The Word6 October 2016

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With new tactics and players, Milton Romero, the new JV girls basketball coach at John F. Kennedy High School, is aiming to form a solid team for the upcoming 2016-2017 season. This year, most of the JV girls basketball team consists of juniors, sophomores, and freshman, with a few seniors. With an addition to a new coach, JV is looking toward building stronger team chemistry. “Kennedy is totally different than my old school. However, I am working with the team and getting used to the change,”declared Romero. The 2015-2016 season ended with numerous losses. JV (1-4) is more determined and adopting a fiercer attitude toward winning this upcoming season. Previously an assistant coach for girls basketball at University High School in Los Angeles, Romero’s interest in coaching sparked when he first started coaching his two kids in elementary. Later on, he started

volunteering at his daughter’s high school and eventually took the job as an assistant coach. Senior Jenny Amaya feels confident about this upcoming season and is prepared for what the new coach has to offer. “The team is still strong, like it always has been. The newcomers just need to learn basic skill, and hopefully Coach Romero can help us improve,” stated Amaya. To improve shooting form and defense, 6th period and after school practices have consisted of new skills and plays. Romero has been holding practices until 4:30 pm to help the girls improve their shooting form and to be more aggressive when defending. “Repetition is how I plan to improve their skills. They’re used to shooting from their chest and sometimes the ball isn’t able to go above. We have a lot to work on,” expressed Romero. With the 15 week grading window opening on Thursday, November 3, Romero expects the girls to keep their GPA above 2.0 in order for them to play.

by Masha Yastreb

Cross-Country: A New StartCoach Garcia changes up entry team for this season

Staff Writer

by Gurpreet Grewal

New Coach, New SeasonMilton Romero is appointed JV girls basketball coach

Staff Writer

Romero believes in academics coming first before athleticism. “I expect them to work hard and to earn their spot in the squad. They

Coach Romero will be helping newcomers and returnees refine their fundamentals, in order to form a stronger foundation.

my players are that they’re attentive and they listen to what I have to say. That’s very important,” shared Romero.

need to be here on time. I always tell them all I need is 7 players, 5 on the court, 2 substitutions. It’s up to them if they want to play,” responded Romero. With a lot more underclassmen trying out for girls basketball this year. A lot of new faces will potentially be seen on the team.

Freshman Candace Kreuz expects Romero to teach new techniques and make drills more challenging for the team. Being a newcomer on the team, Kreuz has been working with Romero on offense skills such as fast breaks and shooting the ball from the inside. “The important qualities of

The players have positively responded to the new coach and are determined to grasp onto new skills and plays. With the season around the corner, Coach Romero and the JV girls basketball team are in full gear and focused on their objectives.This season will be different.

Coach Romero works with the JV Girls on the black top during 6th period

harder workout, but the newbies get the experience of the harder workouts sooner in the year.” Seeing as though one of the most experienced runners has improved shows the positive effect. After losing two of Garcia’s strongest varsity boys, Raymond Lopez and Alexis Palacios, he’s hoping Erick Flores and strong sophomores that participated their freshmen year, such as Carlos Aguilar, can fill their spots. On the girls’ side, track runners that didn’t run cross-country last year are running this year. Most of Garcia’s strong girls are returning so he can

Cross-country coach Jacinto Garcia made the decision to toughen up the cross-country regiment with longer practices this year to improve the team. Garcia informed that the after school practices will be increased, having more intervals for longer distances. His runners will be running to Brand Park, giving them a mile and a half warm up, and doing workouts that consist of two 800 meters, two 600 meters, two 400 meters, and two 200 meters, which is almost twice the amount of last year’s workout plan. Garcia revealed the reasoning behind the change is because “the team is getting stronger, and they can handle more. They’ve been with the program already.” His team last year had a handful of strong runners that were young, making it easier to build them up because they have dealt with the cross-country pace. He claimed that he’s finally bought them into his system; he can have them do what he needs them to. Joshua Alfaro, varsity cross-country runner, revealed, “Garcia has more experience now, which will make the team better.” During the summer, Garcia learned more about the sport, allowing him to gain knowledge on development for his runners. Alfaro reports that he sees progress with the change. “I can run for longer distances. My body doesn’t feel as tired as last year.” April Fonseca, varsity cross-country runner, claimed that she also sees the progress. “I learned how to keep stamina. It’s a

by John-Paul Soto

One Arm Wonder: Harley MedellinOne armed football player overcomes tragic accident

Staff Writerit helped him realize that he is no different from anyone else. Medellin proclaimed, “My par-ents treated me the same as my brother and sisters at home; they never made me feel different.” Football helped Medellin overcome his accident. Medel-

Harley Medellin, freshman de-fensive back on Kennedy’s JV football team, has only one arm and a lot of support; every day is dedicated to the football field. Although having one arm holds him back from tackling properly, running with a perfect form, or be-ing able to secure the ball, Medel-lin still tries hard and doesn’t let hishandicap get the best of him. On the field he plays with passion and courage. Every game, Medellin writes the Bible verse that means a lot to him, John 3:16, on his wrist before every game. Medellin explained, “Whenever I read this verse I still sit and thank God for my life; I know what happened to me was for a rea-son, and I’m playing for God and because I love this sport.” With the support from his teammates and family, Medel-lin doesn’t feel any different from the team; everyone treats him equally and never asks about or questions his accident. On December 3, 2002, Me-dellin and his family got into a tragic car accident which left him without his left arm. Only being two and a half years old, Medellin’s family waited to tell him until he was three years old about what had happened. Medellin stated that he was “shocked” and “understanding” as to why this happened to him. At the age of 5, Medellin started playing organized football. While Medellin started practice, coach-es didn't seem to treat him differ-ently and neither did the players. Medellin’s parents never treated him differently either;

“I can run for lon-ger distances. My

body dosen’t feel as tired as last year.”

build upon their progress and experience. According to both Alfaro and Fonseca, they can see the newcomers making faster progress than last year’s initial runners. Since the start of the season on September 28th, there has been progress referring to the races. The new regiment motivates the team to finish the tough three-mile course.Garcia is also incorporating drills and enforcing stretches every practice. During his sixth period, Garcia has his team run a two lap warm up, drills, a mile, and then stretch. After the bell rings for class dismissal, the cleared athletes run either a five-mile run or do workouts at the park.

lin’s brother, Henry Medellin, who played football at Ken-nedy as well, thought that it was “exciting” and “inspiring” to see how his brother is pro-gressing through his accident. Many players that see Medel-lin play are influenced and get inspired by his courage and heart that he shows on the football field. With his family proud, Medellin has made many friends proud as well. Medellin was inspired by his brother to play football. He encouraged him, pushed him, and taught him to never give up. Medellin explained, “Seeing my brother play re-ally encouraged me to play...” The first couple of weeks, ac-cording to Medellin, have been some of the toughest he has

up, Medellin knew he need-ed to work hard every day. Although Medellin struggled, he always had one person pick him up everyday to help him never give up. Arie Bandiola, junior defensive back on JV, helped Medellin throughout practices when he needs help. Bandiola believes that Me-dellin’s story is “inspiring.” It helps him appreciate life more because he see’s what Medellin goes through and how he pushes through everyday with no excuses. The “One Arm Wonder” wants to reach out to other kids that share his condition and his mes-sage: “People are going to under-estimate you, people will stare, doubt, and hate on you. Don't let it get to you; don't ever let any-one treat you differently in life.”

gone through due to the condi-tioning, the weight room, and no one taking it easy on him. Coming into high school as a freshman with one arm, he expected for everyone to stare. Respectfully, the team ignored his condition but saw his passion for the sport. With summer practices over with and the season coming

Harley Medellin warming up before the Kennedy vs. Van Nuys game