By: Julia Xia, Staff Writer
The sports section of the Mills newspaper focuses exclusively on the sports played at school. While this is to be expected, the fact is that many students play sports outside of school, yet they don’t get any coverage. Students who play other sports outside of school are often overlooked or even forgotten. It’s essential to showcase the talented players at Mills. Sports such as dance and gymnastics are just as important as basketball, although they aren’t discussed as often. The students who participate in activities outside of school deserve to have their hard work recognized.
Ari Sanchez (12) is the President of LMP Ballet Folklórico, a type of dance created in 1954 that celebrates Mexican culture through its dances, outfits, and music. Ballet Folklórico requires the dancer to concentrate mainly on their leg and arm movements. Moving their arms to the music while maintaining a smile on their faces takes a lot of time to perfect. Sanchez started when she was a freshman, but due to Covid-19, she couldn’t perform until her Junior year. Now she is a Senior and leads her teammates in a supportive and caring manner. “The dancers never put each other down, and it’s a very welcoming environment, especially to someone who hasn’t been there long.”
Michaela Gonzalez (11) is also a dancer. She is a member of the LMP Dance Program and a tap, jazz, and ballet dancer. She began dancing when she was five and quickly fell in love with it. “When all my friends began to quit ballet, I realized that I really loved it and how my body likes to move.” She dances to express herself in a way that makes her happy. Gonzalez believes that everyone should be able to have a creative outlet that lets them express themselves. While many sports focus more on the game rather than the training, dance is centered around training, and the time it takes to perfect everything for the audience. “Ballet is a very beautiful art form that focuses on the person because the person is the art.”
Another sport many students participate in outside of school is gymnastics. One student, in particular, has been doing gymnastics for years. Theresa Bruce (10) is known for her talent in gymnastics, having been at the competitive level for five years. She started doing gymnastics ten years ago to get stronger both physically and mentally. Learning gymnastics takes time and dedication since the athlete has to learn many complicated moves and perform them in a minute without fail. With the minimum practice time being four hours a day, five days a week, the sport is not for the faint of heart. “It also gives you perseverance to not give up on things easily, which applies to daily life.”
While it is natural to give preference to students who play sports at school, we can’t forget that many students pursue many different sports outside of school. It is important to represent all the students and all of the activities that they participate in; these students deserve the same amount of attention and praise as other students.
