, Justin Yoo ’15 has never stopped practicing and now ranks among the top épée fencers in his age group in the country. When Yoo, then seven years old, moved to the United States from South Korea, he and his mother could not find a good place to continue his kendo training. So he walked into the little fencing studio and asked if he could take lessons, finding soon that he was talented. The left-armed fencer has won numerous North American Cup titles and also competes in international meets on the United States team. He ranks fourth place in the country based on team points, which are acquired during meets. Yoo’s last North American Cup meet was from Nov. 9 to Nov. 12 in Virginia Beach, Va., where he was among the top 24 in the Division I Men’s Épée competition. Yoo also competed in an October Cadets Circuit meet in Klagenfurt, Austria and hopes to make the next World Championships for his age group.
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“Getting to the Olympics,” he said, “is a far-fetched dream, but it’s something to hope for, too.” Yoo has spent time during the summer at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., and said the best parts were how the program accommodated all of his needs as a fencer and the bonding he had with other fencers. Yoo calls fencing both a source of stress and a stress reliever, something that takes away from his high school experience and adds to it. Tournaments, he said, are stressful compared to training, and while it is time-consuming, stealing from his academic and social life and his sleep, fencing teaches him to analyze and learn from his mistakes faster in areas other than fencing, like violin or history class. Whichever side of fencing weighs more, he said, “It’s all worth it.” “I like the mental part of [fencing] ... Trying to find the opponent’s weakness and exploiting it and also turning the opponent’s strength into my own gain,” he said. This is what he said he had found so interesting when he first picked
up the sword. Yoo has stuck to fencing for all of the years since he started, though he has considered quitting. “That’s how you get good. There will always be hard parts. You just have to stick with it,” he said. His mother and his coach, he said, are two very important people who support him during these hard parts. His mother has been with him from the start, and his coach of four years, renowned fencing master Gago Demirchian, he calls a “second dad.” Demirchian has helped him in areas outside of fencing, once giving him relationship advice. Yoo often misses school for tournaments and practices about 15 hours a week. For the last seven years he has trained at the Los Angeles International Fencing Center. He said he is not so involved in school fencing, however. Much of Yoo’s training involves learning new techniques in a process of four steps. “If there is a technique I want to get good at, first I’ll start with
drilling alone with a target or practice dummy, then I’ll ask my coach if we can try it in lessons, and after that I’ll start practicing it during live bouts with other people and eventually in tournaments,” he said, “I look at a lot of videos of the Olympics and World Championships and World Cups — that’s where I get a lot of it.” Yoo said not many people here will have heard of his favorite athletes, who include fencing masters Soren Thompson, Pavel Kolobkov, and Paulo Pizzo. He also said that people are wrong in thinking that fencers are not real athletes because the “real winners” actually are. With such an intense schedule, Yoo said, humor is a good thing to have along with discipline. He tries to relax with friends before tournaments and jokes about his fighting style, referencing boxer Muhammad Ali’s saying, “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” “More than competing with other people, I’ve been competing with myself. It’s a habit of maturing. Knowing that to win, you have to work hard, be disciplined,” he said.
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BIG RED WINTER 2013 • 31