PREPNET / SPEAK OUT
What’s the most challenging situation you’ve faced in an athletic contest?
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MATT DuHADWAY
Dana Hills, Soccer
We weren’t playing so well as a team against Oxnard this week in the playoffs. We couldn’t string any passes together. But I was fortunate enough to get a couple good passes from Nick Garton and I was able to score twice in overtime. It felt really good to be able to lead the team since we were without our top scorer, Forrest Smith, who had a red card.
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MICHELLE PAZ
Santa Ana, Softball
There was a game last year against Tustin, the toughest team in our league. We had a lot of doubts about whether we could win, but we pulled together, stuck it out, and won by one run. We played as a team, did our very best, put in a lot of effort, didn’t have any errors. It was one of the first times we had really done that. We gave each other a lot of encouragement and didn’t criticize each other. We learned that when we play together, we play better.
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DANA KENNEY
Rosary, Basketball/Softball
Coming back from surgery to take out a [benign] tumor in my right femur has been the most difficult experience of my life. I had to give up basketball in order to have the surgery. Being my senior year, and my last chance to play organized basketball, it was worth giving up half my season and working so hard at rehabilitation to get back into the lineup, because I had been in so much pain for the last 1 1/2 years.
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STEVE ALLEN
Capistrano Valley Christian,
Superintendent
I will share two challenges, both of which occurred while I was at another school. One was being a CIF league president and taking steps that expelled a team from the league due to continual CIF violations. The other was stopping a football contest in the third quarter due to unsafe conditions if the play continued. Not one player or parent complained, even though the stopping of the game cost the team a playoff spot due to it becoming a forfeit. Fair play and safety are too often lost in the shuffle of wanting to win. Both of these situations were very challenging, but I would not hesitate to take the same actions in a similar situation.
NEXT QUESTION
Should outdoor playoff games be played no matter what the weather is like, assuming conditions aren’t life-threatening?