Lynbrook places third at IDC Fantastics due to a lack of support BY PRACHI LAUD & KASTURI PANTVAIDYA
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UHSD held its second annual IDC Fantastics event on Friday Dec. 7 at Cupertino High School. Lynbrook placed third out of five schools, while Homestead won second and Monta Vista took first place. Twenty athletes from Lynbrook competed against students from four other FUHSD high schools in nine different events. There were also many performances representing each school. One participant, senior Anthony Huang, believed that there was much room for improvement; however, the performances were a great addition to the event. “If we hadn’t started practicing just 2 days before, we could have done so much better. I think it was because of the lack of Lynbrook supporters as well as practice,” he said. With a total of nine games, the competition was close between all the schools, considering that there were five schools competing. IDC Representatives prepared the athletes to the best of their abilities,, hosting practices to brief the athletes on each game they would be playing. “The competition was a lot of fun and was
put together really well, but was also slightly a disappointment because we won last year. I think we were all expecting a win; but overall, we worked well together,” said senior Shaelyn Silverman. This year’s IDC Fantastics was different from last year’s, modified to increase student participation and enthusiasm by including performances from each school, said Lynbrook IDC Representative junior Sarah Tang. Lynbrook sophomore Gautam Nair performed “Home” by Michael Buble. “I took IDC Fantastics as an opportunity to show [FUHSD] something new,” said Nair. The Monta Vista Bhangra team, a boys dance group from Cupertino, and the Homestead drum majors also performed. Part of the points awarded to each school were for enthusiasm and cheering. Each school was given fifteen seconds to cheer for their athletes at the end of the games, and was judged on their spirit. Due to a lack of supporters, Lynbrook settled for third place overall, but did well in several other games. “We’re trying to reach out to more people, not only getting people to participate as in playing in the games, but also people cheer-
PHOTOS BY JOEY LI— EPIC
HUMAN TABLE| Clockwise: Seniors James Otani, Shaelyn Silverman, Anthony Huang and Rebecca Yang try to keep the human table standing in order to win.
ing in the stands and overall representing the school so it’s not just a concentrated event for the athletes,” Tang said. FUHSD put more effort into increasing interest for IDC Fantastics this year after a disappointing show last year by adding new incentives like a trophy crafted by IDC Representatives Ophelia Ding and Akash Anavarathan from Cupertino High School “to have something to hold on to and create more school pride” after the games, said Tang. There were more also more student spectators that attended IDC Fantastics this year as opposed to last year . “A lot of people were unsure about what was going on because it was the first time,” said Tang, reflecting on the event attendance. This year, 80 students attended the event as spectators compared to 60 last year. This was a disadvantage for Lynbrook considering the fact that other schools brought close to 150 students, excluding participants. Part of the promotion effort at Lynbrook was publicity through the Lynbrook High School and IDC Fantastics Facebook groups. Many students learned about the event via the Facebook group, including participant
STUCK| From left to right: senior James Otani, sophomore Pranav Vaish, junior Gary Chen, freshman Joshua Otani and senior Anthony Huang the five-legged race.
junior Connor Wen. There has been debate over whether tryouts should be held for athletes wishing to participate next year. While other high schools in the district held tryouts to determine participants and performers, Lynbrook IDC representatives attempted to keep selection as fair as possible. “We don’t want to create it into another competition where you have to try out to represent your school,” Tang said. “Although its nice to win, I think spirit is much more important,” Wen agreed, “This can only be achieved if we give all students an equal opportunity to be an athlete.” “IDC Fantastics helps schools to bond because it gives the kids a chance to come together at once,” said senior Emily Fong, a participant from 2011 IDC Fantastics. “At this event, there’s easily a sense of community in your own school as well as your own district.” The purpose of IDC Fantastics was to increase school unity and healthy competition between the schools in the district, something that could definitely be seen as the various comical school mascots slow danced together during Nair’s musical rendition.
THIS IS WHY VICTOR LOST WEIGHT| Freshman Esther Ho and junior Connor Wen drag Victor the Viking across the court as they try to win the chariot race.
New school policy permits after-school use of athletic facilities BY KHAYA BHATIA & SHOUVIK MANI
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he new Lynbrook athletic facilities, which includes the track and fields are now open to the community after the FUHSD Board of Trustees unanimously approved a change in the board policy on Sept. 18 to express gratitude towards the community for passing the $198 million Measure B bond in June 2008 to fund field renovations. Community use hours for the fields will be from sunrise until the first bell on school days and from sunrise to sunset on weekends and holidays. The athletic fields, however, will be unavailable when educational or athletic programs are in session. Even though the athletic facilities are open to the public now, club sport teams need to rent out the space in order to use them. This will help increase support towards Lynbrook sport teams, according to School Facilities Manager Steve Chamberlain.
“The main difference from before to now has been the fact that sports teams need to rent out the athletic fields through the district if they want to use them,” said ex-Athletic Director Linda Nichols. “Before, not many people wanted to use the fields but now because they are nicer and more modernized, the field use has definitely increased.” Because of this, Lynbrook was able to hold the field hockey playoffs for the first time ever in Lynbrook history. The district has also hired a company to open and close gates every weekend. Before, the gates were open throughout the weekend; they are now open from sunrise to sunset. In addition, only the gates to the tennis court and on Walbrook Way will be open to the public during weekends. “This will help to insure the fields are available to the neighborhood as much as possible,” Chamberlain said. “The basic policy objective is to make sure the new fields are
available to the public before and after school and on the weekends during daylight hours for non-organized sports use. Lynbrook’s field policy now resembles that of Prospect High School, which allows open access to its front field during non-school hours. Whereas the community used the fields less before this year due to the low quality of facilities, there has been an increase in the use of the athletic fields since renovations were completed in June. Members around the community have positively responded to this change with appreciation, especially those in the neighborhood who use the track and fields. Many students at Lynbrook are now able to use the fields on weekends. “I think it’s great that they opened up the fields because everyone can have the opportunity to play whenever they want to,” said junior Sebastian Ramirez, who uses the field to practice soccer on weekends.
Boys’ Soccer • pg. 13