The Broadview
Speeding down the slopes
SPORTS
Friday, February 14, 2020 | 9
Winter Break provides opportunity to learn snowboarding
Olivia Rounsaville
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Senior Reporter
any students are pulling out their goggles, helmets, boots and snowboards in preparation for a popular winter activity over next week’s Winter Break — snowboarding. “One day my parents suggested either taking a snowboarding lesson or a ski lesson,” junior Audrey Hunnicutt said. “I loved watching snowboarding in the Olympics so I decided to choose snowboarding even though all my friends liked to ski, hoping to stand out a little and not do something solely for the reason that my friends did it.” While students like Hunnicutt snowboard competitively, others like sophomores Mia Sassi and Takhoui Asdorian snowboard recreationally at resorts in Tahoe.
“My dad taught me snowboarding when I was little and I’ve just been doing it ever since,” Asdorian said. “I love the excitement of going down the mountain and it’s something special my dad and I can bond over.” Sassi, who had skied since she was 5, recently decided to switch to snowboarding because snowboarding gives her more freedom to get down the slopes. “I really enjoy the thrill of snowboarding,” Sassi said. “I had been skiing for so long, and it got boring for me because it became repetitive after a while.” Hunnicutt was a member of the Northstar Competition Snowboard team for three years at the ski and snowboard resort in Lake Tahoe. The team is a part of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association which participates in competitions in
Stretch before you stroke
Monty Buesnel | WITH PERMISSION
SNOW DAY Sophomore Takouhi Asdorian takes a break from a day of snowboarding at Alpine Meadows Ski Resort. Tahoe-area ski resorts offer equipment rentals and lessons in addition to lift passes.
Tahoe and across the country. “Snowboarding is a challenging endeavor,” Hunnicutt’s snowboarding coach Nancy Brest said. “Snowboarders must learn their limitations and what they need to work on.” Snowboarding competitions include a variety of events, including slopestyle, halfpipe and rail jam. Competitions can also include less serious races such as bank phone or skolf, a cross between golf and snowboarding.
“Competitions can be stressful,” Hunnicutt said, “but they are also a great way to improve and learn from everyone there and get to know more people from the Tahoe area and the Bay Area.” Major Tahoe resorts including Squaw, Sugar Bowl and Mt. Rose have snowboarding teams that are open to kids ranging from around 7 to 18 depending on the team and those interested in joining a team can visit resort websites or contact coaches for
more information. “Joining a snowboarding team is a big commitment,” Sassi said. “I would prefer to just snowboard for fun when my family travels to the snow.” Sports Basement sells lift tickets for Sugar Bowl, Diamond Peak, Sierra at Tahoe, Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows and Homewood Mountain Resort ranging from $34 to $75. Most resorts offer snowboarding lessons which average at $130 for a two-hour lesson.
Swimmers do preseason yoga Mackenna Moslander
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Reporter
efore spring sports begin and swimmers dive into the pool for the first practice of the season, the swim team is participating in preseason Kundalini yoga sessions to work on breathing and muscle strength. Yoga can help with many skills including core strength and endurance, which are necessary for every athlete, according to head swim coach Cassandra Esparza. “I have coached soccer, swimming and volleyball at Convent, and I do yoga with every team,” Esparza said. “I try my best to integrate it into every team I coach.” The yoga classes involve poses with stretching and breathing and a distinct aspect of Kundalini is the incorporation of breathing mantras into each pose. The exercises can be especially helpful when it comes to flexibility and endurance, according to sophomore Madison Kwan. “Yoga is all about making sure your limbs and joints are really flexible,” Kwan said. “This is really important to swimming because the more extension you have, the better your technique gets.” While the yoga classes include poses, stretches and breathing exercises, they also build a strong mindset, which is an important trait for all athletes, according to Esparza. “My training as an athlete started with yoga when I was four,” Esparza said. “It not only gave me strength, but it also gave me self-confidence and the belief that I was able to do more physically than I thought I was
capable of.” The yoga class includes a variety of breathing exercises, such as “breath of fire” — successive inhales and exhales through the nose — and “lion breathing” — open mouth breaths with a stretched out tongue and a loud “hung” sound originating from the throat on the exhale. Yoga is beneficial to expanding lung capacity, which is helpful for swimmers, who need to have breath control, according to junior Izzy Ritchie. “Coach Cazz does a lot of useful breathing exercises,” Ritchie said. “It helps us maintain our breath control and helps our lung capacity in general.” Kundalini yoga is a physical workout that has an emphasis on meditation. This preseason training is especially enjoyable because it is calming and the team gets to spend time together outside of the pool, according to Kwan. “The whole experience is really peaceful,” Kwan said. “I feel very centered after, and I get to spend time with my teammates before the season even starts.” Yoga can also assist in the rehabilitation of muscles and injuries with each pose addressing a specific muscle and strengthens the surrounding musculature. Esparza is especially acquainted with the rehabilitation aspect of yoga, having qualified for the 1996 Olympics, in both freestyle and breaststroke, but a car accident cut short her career. Yoga was the rehabilitation method she says helped her the most. “After my accident, yoga was pretty much my rehabilitation for everything both physical and physiological,” Esparza said.
Mackenna Moslander | THE BROADVIEW
STRETCH YOURSELF Senior Arlena Jackson and freshman Samantha Calvin move into cow pose in the yoga sequence "cat and cow." Preseason swim team yoga sessions took place in the workout room located next to Herbert Center and may be added to dryland practices.
ON YOUR MARK
Acting out of bounds Adele Bonomi Sports Editor
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Mourners overlook accusations
egends may never die but, in this case, interest in a sexual assault lawsuit certainly did. When Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers star player and National Basketball Association icon, died on Jan. 26 in a helicopter crash with eight others, including his 13-yearold daughter Gianna, fans paid tribute to mourn his death by gathering in the streets of Los Angeles and by reposting images of him and his daughter on social media. While many fans celebrated Bryant’s accomplishments, including his five NBA championships, 18 All-Star games and two Olympic gold medals, there was little mention of his trial for sexual assault in 2003.
A 19-year-old hotel employee accused Bryant of raping her in his hotel room, but Bryant told the police that they had consensual sex. Throughout the trial, Bryant’s wife Vanessa stood by his side. The case was dropped because the woman refused to testify. Bryant posted a long statement apologizing to the woman, acknowledging that his perspective differed from hers. The alleged rape needs to be included in the story of Bryant’s life for fans to understand that no one, not even NBA icons are perfect. Since retiring from the NBA, Bryant focused on supporting women’s athletics, frequently highlighting the Women’s Na-
tional Basketball Association and recording voice overs for the NCAA women’s basketball team. Powerful men are rarely held accountable for their misdeeds. We focus on their accomplishments and not on their mistakes. Yet, Bryant’s actions over the next 16 years — apologizing and taking time to acknowledge women in sports, including supporting his daughter Gianna Bryant’s basketball team, and taking pride in being a #girldad — demonstrates that one’s past does not always define who someone is now. As we remember Bryant, we need to look beyond losing an icon and instead recognize that he was a flawed man who earned redemption.
