Monthly Archives: September 2019

Sports: ACL Tears Are One Of Football’s Most Common Injuries

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by Kourt Williams

One of football’s most notorious injuries is a torn ACL, which stands for the anterior cruciate ligament. This injury will have any athletic player no matter the size, on the sidelines for an entire season, if not longer.

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Scott Varley / Daily Breeze

Just ten days ago, The University of Alabama head coach, Nick Saban confirmed, Dylan Moses, the team’s starting middle linebacker suffered a torn ACL two days prior to their first game of the season opener against Duke University. Also on two Saturdays ago, starting USC quarterback J.T Daniels suffered a torn ACL and is reportedly out for the remainder of the football season.

Nick Saban holds Alabama to a high standard, and even with the loss of Moses, he still believes his team has what it takes to play at a continued high level.

“It is also a character check for everybody on our team, to be able to keep the faith, to respond to adversity the way they need to, to accept the challenge, and rise above the challenge,” Saban said, according to NBC sports.

Historically, Saban has been able to keep his team encouraged despite hardship and with Moses out for the season, Alabama is planning on starting a true freshman, Shane Lee to fill Moses’s shoes.

USC head coach, Clay Helton felt nothing but disappointment to see his starting quarterback suffered an injury so great.

“It was a gut-wrenching feeling when Daniels went down. It’s just heartbreaking to see a kid who has poured so much into this team,” Helton said, according to the Associated Press.

A torn ACL has put many athletes in very difficult situations. Some are able to bounce back and be just as good, if not better than they were before the injury, and most never seem to get back to their true selves. This is because the injury is so severe that unless an athlete is able to get back to full recovery and able to get all strength back in that leg, there will always be a sense of hinder and caution when they play.

St. John Bosco High School football running back, Nathaniel Jones has also suffered a torn ACL in game one last season. Up to this point he has made a full recovery, however, there are question marks still in the air. One being he will he be able to be the same pound for pound running back he was prior to his injury.  I have observed some of his recovery workouts, and we are hopeful as a team that he will continue to contribute to our offense and return as our starting running back.

“I’m stronger than I was before, when you tear your ACL, you learn new things. The doctors actually said I worked so hard during rehab that the leg I tore my ACL is stronger than my other leg. So I’m confident and ready to go,” Jones said.

Many doctors and physical therapists say the cause of an injury is an imbalance in strength in the hip, quads, and hamstrings. Which are the primary muscles supporting the knee. Since the knee is a joint that is only connected by muscles and tendons, this risk of injury is very high when those muscles are not as strong as they need to be.

St. John Bosco’s head athletic trainer Melody Mohebbi, who was Nathaniel Jones’s primary physical therapist, says that a torn ACL is one of the most common sports injuries, and is also one of the most severe.

“The reason why torn ACL’s happen to so many athletes so frequently is that players tend to overtrain and not get enough rest and recovery. The overall cause of the injury is all the muscles in the leg that supports the knee aren’t as strong as they need to be to support the athlete’s cuts and how they maneuver,” Mohebbi said.

Theresa Chaia, from the Hospital for Special Surgery, says having overall and fairly equal strength in the hip and legs prevent ACL injuries.

“Having adequate strength in your hips and thighs is key to providing support for your knees and preventing ACL injuries,” Chaia said.

A torn ACL is an athlete’s worst nightmare. If you are an athlete playing any sport, it is vital that you have the understanding that this is an injury you want to avoid at all costs. However, with a little extra work on improving those surrounding and supporting muscles for the knee, like the hip, quad and hamstring and exercising regularly like squats and lunges, cutting the chances of the injury happening to you is fairly slim.

Sports: Bosco vs. Liberty (Henderson, NV) Preview

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by Hunter Richardson

The Bosco Braves will take the show on the road this week as they head to Las Vegas to take on Liberty High School Friday afternoon as part of the 2019 Polynesian Football Classic.

Tomorrow afternoon will be the first road test of the season, as the Braves head to Vegas to take on Liberty High School from Henderson, Nevada. The Braves look to build off of their explosive outing from last week with a repeat performance against the Liberty Patriots in week three.

Week two of Bosco’s football season came to an end with an emphatic throttling of brother school Don Bosco Prep by a score of 56-21. The Braves came out firing early as Coach Negro’s offense put up 42 first half points and proved to be too much for the Ironmen.

Clemson-commit, quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, recorded five total touchdowns in the first half and only needed one drive in the second half to tack on his sixth of the game. The story of this game can be summed up in D.J.’s touchdown run late in the first quarter when he ran through practically the whole defense of Don Bosco, carrying tacklers with him on his way to the endzone. This play showed how the Braves flexed their muscles throughout the entire game on both sides of the ball.

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The Braves’ wideouts were also the key to the offense’s success as their quickness overpowered Don Bosco’s defensive backs, as speedsters Oregon-commit, Kris Hutson, and junior Jode McDuffie ran past the opposition catching two touchdowns a piece.

Bosco’s whole offensive arsenal was on display, as we got a glimpse of the return of running back and UCLA-commit, Nathaniel Jones, from a season ending knee injury last season. He will no doubt provide huge gains in the offense with an explosive young core of backs to compliment him.

Don Bosco’s offense was unable to execute their strength in running the football, with the front seven for the Braves mowing down the offensive line of the Ironmen and forcing them to try to pass their way to a victory. Linebacker Ma’a Gaoteote set the physical tone early, finishing with five tackles. Danny Lockhart was the Braves’ leading tackler finishing with eight tackles.

The Braves’ week three matchup with Liberty will be the first road test of the season. They anticipate rolling off the momentum of last week’s thrashing of Don Bosco Prep, as Coach Negro’s squad continues their potiential National Championship run.

Expect this game to be dominated by the offensive line of the Braves, which will allow the exceptional skill players of this potent offense to get space and take control of this game. Watch for the rushing attack to be more prevalent in this game with running back Nathaniel Jones being eased into the rotation as he gets back into the flow returning from his knee injury.

The Braves secondary on defense will play a big role this week against the Liberty offense’s pass-happy attack. Defensive backs Josh Alford and James Smith hope to have big games and foil the Patriot passing game. Also, expect a big game out of a hungry Bosco defensive line seeking to bring the heat on every snap.

The defense will obviously play a big role in the outcome, and expect this unit to give the Braves offense excellent field position and allow them to score points in bunches early. Expect the second stringers for the Braves in the second half of this one.

Final Score: Bosco Braves 59 – Liberty Patriots 14

News/OP-ED: Mass Shootings Rack Nation As Bosco Goes Further to Keep Students Safe

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by Joshua Lucero

Mass shootings have become increasingly a part of our society, particularly those committed on school campuses by students.

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In 2019, shootings have had a major presence in our news and social media with new shootings being reported more frequently than in prior years. In 2019 alone, these tragedies have increased in number with a total of 297 shootings from January to August, the total number killed was 335 with 1219 wounded.

On August 30th at a high school football game in Alabama, Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, a 17-year-old child was arrested for shooting and injuring 10 other children. That evening those 10 innocent lives were going to their high school football game just like any other Brave would go to support their fellow classmates on the field. The suspect would then turn himself in the next day being faced with nine counts of attempted murder, according to NPR. 

Riley Howell, Reed Parlier, Joshua Ayers and Emily Houpt are the few who were affected by the shooting at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Riley Howell was shot and killed after charging the armed gunman, former student Trystan Terrell, taking a bullet to the torso which did not stop Howell from attempting to disarm the gunman. He would be shot two more times, the final shot coming at “point-blank range into his head,” according to the New York Times. The gunman killed Reed Parlier and wounded four other students in a classroom filled with many students.

Many times we ask why this happened? We ask how did he acquire this weapon? The suspect purchased his handgun, with a large amount of ammunition, legally. Even with the supposed “regulations” of gun laws, Trystan Terrell killed two young innocent adults. 

Patrick Crusis, 21, who legally was able to have an “open carry” firearm in El Paso, Texas committed a mass shooting in Walmart with people who “ranged in age from two years old to 82,” according to ABC News. A gun that was similar to an AK-47 killed 20 and injured 26 more. Crusius likely will face hate crimes and federal firearms charges.

These recurrences keep on happening, but what is being done? The children, the youth, the adults have shown time and time again that there will always be a way to murder and cause pain to others. In many cases, it is the people we least expect, who need dyer help.

Children, teens, and young adults face challenges throughout school or life. It is inevitable. For many cases, a shooter has reasons behind their actions. These do not justify these horrendous acts, but according to a study by Alfred University, there is a reason for why they commit these crimes. 

Ranking at the top is wanting to get back at people who hurt them with 87% , following with 86% who similarly say they were bullied and 62% of people not valuing their lives.  

What would society do to help? The tough answer that no one wants to hear is there is nothing you can do. There are not enough people in the world who can stop these crises from happening. These events are uncontrollable, even if there are gun laws put into place you can not control a person’s actions. 

Not being able to end this crisis is not the same as creating precautions for it. East High School in Anchorage, Alaska took a necessary step for keeping their youth safe. A drill was performed by a police officer firing blanks from a handgun to simulate an active shooter. “The purpose of the training was to teach students what gunfire would likely sound like in the hallways in a real active shooter situation,” according to the Washington Examiner. 

Shootings are a tragedy that is the new “norm” in America. It was one of the hardest things to see, but it is even worse when shootings happen and no one talks about them. You cannot prevent these tragedies from happening without taking free will out of the equation.

These shootings have also been brought to St. John Bosco’s attention, as addressing these tragedies both in a cathartic way and ways that are practical is at the center of our school’s mission. Bosco is beginning to take the necessary precautions to keep the safety of the students and faculty a major priority. 

One is to make it easier for the staff and cameras to identify students on campus. Regarding a situation that happened in New Mexico, a former student disguised himself with a hoodie and sneaked onto campus. He would then kill two students and be stopped by a janitor.

To enforce a no hoodie policy helps “visibly track [potential suspects] on camera,” said Vice Principal Mr. Adan Jaramillo. This makes it easier for situations like this to be solved quickly when they occur, or even prevented when suspicious and unverified people are seen on school surveillance. 

Bosco is also looking into security features for the doors that are opened to the public when a visitor would first enter Bosco. These doors would have a simple buzz implemented that lets the office workers know who is coming in. Currently, when a visitor comes, Bosco runs the ID, and if they are flagged for whatever reason, they cannot enter the school.

Ish, Bosco’s security guard, is also going to extensive training through the ALICE Program, which specializes in active shooter response training. 

For more physical features that help defend the students, there have been talks about increased fencing, which would wrap around the back of the 300 building facing the street. Lastly, Bosco is attempting to raise the fences around the school. However, since Bosco is also a residency, the City of Bellflower will make it difficult for such changes to occur.

Life Of A Brave: When Being a “Brave” Means Getting Help, CPLA Is There

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by Emilio Ceja and Jesse Neville

Stress levels in teens are beginning to match and even surpass the levels of adults, often in worse conditions than those stressed adults because of the unique social pressures adolescents face. Without a way to cope or handle this stress, many students often become overwhelmed and can fall behind in taking care of their schoolwork, their personal relationships and, most importantly, themselves.   

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However, students at St. John Bosco have a choice. Bosco began its mental health counseling program began during the 2006-2007 school year, offering a free and personalized counseling service to help with student stress and other issues they may face. Through this program, the students are not treated as “clients,” but are treated as a friend that has others around them that they are able to talk to. 

The original “Outreach Concern” counselors at Bosco have been replaced by counselors from a new company called Counseling Partners of Los Angeles (CPLA). These new CPLA counselors serve the same purpose as the Outreach ones and help the academic counselors meet all aspects of student needs. 

While assisting the free mental health counseling service at Bosco, these counselors also complete the hours they need for their Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) degrees. Emaryne, one of the counselors currently at Bosco, has been with CPLA for about a year and has almost completed her set amount of hours to receive her MFT degree. She is a counselor that prides herself on taking creative approaches to therapy.

“I do a lot of play therapy. I don’t do the traditional counseling of sitting across from you asking about your feelings,” said Emaryne. 

The idea of a stress-free meeting with a counselor, such as just talking while throwing a football around or going for a walk, does not seem to be something that can help with stress, but in reality, the simplest actions can help the most. 

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Mr. Jaramillo, the activities director, currently oversees the counseling program at Bosco. He is pleased with the change in the CPLA counselors, explaining how the new counselors work methodically and systematically to help students most. 

“Outreach was reactive, but CPLA is more preventive. Along with being strategically reactive, the CPLA counselors are much more structured and easily approachable,” said Mr. Jaramillo. 

Meetings with the counselors can be scheduled in a variety of ways, teachers or family members can ask for a student to be seen by the counselors, or better yet, the student themselves can walk into the CPLA office and just ask to talk to them.

The counselors themselves leave time slots open throughout the day in case there is a need for them to be called at any time. They prepare ahead of time with their schedule to make sure they have time for any student that comes through the door. 

Students are not limited to using the service only if recommended, which is a major deal. This means any student can go no matter the circumstance or the need.

One student from the senior class went to the counselors just because he needed someone to talk to and express the troubles he had that he could not bring up at home. These issues that were going on in his household were getting in the way of his school work, and throughout the process of counseling, he says that his grades recovered and he no longer had to take Summer school. 

“It was a calming and personal experience that allowed me to refocus on the opportunities in front of me,” said the class of 2020 student.    

This rarely used program can be beneficial to many but is surrounded by the stigma of something having to be wrong in order to go. The counselors are there to benefit students, and there does not need to be a serious problem for a student to attend. 

Personal counseling is rare to find, especially for free. Despite this, the counseling services are not well-known, or even known at all, to some. Breaking the mental health stigma around campus is the first step toward putting a lot more students in the best environment possible to thrive and take advantage of all that come with being a “Brave.”

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