Austin Sports Weekly EZINE SUMMER 2021
By Jose Aviles, Jase Brown, Aadi Bhat, and Adan Ramirez
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Letter from the editors University of Texas, the future of football By: Jase Brown 8 exiting sports you may not have heard of and should try By: Jase Brown Whats up with soccer By: Adan Ramirez Sports news now By: Adan Ramirez The bright future for sports By: Jose Alverez the future of sports By: Jose Alverez Covid Callback By: Aadi Bhat in the life of lebron, A timeline By: Aadi Bhat
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Meet the Editors! Jase Brown Howdy ya’ll, my name is Jase Derek Brown and I am an incomming 9th grader at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy in Austin, TX. I enjoy sports, learning, and the occasional video game. I am currently 14 years old and I love college football, as you will see later! I also have two pet gerbils named Coffee and Caramel. I have also played the clareniet for 3 years now and I am really enjoying it! I come from a family of three, and I am an only child. I love my parents and apprecieate greatly all they have done for me. I am very exited to start highschool at LASA with all my new found friends!
Jose Aviles Hello, my name is Jose Aviles and I am a freshman to Lasa. I am excited to start the new year soon. I like to play video games and play with my dogs. I have two dogs and their names are Sombra and Roxy. Sombra is a 3 year old black lab, while Roxy is a 14 year old golden retriever mix.Games I like to play are COD and Portal, but my all time favorite game is Marvel Lego City. I am from a family of 7 and I am lucky enough to be a twin.The most surprising thing is that my twin is also going to Lasa, which means I will always have somebody I know. I will have a great time at LASA with my new friends.
Aadi Bhat Hey all! I go by Aadi and I’m heading into my freshman year at LASA. This is my first year in Texas and it’s been blast so far. I love playing basketball, video games, eating food, and hanging out with my new friends. I’m in a family of four, play the saxophone and love to code. I’ve learnt C++, Python, and HTML, in hopes of pursuing my dreams of becoming a software engineer. Ezine has been a great class and learning experience so far. I can’t wait to meet new people, have fun experiences, make more friends, have fun through highschool, and have a great time at LASA.
Adan Ramirez Hello my name is Adan Ramirez-Zunig, I am a freshman in lasa and I am 14 years old. I like to play video games, i watch anime and I like to play clash royale. A sort that I like soccer and my favorite team is canada. something that I like to do is play with legos I have so many lego sets at home. Im from a family of 5 and I enjoy spening time with my family. Overall these 4 years of hghschool coming up seem like a ton of fun and I can’t wait to get started. Summer ezine has been a good experiance with lasa high school and im likineg it even more now. Hope you enjoy!
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Football’s Future
Pre-COVID University of Texas fans cheer at a local Austin football game right before kickoff. By: Karen Given
Take a dive into predictions on what will happen next season for the University of Texas By: Jase Brown Your team is down 13 to 17 in the conference finals. They are on the goalline with five seconds left on the clock. This one play will decide the fate of the team. They snap the ball and the crowd falls silent. All eyes fall to the quarterback as he throws the ball into the air. Your team has played so hard this season, and this is their chance! The University of Texas football team, the Longhorns, have had their fair share of wins and losses throughout the years. However, since 2014, the University of Texas, or UT, has had many disappointing football seasons. In fact, UT has had three different head coaches in the past six years and not one
of them has delivered. For this upcoming season a new head coach, Steve Sarkisian, will lead the Longhorns. Along with him there is also a new Offensive Coordinator named Bo Davis and a new Defensive Coordinator named Alex Grinch. They have so many new coaches that, in essence, it is basically an entirely new coaching staff. Along with the coaching changes, we have also seen players leave. Sam Ehlinger was UT’s most recent quarterback that has now moved on to the pros. But what happens next season is unknown, and the team’s performance will depend on many different things. I spoke to two award winning sports journalists who specialize in UT Longhorn football to find out
what next season may look like.
Kirk Bhols, an Austin American Statesman sports journalist, recieveing the 2018 Sports Writer of the Year award. Photo courtesy of Kirk Bhols
Kirk Bhols has been a UT sports journalist for over 40 years, and currently works for the Austin American Statesman. He says there are two possible
Texas Football, and has gained recognition from his works. He believes Casey Thompson has the upper hand in the fight for the starting spot. “If I had to pick right now, I think that Casey Thompson has a little bit of a leg up,” Jeyarajah said. “He played in the Alamo Bowl last year and had a really great performance, got some rhythm with these wide receivers. But you know, Hudson Card has a big arm. He was a great player at Lake Travis High School in Austin, so he definitely has a chance to win the starting job even as a freshman. But I think that Thompson has the upper hand, at least for right now.” University of Texas football quarterback Hudson Card practices throwing to his fellow teammate. By: USA Today
freshman, and he didn’t get many meaningful snaps. But he’s got great mechanics and a great release. Sam Elinger gave him his blessing and said this guy was throwing spirals out of the womb with such natural talent.” University of Texas football quarterback Casey Thompson prepares to pass to his wide receiver at a local game. By: Expressnews.com
quarterbacks competing for the open spot on the team. “You have two candidates, Casey Thompson and Hudson Card who have both never started a college game,” Bhols said. ”Casey Thompson seems like he’s been here 16 years already, and you would think it’s his time to grab the spot and run with it. On the other hand you got Hudson Card who is basically a redshirt
Shehan Jeyarajah is an awardwinning sports writer who is an insider at Dave Campbell’s
Shehan Jeyarajah, a sports journalist, at a local sports event. By: Shehan Jeyarajah
The worldwide pandemic of COVID-19 has just about affected everything, including UT football. “COVID-19 affected UT in some ways with the cancellation of games, so we’ve missed out on the Texas LSU rematch in Baton Rouge,” Bhols said. “As much as LSU struggled last year, that was a big loss of the schedule because Texas kinda targeted that for a pay back game and that was gonna be the high water nonconference game on the schedule. So if you beat LSU, the defending champions, no matter what kind of season they had it might have sparked a big rise for Texas. So they lost (playing) that game, they also lost the Kansas game which, you know, (probably would have) made Tom Herman 7 and 3 at the end of the year instead of 8 and 3.” As for Jeyarajah, he believes that COVID-19’s most profound effect was that it got in the way of austin sports weekly page # 9
school and could use the new law to their advantage to gain some really talented players. UT’s upcoming season depends on their performance, and that has a lot to do with how they are improving and who is playing for them.
COVID-19 has impacted University of Texas throughout the past two years. he football program has been affected, too. By: Texas Education
relationships with the teammates. “I think that one of the things that has been underrated about this whole COVID situation is that it’s not really taking away practice time, it’s mainly denying opportunities for the team to get to know each other and to build relationships with their coaches and with teammates,” Jeyarajah said. “I think it just takes a little bit more time to kind of build a team culture. And the other thing I’ll mention is that for high school recruits, a lot of them haven’t even met the coaching staff in person. They weren’t allowed to come on recruiting visits up until this past month, so a lot of them haven’t even been on campus this past year. So I think it’s just a lot of adjustment to kind of just get back into the swing of things.” COVID-19 has also limited the stadium’s capacity. Bhols said he is really optimistic that stadiums will reopen to full capacity next season.
Football allows athletes to represent their college and achieve recognition for themselves. And, just recently a new law has been passed in Texas called the Name, Image and Likeness law. “Starting July 1, Texas players and players at any college are going to be able to profit off their likeness. That means participating in stuff like advertisements for a profit,” Jeyarajah said. Just like Texas’s law, there is also a new law by the supreme court that reiterates amateurism. “The Supreme Court brought down a ruling that basically kind of chipped away at the idea of amateurism in college athletics,” Jeyarajah said. “What that ruling means is that schools are going to be able to provide free things to College Athletes, if they’re related to education.” This means that schools who have more to offer can attract better players. UT is not a cheap
“UT is looking at a couple different things like bringing in a new offensive coordinator,” Jeyarajah said. “I think they’re trying to sort out the weaknesses on the offense. Some guys like Bo Davis are going to be huge factors. And the other thing, too, is that they’re working on developing those defensive linemen. We saw a kid named Alfred Collins from Bastrop last year, and he was really able to come in and make a big impact as a freshman, and I think he’s going to be even more important this year. You have some other guys like Ojomo and Keondre Coburn who will help the team. I think that they’re trying to shore up that front seven, especially because they are essential to the team.” UT has potential stars on their team for the next season but there are going to be some growing pains with all the new coaches, the post COVID-19 situation, the impact of new laws and the lack of a proven quarterback. Overall both sports journalists agree UT is not expected to win their conference. The upcoming season starts on August 28, 2021, and we will have to wait and see how the season unfolds.
Pre-COVID University of Texas starting offensive line raises flag after winning a game. By: John Rivera
Austin sports weekly page # 11
8 Sports You May not Have Heard of and Should Try! 8 thrilling sports you need to hear about! By: Jase Brown
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Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a 22-yard pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps.
Darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed missiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard. Darts players are sometimes termed “dartists”.
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Fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre; winning points are made through the weapon’s contact with an opponent.
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Netball Netball is a ball sport played by two teams of seven players. Netball is most popular in many Commonwealth nations and according to the INF, netball is played by more than 20 million people in more than 80 countries.
Snooker
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Snooker is a cue sport that was first played by British Army officers stationed in India in the second half of the 19th century. It is played on a rectangular table covered with a green cloth, with six pockets: one at each corner and one in the middle of each long side.
Judo Judo is generally categorized as a modern Japanese martial art, which has since evolved into an Olympic event. The sport was created in 1882 by Jigoro Kano as a physical, mental, and moral pedagogy in Japan.
Rowing Rowing is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is divided into two disciplines: sculling and sweep rowing.
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Information Courtesy of bleacherreport.com.
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Archery Archery is the art, sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows. The word comes from the Latin arcus, meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern times, it is mainly a competitive sport and recreational activity.
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What is up with soccer What is happening with soccer in austin
BY: Adan Ramirez This is a arial point of view of the new stadim credit to The City of Austin
Whats up this soccer in Austin you know Austin FC played San Jose Earthquakes in their home stadium. If Austin opens a new stadium it brings more people because it’s another attraction. The Austin FC game and stadium is what we will be looking at.
Not so long ago, Austin built a new stadium called the Q2 stadium. It opened on 6/16/21. The first game that was played there was 3 days after its opening on 6/19/21. The stadium belongs to Austin FC. The game that was played was Austin FC vs San Jose Earthquakes And they tied 0-, neither team scoring. The stadium was so crowded 20,738 people attended the game and the parking was terrible. On the day before the game,on the news, a reporter was saying easy strategies for having a great parking spot. The parking lot for the stadium is so small if you look at it from
an aerial point of view it’s small. Like I’m showing right now. For 20,738 people that’s nowhere near enough I interviewed my sister Michelle Ramirez who has got to plenty more games than me and I asked her about experiences with other stadiums if it was cramped or how it felt. She responded that the stadiums that she has gone to are a little cramped and that the air conditioning wasn’t that
This image shows how small the parking in the q2 stadium is Image Credit
at the same time that the Austin FC didn’t win but disappointed that San Jose didn’t win. - Maybe add a quote from the interview with him here?
This image show the playes that played in the San Jose vs Austin Fc game image from mils
bad. Then I went on to ask her what she thought of the Austin FC vs San Jose game.
Most people parked in the
domain or went on the bus. As you can see in the image next to me the parking isn’t all that great. http://.austintexas.org for the image Austinfc.com for the second image. Put as caption instead of text.
Josh Wolff, head coach of the Austin FC soccer team had an interview with KVUE a news show and he said that “ it was an incredible experience. I think we’ve been working to get to this day and to have our first home game was incredibly special”. Josh also said that he ‘likes the atmosphere/ energy that the crowd gives to the soccer team” he also said that he respects the San Jose Earthquakes and that they make the game hard to play against. Gallagher said that “It was electric tonight. It was amazing. From every chance, every little
pass, every good moment you could feel them. It was really hot out there and a lot of guys were struggling with cramps and at those times, that’s when [the supporters] really picked you up. Most of the game they were banging the drum, they were singing and I’m like ‘I don’t know how these guys are still going, they must be just as tired as myself.” Jon Gallagher is a player in the Austin FC soccer team and the position that he can play is right-back, midfielder, and forward. ` dont put interview link here :PP give credits in the form of names, channels The match against the San Jose Earthquakes ended in a 0-0 draw. Austin has now had 3 draws in the last 3 games in-
The first ever game that has been played in a stadium you would think someone would come out victorious but no not this game they tied 0-0. The game was Austin FC vs San Jose Earthquakes. I watched the game from home and watched the game. I liked it. It was a good match for Austin FC who had more shots but missed them all. I interviewed my cousin Juan Perez. I asked him what he taught at the Austin FC game. HE told me that he wanted for the San Jose Earthquakes to win because he didn’t want the Austin FC to win because he had made a bet with his dad that the earthquakes would win. He was disappointed but happy
image above is from MLS and it shows the logo for the Austin FC soccer team. austin sport weekly page # 15
formation Projected XI. is when Hoesen is playing as forward, Dominguez is playing as left forward and Redes is playing as right forward. Pochettino and Pereira are playing as midfield Ring is playing as center midfield. Besler is going to be playing with Romana as defenders. The left wing for the team is going to be Sweat and the RIght wing is going to be Lima. At last one of the most important positions the goalkeeper is going to be Tarbell. That’s the layout of the Austin FC the rest of the players are on the bench or not going to play.
image credit to Austinfc and it shows the project Xl for a play in the field.
Midfielder Diego Fagundez
thought of the atmosphere: “To be honest it was amazing. I remember when I stepped out right before the game started, I got the chills. It was something special, I know [the fans] have been working so hard for it. I know the whole
Image provided by The Austin American Statesman and it shows midfielder Diego Fagundes.
team was ready for it and it’s kind of sad that we’re leaving with a tie because we pushed so hard, they were singing so hard,
and we wanted to give them more. But it’s like we said, this is just the beginning. We’re going to make this a fortress, we’re going to make this a place where no wants to play.” This is Showing that no matter the outcome of the game that all he cared about was about the audience giving them their support. I got this image from MLS.com When a stadium opens, it gets attention from people because it is cool to be able to go to a game in person. That brings attention to the stadium and brings in more people for the city. With more people the city gets more money and if a game happens it is just more money also. The Q2 stadium is owned by the city of Austin so it’s just
more money for them and if a good team is playing also it’s just going to attract more people. Cecilio Dominguez is one of the best players from the Austin FC soccer team and he plays left wing on the soccer field. With Austin FC if you are a better player you earn more money so right now his paycheck with austin FC right now is 1,530,000 and that’s the highest playcheck on the Austin FC. For A player in a higher league that is not that much. A player called Alexander ring is the second most played player in the team with an earring of 1,000,000. In this year he’s been in 11 matches
and scored 1 goal, one yellow card and one red card for the season. It’s not bad for someone in the MLS. Tomás Pochettino Is a Argentine professional footballer that plays for the Austin Fc and he plays as midfielder. He is one of the best players on his team and for that reason he gets a big paycheck of $2.5 million, from transfering to the Talleres de Cordoba in Argentina. The reason is for the small paycheck from Austin FC. Austin FC is the second lowest pay among the 27 MLS clubs, with total annualized guaranteed compensation of approximately $9 million.
After the Austin fc vs San Jose Earthquakes game they went against Columbus soccer club.
They had a close game but ended in a draw 0-0 not one goal. Austin FC has 17 shots as for Columbus they shot 15. The game got one red card and both teams got one yellow card. The fouls in the game where dramaticly bug for Austin fc they had 14 fouls and Columbus had 7. For the corner kicks they both got 6 and it really was a close game. For the future game that they will have they will have a better chance of winning and losing that 3 draw streak. I truly believe that they can be the champions of the MLS and get even more recognition. Austin FC is looking promising for the future and I really would like them to get even better even more now since they have a stadium.
The image above is provided by the Austin American Stateman and it shows how they won a game.
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New Stadium Opens in Austin By Adan Ramirez As Austin’s new stadium Q2, opened up in summer 2021, tons of fans ready to bounce back from the pandemic were willing to buy tickets and fill seats to watch the Austin Trees soccer team play While the new stadium can hold thousands of fans, parking spaces there are lacking and fans are being transported from the Domain. 20,00 people attended the soccer game Photo courtesy of austintexas. com
As you can see they tied but Austin FC took more shots but didn’t score. San Jose recieved 2 yellow cards throughout the game. Unfortunately, the first home game for the Austin Trees ended in a tie against the San Jose Earthquakes. The parking could be fixed by them probably make a new one probaly by the domain becasue its the closest to them. In the news I saw that the news reporter was telling us ways to find parking spots. Photo courtesy of ESPN
Player Julio Casca for the asutin fc had said on social media that he was exided to play in the Q2 stadium. After the match he wasnt mad or sad he just said thet he was happy for the suport they gave to the team and the players. Photo courtesy of ESPN
Player SPotlight Kekuta Manneh, forward for Austin FC has an aggressive pace on the field at 91% but he lacks on his defense which is currently 34% on FIFA. Image courtesy of Lone-Star-FC
next gameS Austin FC played Columbus SC on June 27, 2021. In the game of Austin FC vs Columbus and they tied 0-0 again. But they put up a good game. Austin had better stats than Columbus. Columbus had less fouls by 7 and Austin had 13 but they had the same amount of yellow cards. Austin will totaly profit form the new stadium buy getting more people to come to the games and more people means more money. When they get more people they will probly make more things and get more tourists from that. Information and screengrab from Google.
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The Bright Future For Sports What is going to happen to sports By Jose Aviles
This image shows what Esports is like. This photo is provided by Brawlhalla.
T
Sports will be able to do he future of sports is going anything, if you can imagine to be a spectacular thing for it there will probably be a future generations. Imagine sport or game about it in the you’re on the moon watching future. The future has so many a Tron game. It would be possibilities for sports. amazing to see things that Sports as it is now is already you only saw in movies and changing with the introduction games come to life. Sports of Electronic sports or better will no longer only be on known as Esports. Esports earth, they could be in space is becoming a bigger thing or completely other planets. each day and more and
more people want to get into it. Playing esports allows you to play video games professionally solo or as a team for your job. Esports has been around for awhile already but just recently they announced that esports will be part of the summer 2021 olympics. This is really amazing for people who play games competitively and now they
The photo above shows what kind of sports can be in the future. This image is provided KPBS.
can make a pretty good living out of their favorite hobby. Esports is very promising for inspiring kids that want to play games for a job and soon it can be a reality for some of them. It should also be very interesting to watch and who knows, maybe somebody you know might play professionally in Esports. If you know somebody that wants to play at a professional level do not discourage them.Instead encourage them and help them make their dream come true. This does not mean they need the newest technology because pro players started where they are now. We should keep an eye out on esports because it might just be the next thing. On July 31, 2021, I interviewed Alonzo Cruz via email about his thoughts for the future of sports. I interviewed him because it would give me a different perspective of what
I would think of the future of sports. Another reason is that Alonzo has been playing sports since he was little so he has experience of seeing sports change by different techniques being invented. He had to change with the sports has it grew in popularity and skill. The future of sports will change a lot of the things we are used to, games that we played and things we saw in movies will become a reality someday in the future. Examples of sports that may be in the future are Tron, Quidditch and Pod racing. Reason why they are good examples is because Tron is a futuristic game where you use a motorcycle to eliminate an opponent. The way you did this is that the motorcycle would leave a wall of light and if the opponents ran into it with their motorcycle they would lose. Quidditch is a spectacular example
because maybe someday we will be able to fly and it might take way more skill than other sports.It could be very interesting seeing how different techniques will be implied into this sport. Pod racing is another amazing structure for the future because it shows that racing will be different and more dangerous as seen in Star Wars : The Phantom Menace. It can also show the amazing craftsmanship people will make in the future.If podracing does happen we will not be confined to one idea on how to build your machine. Who knows maybe you’ll make it look like a motorcycle or a futuristic F1 car. Who knows what the future for sports will entail for us. Some of these sports might even take place far from earth. Now imagine you’re on a gargantuan spaceship that took decades to craft austin sports weekly page # 23
The picture above shows what podracing is and gives us an idea of sports in the future. .This image is provided by Star wars.fandom
and test. It would be insane just to be able to see it, go inside of it, and use it. It could have places where there is zero gravity laser tag, football and swimming. It would be amazing and insane to see and experience stuff like that. For laser tag you would have to have good area awareness to make sure nobody can sneak behind, under or above you. Who knows what strategies will be made. The places you could play on will no longer need to have a floor. Football you would be able to throw fast and straight passes because you would not have to worry about the ball getting pulled down by gravity. You
would also have to watch out because you won’t be able to stop without touching something. Swimming would be so fascinating because the way we could shape pools can be things that would not be possible on earth. Think about how if you are swimming and you look straight up and see your best friend looking back at you. It would be a surreal and a once in a lifetime experience. “Electronic advancements we are making and as the future has a lot in store for us with technology.” said Alonzo Cruz. “ I think that it is possible for those types of games (he is
referring to things like Tron and Pod racing) to be made one day”. Sports will change in the future and there is no denying that. It might change for the better or for the worst. Who knows maybe sports will become too complicated in the future for the older generations. There is no certainty to what will happen to sports in the future. The only thing we can do is wait for it and see what sports will come. “Have fun at the same time like how it is with all sports,” said Alonzo. He said this when I asked him what do you think will happen to sports in the future.
If we could see into the future and see what will happen to sports and how they developed. I think we would be astonished and amazed at what happened to it.Who know maybe it will be too complicated and we won’t understand anything. All we can do is hope for a very bright future for sports.
In conclusion, the future of sports will be crazy avnd awesome. We just have to give it time and we shall see. Remember, who knows what type of sports there will be, it might come down to what our imagination comes up with. Also keep in mind that maybe Tron,Quidditch and Pod racing might be the next thing. Also
don’t forget that esports might be the future for sports and could be really popular soon. The one thing that we can be sure of is that the future of sports will change no matter what and we should accept it. Thank you so very much for reading my featured article about The Bright Future Of Sports.
The image above shows us what can we do in the future and how we can travel with comfort. This image is provided by Musings of a Middle-Aged Geek.
Austin sports weekly page # 25
The Future of Sports
The future of sports is going to be crazy. Have you ever seem a movie were they were playing a game like Tron or quiditch. If you have, you know the excitment you get from watching it and seeing who is going to win.
By Jose Aviles
The future of sports may be here faster than you expect.
Tron is a very good example when talking about the future of sports. It’s such a good example because it gives us a idea of what is possible in the future. I am pretty sure once we get the technology to make something like Tron the sports world will change forever. The photo gives us an idea that could be possible. Photo provided by CNET
Harry potter is also a great exaple of the future of sports. It can show that maybe we will be in the air and flying around instead of running on the ground.It will make it more intresting to play because now you have to pay attention below you. This photo is provided by COMENIAN and it shows that maybe we will flying in the future.
Pod racing could be the next thing but maybe you would want to steer away from this. Even though pod racing could become a sport, it is dangerous and if you mess up and crash it could be the end of you. This picture is from SLASHGEAR snd shows that maybe racing will be different.
This photo is provided by NYTIMES and shows that sports in the future may be in space.
This can also give an example that maybe sports will be in zero G and in space. We will also be able to use different tools like a laser tag but if the laser hits you it will freeze you in place. Like if the laser hits your arm only will freeze and it will keep going unitl you can no longer fire back or move.
This drawing is provided by SPACEFUTURE and shows what swimming could be like.
Something else that can happen in the future is swimming in space. The crazy thing about it is that if you look up you will see other swimmers above you.I think I will never be able to get use to people being above me while swimming but thats just my opinon. Did you know that swimming in space as been in planning since 1997.
Austin Sports Week;y Page 27
Covid Amongst Athletes A story detailing the effects of covid on different student athletes
B Y A A D I B H A T
Empty abandoned stadium during COVID - Image credited to Ghetty Images Co.
The NCAA, an elite college-level basketball league, is estimated to have lost over 600 million dollars due to COVID-19 forcing them to cancel events. Bigger leagues like the NBA, or NFL, have been assumed to have lost over 10 billion and counting. Over the past year and a half, the world has been plagued by COVID-19 with little to no signs of stopping soon. Although some people have adjusted to staying inside or working from home by quarantining themselves, many student-athletes from all over the world are still being affected to
this day. Athletes are some of the hardest hit by COVID-19. Many involved in team sports such as soccer, basketball, or even track and field, were forced to stop as COVID restrictions became stricter. Today, I am here with coverage from two student-athletes who both play competitively and have a lot to say on this topic. Akshar Koul is a student attending high school in Allen, Texas. He plays soccer at a high level and was greatly affected by COVID.
“I play soccer, and when we went into lockdown, I didn’t play for roughly three to six weeks. We started doing zoom meetings where we would do some workouts, and we’d have to send our workouts as well,” said Koul. While it may not seem like much, six to eight weeks with no practice or matches can be game-changing. As time goes on without practicing, your skills become duller and less refined. Your physical condition can slowly deteriorate, and when coming back, you may find yourself out of shape, rusty, and not well-tuned to play your
favorite sport. However, it’s not only a physical change but a mental one too. “You couldn’t play a team sport even though it was a team sport,” remarked Koul, “I was demotivated because it was like having nobody to play with.... it was just boring doing everything by myself.” Also, “According to a Stanford University and Strava study, 22.5% of professional athletes reported feeling down or depressed on more than half of the days of the week in the period between mid-March and August of 2020.” Furthermore, there are heightened chances of athletes’ careers being derailed by COVID’s dangerous effects of long-term heart problems and lung diseases. At a higher level, COVID is also causing financial trouble amongst some athletes. According to Time senior editor Sean Gregory, “71% of athletes reported worrying about compensation during the pandemic, and of the athletes surveyed who received compensation from sponsors, nearly half—47%—saw a reduction in paid opportunities during COVID-19 restrictions.” However, for Akshar, things are looking bright. When asked if he felt whether soccer for him had returned back to normal since pre-COVID, he mentioned that his games almost felt back to normal and that things are starting to recover for him. On a professional scale, soccer,
basketball, tennis, and numerous other sports have also made a comeback. Revenue is increasing, sales are good, and multiple sports channels are still fishing for hundreds of millions of views. However, heavy-contact sports such as wrestling, rugby, and water polo have been hit with breaks, pauses, and cancellations. Moreover, during an interview with Ibrahim Butt, a high schooler from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, he mentioned several times that the frequent pauses and breaks were an annoyance and a problem for people interested in sports. When both Ibrahim and Akshar were asked the question if people should be forced to be vaccinated
Photos credited to im Koul Austin Sports Wekkly Page : 29
before = participating in any sports events, they gave two different answers. While Akshar thought it should be up to the person to decide whether they got vaccinated or not and that the league should not have to enforce it, Ibrahim thought otherwise. By excluding a few, he believes you are also guaranteeing the safety of countless others. Therefore, while there is no real solution, one option provides more safety while the other ensures increased freedom. As of late, the pandemic has also brought on financial debts to numerous colleges around the U.S. Just weeks into the beginning of the pandemic, over 30 D-1 sports teams were shut down to save money for their respective colleges. Lesslucrative sports that don’t have much popularity are being hit the hardest, as schools aren’t making money, leaving student athletes dirt-poor. At Akron University, cross country, men’s golf, and women’s tennis were all eliminated as they required more funding and the programs simply weren’t going to work out. Despite numerous petitions, donations, fundraisers, and more from the local communities, these sports are still failing. It’s been said that by eliminating college sports the determination of many youth athletes is crushed. This is inadvertently limiting future generations and their sport careers. Even more, the closing of campuses and a slow economy
Image of Muhammad Ibrahim after track practice. Image credit to Muhammad Ibrahim
have made the situation worse. Some colleges are considering discontinuing their sports programs altogether as all around the country, different colleges are preparing for a bad year. An estimated 20% reduction in revenue for many sports, and less
funding from the government have also driven colleges into a panic. To try to cut losses, salaries are lowered, fewer trips are planned, less popular Olympic sports are cut, and any other drastic measures are taken to try restoring national college sports programs. Of the
most popular sports to be cut off, most D-1 schools, tennis, and swimming take the top two spots respectively. Looking to fix this, colleges have plans to reinstate different programs once the pandemic ends. Currently, for every two programs they can reinstate, five more are dropped. However, a start is better than nothing. The sooner they receive more federal funds, help from the government, and any other assistance, the sooner we can get back to the sports we enjoy. As time progresses, we can only hope that the effects of COVID on sports slowly start to diminish. If we’re lucky, college programs will return, funding for numerous sports will increase, less lucrative sports will become more mainstream, younger athletes will have more to look forward to, and sports overall will take a turn from the current dark age it’s in. Hopefully, studentathletes like Akshar and Ibrahim who were unable to participate in their favorite sports will be able to return to how things once were.
Basketball player forced to wear mask during practice due to abiding by COVID protcols. Photo credited to Ghetty Images.
Fun Fact
During COVID, basketball player, LeBron James, was selected to star in hit movie, Space Jam : A New Legacy. It ended up grossing over 200 million dollars, and surpassed other blockbusters like Blackwidow, Fast and Furiouss, The Purge, and more.
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LEBRON THROUGH THE YEARS The Life of KING JAMES By : AAdi BhAt
Lebron James is one of the most well-known athletes of all time. He has numerous accomplishments with lots of skils to back it up. Here’s a short timeline covering some important moments in his basketball career.
Images credited to Jerome Obille, Map courtesy of the City of Akron, ESPN, Jimmy Brown, and Aadi Bhat
On December 30, 1984, LeBron James was born in Akron, Ohio.
LeBron gets drafted to the Celeveland Caavaliers in 2004
LeBron led the USA North Team to the festival gold in 2001.
Lebron wins NBA Finals 2011 LeBron wins the finals over Golden State on the Cavaliers 2016 Lebron outscores Micheal Jordan and joins the lakers. 2017-2018
Current Day Lebron is on the Lakers with 3 year mvp, Rookie of the Year and 4 finals under his belt. Austin Sports Wekkly Page : 33
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