Not long after classes ended on Tuesday, Jan. 7, Altadena was ablaze, bearing flames that were visible from Poly’s Babcock Field, where students had practiced only a day before. The Eaton Fire, raging just miles from campus, touched all aspects of Poly life, including its sports programs.
Although none of Poly’s athletic facilities were scorched by the flames, the impact of the fire was still substantial. For students, faculty and coaches whose lives were interrupted, particularly those who saw their homes destroyed, Poly Athletics was a lower priority.
Even after students returned to school, outdoor practices were put on hold for a week due to concerns about air quality.
“First and foremost, we care about the safety of the students,” shared Director of Athletics Scott Bello. “Air quality is something that we just have to work with and deal with right now, and we’ve been working with different ways to measure it, including collaborating with Caltech, working with nearby schools, and repeatedly checking the smoke level in the air. We also consult daily with our health office here on campus to ensure that our athletes are safe.”
As athletics ramp up again, Poly wants to ensure that every team’s schedule transitions smoothly after enduring a two-week hiatus.
“During the week off of school, I met with other athletic directors of the Prep League, agreeing that we want to make the best experience that we could for our student-athletes,” said Bello. “We all decided to not count the games that should have happened during the two-week period when the fires were very heavy. If the school’s schedule allowed, they could reschedule the missed game, but if not, they weren’t pressured to do so.”
Poly’s Winter and Spring seasons are scheduled to continue as normal. And although not rescheduling games has been helpful to some schools during this difficult time, the lost practice and game time has not gone unnoticed by Poly athletes.
“Because we missed two weeks of valuable games and practice, we lost a little team chemistry and time to get better,” commented junior and soccer captain Joe Benitez.
But Poly’s Upper School teams weren’t the only sports affected. The Middle School community, neighboring schools and Poly athletes on outside club teams were impacted as well.
For junior Akhil Venuturapalli, who swims for the Spartans, a local club team that practices at La Cañada High School, returning to the pool has been a positive experience.
“It was weird getting a long break, but I think it just made getting back into the water so much better,” he shared. “Although we weren’t practicing during the fires, it felt like we had a shared experience that drove us to work harder.”
Bello stressed Poly Athletics’ important role in helping the community and emphasized helping nearby schools that were affected.
“Reach out to the other schools, especially when you’re playing them, and be great sports about it because you don’t know what they’re dealing with on their end,” he said.
During this difficult time, the Athletics Department’s main priority has been to offer support and comfort to those most in need.
“We had coaches who lost their homes during these fires or evacuated. Luckily, as a school, we’ve done an amazing job of finding places for them to relocate to,” Bello shared. “Some of [the affected coaches] have relocated pretty locally, and they’ve been able to come back to work, which is really great.”
“Hopefully we can be an area for people that are having a rough time in other places of their lives, where they can just come out and enjoy themselves for a couple of hours,” he added.