As the 2016-2017 Spring Season comes to an end, here is a recap of Lacrosse, Boys Volleyball, Track and Field, Badminton, Swim, Baseball, and Softball. The spring sports conclude with their senior nights and last games until the end of the school year.
Baseball competes against schools across their division to fight for the CIF Title of Champions. According to Coach Paul Zepeda, freshmen Tyler Chan plays on both Varsity and JV.

“When I started baseball, I felt intimidated by numerous players especially Varsity because they’re all big and talented players, stated Tyler. “But as the season progressed, I felt like I’ve gotten more comfortable with everybody on the team and it has been a delighted season with these guys. They’ve been there for me, they’ve supported me throughout the season even on my worst practices/games, they’ve all been there thought it all. Although the season is ending, it has been a challenging and exciting season. I wish it wouldn’t have to end so soon but we’ll have next year. We are the next generation Varsity Team so it’ll be a good run in the upcoming year. We’ve made many mistakes but I’m sure we can fix all of them, and as for next year I hope to grind hard and be where we want, I don’t expect us to go to playoffs because we’re still young but I think we can still pull off some wins and make season great as ever!”

Softball, a sport just as intense as any other sport, is played with a strong comradery amongst the female athletes. Under the direction of Coach David Malo, the Cardinal spotlight focusses on sophomore Remani Atuatasi.

“This season we had a lot of ups and downs but we managed to get through it as a team even though we didn’t have as much players last year,” expressed Remani. “For next year, our biggest concern would be a few main positions as in pitching and catching. We are training some girls to become the pitcher on the mound and girls behind the plate, which is honestly the biggest concern. How I feel now it’s ending is pretty sad because we are losing the seniors and we have to prepare certain girls for next season and also make sure that everyone is on the same level.”
Boys’ Volleyball: a sport played by both genders, and is under the guidance of Coach Thomas Tom. Senior Andrew Dang describes his last year of playing volleyball at Hoover.

“This season was a huge success for the boys varsity volleyball team, seeing as we got first seat in Division III and second or third in our league, which is full of division two teams,” said Andrew. “Our team has grown so much together and I’m glad to call these boys my family. I’m extremely proud to be a member of the volleyball team for all four years of high school and to have met all of these amazing players. Next year I plan on attending SDSU and I will also be joining the volleyball club there to continue my volleyball career.”

Even though Track and Field is comprised of individual events, they work together as a team. Junior Omar Martinez describes his personal experience.
“I felt that this year’s track season went swell, we as a team improved a lot. Every one set personal records, and personally I broke my own record for the 2 mile,” stated Omar. “I believe that next year’s track season will have more in store, as well as many new records being set and broken.”

This year, our swim team began with Coach George Garcia. Junior Gustavo Castro expressed his point of view.

“This year’s season wasn’t the best we’ve had in my years of Hoover swim but it was a great experience having new swimmers and getting to know a lot of them,” expressed Gustavo. “Everyone on the team regardless of speed, did their very best this season and for that I am very proud of the team. I am positive that next year we’ll all do better as a team and we’ll have our best season so far.

Badminton, unlike traditional sports, badminton can be played co-ed style or same gender. Coach Ta introduced one of his key players, junior Trung To.

“This badminton season was a serious roller coaster. With the ever changing varsity lineup and all the hours and hours of practice everyone put in,” commented Trung. “Coaches yelling at us for many reasons, but never giving up on us, even when we’re at our lowest. Personally, I didn’t expect to be playing mixed doubles, but I’m glad I am. Badminton has introduced me to many great people, great coaches, and a great community. There needs to be more recognition at this sport. Now that season’s over, that doesn’t mean that training is. We’re still training to play CIF. For next year, we’ll be even stronger that right now. We could still use more rookies, but out lineup will be as solid as a mountain.”

“It was kind of rough in the beginning of the season due to lack of communication and commitment,” said sophomore Tracy Nguyen. “But towards the end, we became a real team. We even made it to CIF team semifinals! I feel so sad now that the season is ending! I will surely miss the seniors, all our fun memories, and team bondings. I am most definitely excited for next season; maybe we could win CIF this time!”

New to Hoover this is year is lacrosse, which has both a boys and girls teams, and this year, the girls were under the direction of Coach Kelly Granfield.

Kelly Yang, a junior and team captain speaks about her experience of being on the LAX and also what’s in store for next year;
“My season has been a series of events that has caused both the team and the players to not only change themselves but others,” expressed junior Kelly Yang. “Many of the players have never played a sport before and this was an unforgettable experience for them bonding with others in such a short notice as well as I, captain, for being able to meet new people that I never would’ve thought to call a friend. Since it was our first year, many of us expected to not make any wins, however we beat the odds by winning 3 games and scored double digits. Now that season is finally over, I know I will be longing to pick up the stick again, I can’t wait to see what happens next season.”

The boys lacrosse team was overseen by Coach Nick Cudal. Junior Luis Chino explains his experience this year.

“Well this year’s season was our first, and according to the coaches we did pretty good,” stated Luis. “We won five games during the season and we won our last game with a lead of 12 points. At the beginning of the season we were kind of shaky because we hadn’t played yet, but as time went on we developed skilled that helped us preserve and eventually allowed us to hold our own against schools that had played before. Next season looks promising considering the fact that we are having off season training and we are having most of our players back. Hopefully we’ll do even better next year and continue to grow.”

With spring sports season ending, the games have been the most memorable and bittersweet moment for their seniors. With the support of their coaches, Hoover staff, students and parents, the Cardinals are making their mark across the district, some sports will make it to playoffs and continue into somewhat of the fall season, others will stay but will try their hardest next year, this is not the end merely the beginning of an amazing new generation for all these young faces.