Players like Burbank football’s Aram Araradian keeping positive attitude amid coronavirus
Aram Araradian was doing all he could to get himself physically prepared for his senior season with the Burbank High football team.
Along with his workouts and practices with his Bulldogs team, Araradian, a junior quarterback, also worked out three times a week with a personal trainer, threw once a week with his quarterback coach and did exercises on his own.
Then the coronavirus hit.
Like many athletes who have seen their high school careers severely impacted by the COVID-19 global pandemic, Araradian has been forced to adapt.
“In these times, you can only control what you can control, so if you can’t go to the gym you cant go to the gym. You have to make the most of what you have at home, like doing body-weight exercises, push-ups or core work and doing things like air squats,” said Araradian, whose nickname is “Rambo.”
“[Burbank] coach [Adam] Colman has done a really good job at teaching us to be resilient and never to quit and never to give up. Everybody is going to go against adversity, but it’s how you face it that is going to determine your character. So, it’s all about having the right mindset in these times.”
The quarterback said the members of the Burbank squad have been rallying one another and sticking together through the crisis.
“We do daily Zoom calls as a team, so we are kind of keeping that close-knit bond together,” Araradian said. “We’re all in the same boat together, so we all understand each others’ struggles and how bad we want to get on the field again. That is the goal of all of us, just to get back on the field again.
“It is definitely disappointing that things have been canceled for us. But we really try and keep an optimistic attitude about everything. We are all looking for that light in the darkness.”
Araradian and the Bulldogs are in the same situation as many high school athletes in the state, who are unable to take part in school athletic activities and contests after the CIF canceled the spring season April 3. It appears that the shutdown will also bleed into the summer and the 2020 season could be in jeopardy as well.
Teams like Burbank have already seen a halt to spring football and scheduled seven-on-seven and passing leagues have been scrapped.
Araradian was hoping to use these few months before the start of the 2020 season as a time to prepare himself for his senior campaign.
Despite missing four games because of an injury, Araradian garnered second-team offense accolades. He completed 112 of 199 passes for 1,958 in just eight games before suffering a season-ending injury. The left-hander had 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Burbank went 5-7, 3-3 in the Pacific League to tie for third place and won a CIF Southern Section Division VII playoff game against Don Lugo, 40-20.
“Now, I’m taking as many mental reps as I can, watching film from last season, watching film of other seasons and scouting other teams all to try and get myself prepared,” he said. “I’m just doing all of that because in the event that the football season does take place, them I’m prepared and ready for it.
“This has all kind of thrown me off because I’m used to a set schedule. But you kind of have to adapt to what’s happened and make the most of what you’ve got. I don’t have enough room at my house to throw, so I’m kind of just laying on my bed and tossing the ball up into the air, trying to get that wrist motion.”
If there is one thing Araradian can control, it’s his outlook on getting through this crisis.
“I am definitely being optimistic about the season coming up,” he said. “You can’t be negative and have a negative mindset, especially when a mindset is only thing you have right now.”