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The Stentorian | NCSSM
Sports
August 2014 Jj
Unicorns have high hopes for
fall sports, retain many athletes
Katherine Wang Walker claims that “we are ronferenee nhamnii->n anH adds- “Onr team ii
Sports Editor
As the new school year
begins, so does a new season
of Unicom Athletics. Last year
was an impressive year for fall
sports, so hopefully this year
will be one too.
For those looking to play
fall sports at NCSSM, they
should fill out all paperwork
present at gounis.com/family,
and bring it to the Coaches
Meeting at 5 pm on Monday,
Aug. 18. Here, for all the
UniFans, is a preview of this
season’s sports:
Cross Country: The men’s
cross country team won the
State championships last year,
in addition to gaining several
other titles. Captain Nick
Walker and the team hope to
win the State championships
this year for both Men’s and
Women’s cross country.
Walker claims that “we are
looking at potentially one of
the strongest teams we have
ever had. Though we are only
. returning two of our top seven
runners from last year, we have
an influx of talent.”
The Women’s Cross
Country team last year
finished 10th at the State
championships and won the
Conference championship.
This year’s team, according to
Cere Poovey, is looking really
good. She claims that the
“team is expected to gain many
strong members from both the
junior and senior class.
With the combination of the
returning members and those
joining the team for the first
time, the team should have a
strong season with a return to
the State meet.”
Women’s Golf: Last year,
the women’s golf team was
Conference champion and
qualified for States for the first
time as a team.
Though the team lost
some very valuable players to
graduation, its prospects this
year are looking strong, with
several returning members and
interested juniors.
The major change in the
team will be the change in
coaches, as Coach Fran James
of Hillandale has decided not
to take on the role this year.
The current coach has yet to be
determined.
Men’s Soccer: The soccer
team last year made it to the
quarterfinals of the State
tournament before falling to
First Flight High School in a
very tight game. Captain Jarod
Glover hopes that the team will
go further this year and make a
deep run into the tournament.
Teammate Henry Bristol
adds: “Our team is looking
good for the coming year.
Expect to see us at States in
November.”
Women’s Tennis: The
tennis team reached the finals
of the State championships
last year, along with winning
the Conference and Regional
championships.
Many of the top seeded
players are returning this year
for another try at winning the
State title. When asked about
the team’s prospects, tennis
team member Garima Tomar
said, “We had a really good
season last year, and hopefully
an even better cme to come this
fall! We have several talented
incoming juniors, as well as
skilled seniors returning to the
team.”
Volleyball: The volleyball
team finished fifth last year in
a tough conference. They hope
to improve their performance
this year. Rebecca Shen
believes that “our goal as a
team this year is to do better
in conference and make state
playoffs. We definitely had a
strong team and amazing fan
support last year (shout out to
the Uniboys!), but we lacked
consistency throughout the
season. Hopefully, along with
continued student support, the
incoming juniors will give us
the boost we need for a great
season.”
Among some new changes
is the introduction of a new
golfing coach Todd Bandawer.
This fall season of athletics
promises many superb
performances but a team
would be nothing without their
fans. Game schedules will
be available on the NCSSM
Athletics website, so students
should show some UniPride.
2014 World Cup turns into
Brazil’s worst nightmare
By Sierra Dunne
Editor-in-Chief
Before this year’s World
Cup even kicked off, everyone
was betting on host country
Brazil to take the coveted gold
trophy. According to a New
York Times survey, 16 out of 19
countries believed that Brazil
would win the tournament,
with the other three naming the
country their second choice to
win after their own.
It appeared that things were
looking bright for Brazil, but
behind FIFA’s bright facade
of world unity and harmless
entertainment lay something
much darker.
In the weeks and months
leading up to the World Cup,
protests and demonstrations
were held all throughout
Brazil, but they were mostly
ignored by the mainstream
media.
The protests were
mainly outcries against the
government agreeing to spend
billions of dollars hosting the
cup, when the poorest 34% of
the country receive less than
1.2% of the nation’s income.
The Brazilian government
spent much more than
they predicted they would
on the Cup, and citizens,
demonstrators, and famous
soccer players alike all
agreed that this money was
being wasted on FIFA when
it could have been used to
build schools, create better
health care conditions, or feed
children going hungry in the
streets.
“It’s clear that politically
speaking, the money spent to
build the stadiums was a lot,
and in some cases was more
than it should have been,” said
Pele, a retired Brazilian soccer
player, at a talk in Mexico City
in May. “Some of this money
could have been invested in
ere had to arrive on ships
carrying them up the Amazon.
Furthermore, since there is no
local club team, after the World
Cup ended the stadium will not
be used by any soccer teams.
Active demonstrations,
strikes by public workers, and
killing many innoeent children
in the process.
Although overall these
protests were considerably
smaller than those that broke
out in 2013, the opposition to
the Brazilian government was
as strong as ever.
Mural protesting the 2014 World Cip painted by an anonymous Brazilian street artist. The
picture shows an impoverished and malnourished Brazilian child being fed a soccer ball,
rather than the food he desperately needs. This is just a small part of the larger public outcry
over Brazil's misallocation of resources due to the World Cup.
schools, in hospitals ... Brazil
needs it. That’s clear.”
For instance, the Arena de
Amazonias, constructed in the
remote city of Manaus was
made by importing materials
from Portugal, shipping up.
the Amazon River, where it
was constructed. Manaus is
only accessible by boat, so the
Group G teams who played
clashes with police were all
common occurrences leading
up to the start of the World Cup,
but graffiti artists and social
media users added mounting
pressure on the government as
well.
Many spoke out against
forced evictions in host cities
and police brutality against
drug gangs that had ended up
Even indigenous tribes,
who are known for having
demonstrations regarding land
rights outside of government
buildings, joined the activists
fighting against the World Cup
with arrows and rocks, ready to
take on police.
Despite the outcries of the
Brazilian people, FIFA came
out unscathed, and the World
Cup continued on as planned.
The only hope they had was
that their team would take
home the gold as predicted.
1 lowever, for their .semifinal
match against Germany, the
team was missing two of it’s
key players: Captain Thiago
Silva, who had received too
many yellow cards to play,
and star forward Neymar,
who suffered from a fractured
vertebra from their game
against Colombia. No one
expected the toll this would
take on the team.
In the historic match that
took place on July 8, the
Ciemians crushed Brazil in an
agonizing 7-1 defeat, with the
first five goals being scored
within the first 29 minutes.
Not only was this host
country shocked, but the entire
world was as well. Words like
humiliation, embarrassment,
and utter defeat were often tied
into reports on the game.
To make matters worse,
this loss would mean that the
final game of the Cup would
be played between Germany,
the team that crushed Brazil’s
spirits, and Argentina, Brazil’s
biggest soccer rival.
After the match, team stand-
in captain David Luiz gave a
tearful, heartfelt message: “I
just wanted to give joy to the
people who suffer so much.
Unfortunately we could not,
sorry everyone, all Brazilians.
I just wanted to see people
smiling... It is a day of great
sadness and a lot of learning
too.’