Michael Jordan has his killer jump shot; Kerri Walsh has her dangerous spike; Michael Phelps has his butterfly stroke; and David Beckham has his lethal legs (as well as obvious good looks). But what do all these athletes have in common? The answer is this: a passion for something they have pursued over all odds, persisting from the time they were adolescents to become the pure essence of excellence in their category.
But what about the Tony Hawk’s of Skateboarding? And the Mia Michaels’ of dance? Where did these athletes come from? They had to chase their infatuations outside of school to become the best of the best at what they do. And that’s what many of Placer High School’s students are forced to do; follow their dreams through an organization outside of school. Dancers, skate boarders, hikers, motocross racers, hot yoga-ers, and even go-cart racers. Placer has them. But who are they?
Emily Martin, junior at Placer, has been dancing for as long as she can remember.
“I heart it,” she says with a laugh.
“She really knows how to express herself when she dances; like a butterfly exiting her cocoon – it’s like she was born on the dance floor,” long time fan, Allison Alvarez says of Martin.
Martin told a story of how the kids at Pamelot, — where she dances four days a week for five hours a day — dance in hot rooms, and after certain routines, the floors are drenched in sweat. “[The people that underestimate dancers] should take ballet, because it’s not as easy as it looks.”
“Dancing gives me a sense of working hard to get better and is a great release of emotions. Some people sing it out, but I dance it out,” says Martin.
Blair Meyer, member of the ski and tennis teams at Placer, is also a longtime skateboarder.
Though skiing is his passion, he enjoys skating, saying, “I do it because it’s a no pressure thing.”
When asked if he thought skating was a good workout, he thought so without a doubt. He eats a well balanced diet and is in excellent shape as a two sport athlete with this hobby on the side.
What else is there to do to keep in shape outside of school you ask? Hot yoga is an increasingly popular fad that has more and more Placer students staying in shape. Caroline Wardley, senior, says that she used to do yoga three days a week.
“I loved it. It made me feel like I was treating my body healthy,” she says of her hobby.
Hot Yoga is done in a room that is heated to 105 degrees F and consists of a number of different postures as well as breathing exercises.
Rough and ready at the starting gate much of last year was cheerleader Chelsea Hudson. This athlete used to do competitive girls motocross racing four seasons out of the year, but was forced to quit as time became an issue when she got a job.
“It was a good work out if you pushed,” Hudson said.
Being an athlete is hard work, especially if the sport or activity one wishes to pursue is not available at one’s school. All of the above mentioned students followed their favorite pastimes outside of school and train with great fervor to become the best they can. Emily Martin has dance; Blair Meyer has skate boarding; Caroline Wardley has hot yoga; and Chelsea Hudson has motocross. What do you do outside of school that keeps you fit?