The destructive Palisades fire has upended the community in many ways, including the suspension to Palisades athletics, the longstanding rivals of Venice High.
All sports under LAUSD came to a halt due to the extreme conditions of the fires. This includes all sports such as boys’ and girls’ soccer, boys’ and girls’ basketball, girls’ water polo, and cheer.
“We had to postpone athletics until LAUSD allowed us to play and practice again, which was up until January 15,” said Venice athletic director Robin Hunt.
Due to the abrupt halt in sports activities, games had to be rescheduled. Hunt said that Palisades is currently finding an alternate sports facility they can use, because of their loss of home field advantage.
Venice girls’ soccer coach Chaka Forman said he is concerned for athletes in Los Angeles.
“You don’t know what the kids are doing when they’re at home,” he said. “Are they staying in shape? Are they staying connected?”
Palisades boys’ soccer head coach Joshua Figueroa is dealing with the turmoil of losing a place to practice, and home for his team.
“When we came back and played our first game, we tied,” he said. “But you can see the rust, and the connection wasn’t as strong. So to unite the guys, we had to start from the beginning.”
The team has relocated to El Segundo, beginning practice as early as 6 AM. Although facing adversity, the team has grown closer together.
“And while not everyone lives in the Palisades, we all have skin in the game, therefore it’s increased our team spirit,” said Debolla. “We’ve all lost something that we hold dear to us, which is our school and our field and even some of our supplies.
“We’re all in the struggle together, and we’re all going through these tough times.”
The Los Angeles community has been showing great support for the Dolphins from citizens within the community to major companies such as Nike. The company has gifted players who lost their homes with cleats and uniforms, which will help them get back on the field.
“The guys will be very excited,” said Figueroa.
The Dolphins also have been allowed to utilize the L.A. Galaxy’s field temporarily for training and home games.
With the cancellation of sports, CIF LA, the governing body of Los Angeles scholastic athletics, moved the winter season a whole week back. This allowed for all sports to make up games, including both the Dolphins and Gondoliers’ teams.
Hunt said that Palisades will be able to play the second week of February, condensing playoffs into two weeks instead of three.
With these changes to the schedule, the Dolphins are doing everything they can to make this season count, even after the fires.
“We’re working, you know, three games a week- it’s going to be approaching four or five hours alone not including practices,” Debolla said.
Before the wildfires occurred, the Gondoliers were thriving, but because of the fires, performance has been hindered.
“It’s been super hard because we were kind of in a roll, and then we had to pause,” Forman said. “But all the games are back on schedule. We just want to make sure all the kids are healthy and everyone’s dialed in and ready to go.”
The Dolphins experienced the same situation as the Gondos but on a heightened level.
“When you’re at your home field, we play a certain style so that’s the part where it sucks. Now we’re underdogs in every game, which is a good and a bad thing because now we have to fight for it but then it also changes how we play,” Figueroa said. “It’s a different environment.”
Regardless of the cancellations of athletics and rescheduling of games, the Gondoliers are at full speed having athletics come back as of January 15.
Palisades is unsure when its campus will be back in use, with close to 40 percent of its campus damaged, but Figueroa is hoping for August of this year.
At the end of the day, “it’s all about the kids,” Figueroa said.