Sports
Joining the Richmond football team changed Cesar Munoz’s life. Before football, Munoz says, he was gang affiliated and “was in deep stuff.” But at the end of this summer, he decided to play football for the first time. The junior lineman made it through the entire season, with the positive encouragement of his coaches and teammates. “I got close with all of my teammates and all of my classmates and they helped me a lot,” Munoz said. “The coaches meant…
If there are any boys walking the Kennedy High hallways with aspirations of being the next Lionel Messi or Javier Hernandez, please go see head soccer coach Aaron Colacion in his classroom and tell him you want to sign up. He needs you. There’s a very good chance you’ll see a lot of playing time. As it stands right now there are only 15 students to fill Kennedy’s JV and varsity soccer teams. It takes 11 players to play a…
When the game ended and they had lost, the football players for the Kennedy High School Eagles stood in a circle together for one last time. The players were joined on the 30-yard-line by their coaches. It was the first time that anyone had the opportunity to exhale all afternoon. When the head coach entered the huddle, he asked everyone to come in tight. “Let me tell you something. I cannot be more proud of what you guys have done,”…
There’s nothing like a little drama two days before the first round of the playoffs. On Wednesday after practice Takkarist McKinley, the Eagles 6’3″, 240-pound all-world linebacker threatened to walk out on his teammates. The situation on the field was so bad that the Cal-bound football player went nose-to-nose with head coach Mark Carminer and yelled at him. Once in the locker room McKinley dumped his gear in the coach’s office and said he wasn’t coming back. When asked about…
Jorge Diaz was the last of the Richmond Oilers to step onto the football field Friday night, for what would be the last time he’d ever make that walk as a player. To no one in particular Diaz belted out his favorite phrase: “They might not like it, they might not love it, but they’re going to learn to live with it.” He was quiet for a moment, and then with little fanfare he weaved onto the field through a…
It wasn’t the best day for the Eagles, but roses scattered in the stands and around the field were a reminder that this game wasn’t just about winning or losing.
The Richmond Oilers capped off the season with their second win, taking home the Richmond Cup in a 14-6 home victory over the De Anza Dons. For senior Devonte Anderson, the win fulfilled a goal he set in last year’s dispiriting loss to De Anza. “I wasn’t going to forget that moment,” Anderson said. He said he promised himself he would win the cup back for the Oilers. “I kept my word,” he said. “I kept my promise. That’s my…
Soccer is gearing up at Kennedy High. With 14 boys running two miles, three times a week around the football field, no one notices but the guys in shoulder pads. And because the gridiron crew still has full control of the Astroturf, the fútbol players have to take their yellow and orange cones to the netless tennis courts to practice their drills. Barcelona they’re not. But aspiring soccer players shouldn’t have to act like Roger Federer either. Tryouts don’t even…
In the week after gunshots disrupted Richmond High School’s homecoming events, school officials, police and parents said they were glad the situation wasn’t worse. Eight minutes were left in the football game against the Kennedy Eagles when a gun was fired near 23rd and Maricopa just beyond school property. After responding to the scene, police made the decision to stop the game and the homecoming dance. Students who had just arrived in their finest dress were held in the gym…