It’s time for our athletes to rest… but only of course until further notice.

Seniors in sorrow, cleats  being hung, and certainly no more high fives and practicing with your teammates. This is the strange new reality for athletes since the COVID-19 pandemic that caused the closure of schools and the beginning of social distancing.

Our softball team only saw a glimpse of their season while girls golf were lucky enough to complete their season in November before the trouble started. Fortunately our baseball team did get the chance to begin the season with a well rounded record of 7-3 that coach Francisco Medina said “looked very promising.” Suddenly it all came to an end once superintendent of LAUSD, Austin Beutner, announced the closure of schools.

When asked if the loss of a season will in any way affect their upcoming season Medina firmly said “absolutely!” Baseball is about experience and development that his returning players missed out on.  But although a challenge like this brings hardships, varsity softball coach Karla Bernal believes her girls will have more “grit and fire” and be more grateful anytime they get to “lace up their cleats” and put on their uniforms to represent Bell.

With this new lifestyle, Bell coaches have been trying to keep their athletes in shape and keep their muscle memory intact by sending videos to their team to watch and practice, although coaches express concern that their athletes are not keeping up because some rely on the school’s equipment for such drills. And as always in these uncertain times, safety and family come first.

Boys golf only made use of their uniforms on March 4th, the day of their season opener, and softball made little use of their brand new outfits, but both teams hope to make better use of their uniforms next year if the current situation with COVID-19 is managed well.

“This is the saddest reality for myself and my senior players,” golf coach Aviles said. All his seniors lost the opportunity to play their first high school season.

“They are sad and hopeless… I can’t even imagine how they feel!” coach Medina said. He added  that his players put in a lot of work leading up to season just for it to be taken away.

“My two seniors Meleny Ornelas and Marli Rodriguez will be truly missed. We will miss their leadership on the field. We will miss seeing Meleny always being the first one out of the locker room ready to go. We will miss Marli’s heart and effort out on the field.” said Bernal.

These uncertain times  have been very devastating for many, but at the end of the day we know the bonds  will not break between our coaches and our athletes. We will all fight and work hard to come back on the court, go out on the field as if nothing ever stopped us. Athletes are very hardworking. It is their nature.