Football team excels academically
The GPAs of this year’s football players prove that NPHS athletes are among the most hard working people out there. Juggling academic work and keeping in tip-top shape is a hard task, but the football team has shown that it is not impossible. Although COVID-19 has kept the athletes from practicing and playing games as a whole team, it has not put a dent in the athletes’ motivation to be the best at what they do.
The football players’ GPAs this school year have been nothing short of stellar, with the average GPA being a 3.34 on the varsity team. “Being a student-athlete, student comes first and that’s something that we really harp on, and are just really proud of the effort that these guys have been able to put in,” Jason Klein, football coach, said. The football athletes are very motivated to be the best versions of themselves both academically and physically.
Trent Dagan, senior and football athlete, has been playing football at NPHS since his freshman year and has kept a high GPA throughout his high school career due to his work ethic. “Just don’t be lazy. Anyone can do it. It’s easy to go hang out with your friends or play video games instead of annotating an article or doing a lab report, you just have to have discipline,” Dagan said.
CDC guidelines state that Ventura County must be in the orange tier for football season to take place, but this has not stopped the team from practicing virtually and in-person. “Now we’re back to kind of being in groups of 15. So we’re just trying to make the best we can out of what we’ve got,” Klein said.
Kyle Mahon, senior, has his fingers crossed that his team will be able to play for his last season in high school. “’I’m hoping that [there’s] going to be the actual season [where we’re] actually going to get games. I know that there’s plenty of other people that are wishing the same thing, along with me,” Mahon said.
Mahon, as well as the rest of the team, are proud of the accomplishments they have made this year. “I’d also like to add how proud and happy I am about how well our team has held together on the field and performed academically,” Mahon said.
Being a student-athlete in the years of COVID-19 is difficult, but the NPHS football team made the best of what they had and succeeded tremendously while doing it. “[We] are just really proud of the effort that these guys have been able to put in, even in the face of so much uncertainty… we’re really proud of it,” Klein said.
