The NDB athletics program consists of three main sports in the winter season. This includes basketball, wrestling, and soccer. Every year, sports teams at NDB get to enjoy a short break during the holiday season of about 10 days, depending on the year. This break takes place the week of Christmas until the day after New Year’s, giving the players a chance to spend time with family and enjoy a break from practicing and playing in games. Some student-athletes travel around the country, while others stay local and spend time practicing over the break. However, it is slightly inconvenient to have a full week off right as the pre-season comes to a close and the regular season begins. Despite how they choose to spend their break, this break allows for a moment of rest for the hard working students athletes at NDB.
The NDB basketball team has had a great season so far, despite the break. The first game during the start of the break, they played against El Camino High School, winning the game 53-30. Shortly after Christmas, they won against Washington High School 54-40. Coming back after the break, they played King’s Academy, and once again, won 45-39. Recently, they have won games against Sacred Heart Prep, Menlo School, and Harker, only having lost one game since the break against Pinewood. Clearly, players continued to condition and practice at home during the break to maintain their skills for the upcoming games, benefiting their overall success and resulting in a very high performance.
Natalie Cabral, a member of the varsity team, states, “Our team, after break, has come back ready for league. We have all bonded over learning how to play with one another, and I think we really build off of each other’s energy.”
The NDB soccer team, composed mainly of freshmen this year with a few upperclassmen, also enjoyed a break while maintaining their conditioning for the season. This is very important as it keeps athletes at their best before going back into the regular season. Before the break began, they won against Nevado Union 2-1. Shortly after, they had a tough loss against Homestead High School. They did not have any games from this game until January 2nd, when they played against King’s Academy and had a strong fight, only losing 1-3. A few days later, they played against Crystal school and lost 0-4 and then 0-3 against Sacred Heart Prep. However, not long after, they played a game against Notre Dame San Jose and took the win with a score of 5-1. Hopefully, as the season comes to a close, the team can begin winning more games. Despite a few losses, the NDB soccer team put in work and effort and won a game even in the aftermath of the break.
Allie Dorn, a varsity soccer player, states that, “Coming back from the break, our team has been working super hard and we’re a very young and new team, so we’ve all just been learning how to connect and play with each other and we’ve been improving more and more throughout each game.”
The NDB wrestling team has performed well after the break as well. Previous to the long break, the wrestling team played at the Bristow Brawl, and then in the Carlmont invitational. Right before the break, they attended the Dennis Solic Classic. Right after Christmas, they played at the Britany David invitational. A week after the break had ended, they played against Riordan, and then the following week, they attended the Stampede invitational. Despite the long break, they have been very successful through effort and dedication to the sport.
Overall, the teams are all looking very strong after the break, and this is due to their hard work and dedication to the sport. Hopefully, their success will remain as the season ends, and they can use the habits of continuing to stay in shape over the long break into their last couple of games. To beat other high school teams, the key is to enjoy the break, but to continue practicing and putting in more effort than others.
