Junior Nathan Brown is a fellow hockey player not for a high school but currently for a club league called the Des Moines Oak Leafs. He is the only student from Hoover among other schools from Dowling, Valley, Waukee, Urbandale, Norwalk, Dallas Center-Grimes and Johnston. 

Brown has been playing his favorite sport of hockey since he could at the age of four.

“My parents put me on my first pair of ice skates when I was two,” Brown said.

Most athletes don’t start their sport until they have started school let alone learning their ABCs. Brown gives that credit toward his dad.

“My dad has always liked that sport; he got me into it. After my first year I just got hooked.” Brown said.

Hockey, unlike other sports, is played all year round. Players aren’t necessarily on the same team but they are constantly playing.

“I play on a 3A team over the summer. It’s not professional; we’re not getting paid to do it. There’s a bunch of kids on my winter team that play on it,” Brown said.

Many of Brown’s friends from high school don’t play hockey because they didn’t have the early influence.

Junior Ben Markey is a close friend of Brown. He has never played for a team but enjoys watching a game now and then.

“I never ice skated before and it was kind of too late by the time I started getting into it,” Markey said.

Markey admires Brown’s talent for hockey and gives him credit for some of the abilities hockey gives.

“You get a lot of quickness and agility for other sports he wants to play. He’s in good condition too,” Markey said.

Markey doesn’t have the same drive as Brown does with hockey. Markey would rather spend his time in front of the TV watching a game of football rather than a throw down on the ice with hockey.

“I don’t think a lot of people know about hockey so they aren’t that into it,” Brown said.

With many of his friends not in to hockey, his friends find it hard to hang out with him.

“He’s playing almost all year round and he has practice about every day,” Markey said.

Brown’s practices work on a whole range of skills including puck handling, shooting, passing, speed and acceleration for an hour and a half, four days a week.

“They (coaches) always lay down on Monday practices what the other team does. We watch video tape and we just prepare our week,” Brown said.

Brown truly lives and breathes hockey with at least one game a weekend.

“I just like the atmosphere. I like winter and I love when fall rolls around because I know hockey season’s coming around. I just love to play,” Brown said.

Sports like football, baseball and basketball are commonly known in the high school realm of sports. But some sports such as hockey just don’t get the credit.

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Coach Eric Thorsen likes to focus on technique and not just speed because in the long run technique will make a swimmer faster.

“We do a lot of different things than just swim back and forth. We concentrate on breathing and other techniques,” Thorsen said.

Freshman Josiah Burriola did not expect to make varsity his freshman year. He was also surprised by how difficult varsity would be, although he feels he has improved a lot.

“Swimming varsity is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I didn’t expect the other swimmers to be as fast as they are,” Burriola said.

With such a small team, Hestbech feels it is much harder to a be a leader. He says to be more aggressive, the team needs more people.

“We are a small team that lost a lot of guys last year. To be really competitive we need more people and we need to improve. I found being a leader is harder than it seemed,” Hestbech said.

Now that state is around the corner, the team changes their workout method.

“We are tapering which is where we want to be at our maximum level of fitness. To be in shape as possible. So we lighten practices,” Thorsen said.

Burriola thinks it is important to go to state, although this year he says his chances are not very high. However Next year he feels he has a good chance of making it.

“If I went to state it would be important because only the best of best go to state. To make it to state my top times would have to be better,” Burriola said.

Hestbech, who has not yet made it to state, hopes that the 200 freestyle relay he is in will make it.

“If I make it to state I just want to swim the fastest I ever have. One of our goals is for a relay to make state. I would swim a 50 in the 200 free relay. (Senior) James Kent will make it in the 200 IM and the 100 breaststroke,” Hestbech said.

As Thorsen reflects on the season, he feels strongly about commitment and hard work ethic.

“Our swimmers that have never been in competition before are learning very quick, which usually takes years to get good at. Swimming is a sport with no way of cheating. The harder you work, the better you get,” Thorsen said.

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A young girl’s heart filled with love for the game of basketball becomes the one obstacle keeping her off the court.

Sophomore Kinsey Van Houten was born with a heart defect called Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) as well as aortic valve stenosis, which means that Van Houten has two holes in her heart, and her aortic valve leaks because it is thickening. The defect had never disabled her from doing anything she enjoyed doing; in fact her yearly checkups were showing significant improvement until her 2009 check up when her hopes of playing high school basketball came crashing down.

Just three days before the first game of the season, Van Houten went in for a yearly check up with her cardiologist.

“It was the same as it always was, I sat in the waiting room then went back with the nurse to do height and weight and chest x-rays. Then I go to a different doctor where he listens to the heart murmur through a stethoscope,” Van Houten said.

Unfortunately the visit quickly went from normal to abnormal when she stepped into the doctor’s office. This time there was a student doctor in the room as well as her normal doctor and as always all of her clothes from the waste up needed to be taken off . Van Houten is now in a room with a complete stranger wearing nothing but an open front hospital robe.

“It was awkward; I was uncomfortable,” Van Houten said.

Despite being uncomfortable Van Houten was not afraid of the outcome of the checkup.

“He almost always gives me good news,” Van Houten said.

After the murmur was checked, Van Houten went back into another room for an ultra sound, meanwhile the doctor analyzed the information from the nurses and his observations. He came back into the office and right off the bat, Van Houten’s uneasy feelings got worse.

“He came in and started talking about how he was going to put some restrictions on me, he was trying to be nice about it, at this point I was scared because I started thinking about surgery,” Kinsey said.

Little did she know that surgery would be the last thing she needed to be worried about.

“He was looking at this piece of paper with my parents, it showed that the leakage in my heart went up by a lot,” Van Houten said.

Van Houten now entered the moderate-range of leakage and this was rewarded with a new list of restrictions.

“I could tell that he was going to take away one of my sports; I knew it would be important to me,” Van Houten said.

The doctor explained how this was the worst part of his job but, he told her that playing basketball would not be a possibility.

“At this point I was bawling; I couldn’t control myself, I couldn’t grasp the idea of not being able to play,” Van Houten said.

Van Houten’s dream of following in her mom’s footsteps playing high school basketball came crashing down.

“I couldn’t think straight, it made me mad at the doctor even though it wasn’t his fault. I told my parents that I didn’t care what he said and that I was just going to play anyway,” Van Houten said.

Van Houten’s parents did not go along with the idea, and they didn’t want to make it worse or even risk death.

Coach Jeff Fleming had compassion for Van Houten. He could see her love for the game.

“She was kind of the heart of the team. She was the first one done with the exercises, and never complained. She was the first one ready for practice and the last one to leave. Kinsey was the best leader on the team,” Fleming said.

Fleming was proud of the way Van Houten handled herself after the event.

“After the initial shock was over she was still the same Kinsey,” Fleming said.

Sophomore and teammate McKenna Brown noticed a change in Van Houten’s self proclaimed outgoing personality in a way that only a best friend could notice.

“She seemed quieter, and she kept to herself more than usual, she didn’t talk much after she heard the news,” Brown said.

Brown was devastated about Van Houten not being able to play.

“I loved having her on the team. She tried harder than anyone. She was a team player and would have done anything to make the team better,” Brown said.

Van Houten was angry about not being able to play, and overhearing the girls talk about the games only made the pain worse.

“My lowest point was watching them play, because I wanted to be out there,” Van Houten said.

Van Houten is now a manager on the basketball team. It’s her job to get ice for injured players and make sure that the team stays hydrated.

“It (being manager) was so I could be part of the team, it made me feel welcome and needed,” Van Houten said.

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Two weeks ago the football team beat the North Polar Bears 33-12. The motivation for homecoming was to win, after losing every game last year. Mitch Elbert is the head coach of the football team and teaches American literature.

“We approach every game we play,” Elbert said.

In practice before the game, the team worked on live game situations. They also made it more competitive between the offense and defense.

“We executed better and took care of the ball. We also came back in the second half and did better,” Elbert said.

Elbert also said that what they did wrong was that they had too many turnovers and they needed to be more consistent.

Senior Josh Johnson is the wide receiver. Johnson had four touchdowns, three receiving, two interceptions (one for a 94 yard touchdown) and 282 total yards, 188 receiving.

“I had a different mind set. I didn’t want to lose every game my senior year,” Johnson said.

His biggest motivation for the game was that he wanted to prove the people who said they were going to lose wrong.

“The biggest play of the game was a one handed catch that got them going. Then the defense got an interception which turned the game around for them,” Johnson said.

The football team has now won three games under Elbert. Before their win Sept. 25, they had lost 13 in a row.

“It’s not easy to go out and play when you know the odds are against you, and have fellow classmates say that you suck,” Elbert said.

Elbert’s best motivation technique is to be positive and make a bad situation into a workable one. He tries his best not to get frustrated.

“The kids will stay positive and win or lose continue to strive to do things the right way in the future,” Elbert said.

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With Junior Nathan Brown   

Q: Who’s your favorite fighter?

A: My favorite fighter will have to be Anderson the Spider Silva.

Q: What is your style of fighting?

A: I like fighting with jujitsu and kick boxing.

Q: What was an experience you had with mixed marital arts (MMA) training?

A: Well, I was sparing with a guy at my gym, and then I kicked him, and he fell over and later found out that he had torn his ACL and so that’s just something I remember.

Q: Who do you think MMA club is for?

A: I think it’s for athletically active people and people who like to fight.

Q: What do you think parents will say about the clubA: Some parents are for it but others aren’t. Like my dad likes it but doesn’t think that I should do it.

With Junior Max Wissler

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“I love the game, and (I) want to keep playing after high school and into college,” Peeler said.

While Peeler enjoys soccer, he said there are other advantages to playing soccer.

“It’s a good way to keep in touch with friends,” Peeler said.

While playing soccer Peeler has made a few accomplishments. Peeler started varsity last season and went to nationals.

Even after making these accomplishments, Peeler still has some goals for this season.

“(I) hope to go to state (and) make first team in conference,” Peeler said.

Peeler has a few diets to keep in shape for soccer.

“(I) play (soccer) all year long,” Peeler said. “(I also) do sit ups every night.”

Peeler also practices outside of school whenever he gets the chance.

Math teacher and soccer coach Josh Griffith considers Peeler like a member of his family.

“Tyler is a member of my soccer team, and like any member of my team, I consider him a part of my family,” Griffith said.

When it comes to Peeler’s determination in soccer, Griffith said Peeler is extremely determined.

“Any day that bowling is meeting later (he goes to conditioning),” Griffith said. “Once the season starts, he’s at every practice.”

While Griffith expects Peeler to make varsity, he said it’s not a guarantee that

he will.

Junior Alhassan Darboh has known Peeler for five years, and said is close

friends with Peeler. Darboh said that Peeler goes to conditioning and practices every day.

Darboh and Griffith both agree that Peeler goes to the open gyms as often as he is able.

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With spring break on the way, senior Anna Moody is working hard to get in shape. Moody joined the Extreme Bodyshaping (FXB) Course at Farrell’s gym, which is a 10-week program built on kickboxing, resistance training and a nutrition plan.

 Moody works out six days a week Monday through Saturday at Farrell’s.

“I wake up at 5:30 in the morning to get there by 6,” said Moody. “It was hard at first, but once you get in the habit it gets easier.”

Moody’s goals are to slim down and create a healthy lifestyle for herself. The nutrition plan at FXB stresses eating six meals a day.

Susan Weiss is a trainer for FXB and is Moody’s coach.

“We try to encourage our students to look at eating food as fuel for the body,”  Weiss said.

Moody said that she has a specific motivation for participating.

“My motivation is to look good in Mexico over break,” Moody said.

The specific goal for the program is to promote a healthy, active lifestyle encouraging cardio vascular training.

“The fact that Anna Moody is participating in the program as a young woman about to head off to college is remarkable,” Weiss said. “If she can incorporate what we are trying to teach her, she just may avoid the ‘freshmen fifteen’ next year.”

According to Weiss, Anna is establishing a healthy framework around which to build her life.

According to www.extremebodyshaping.com, “FXB puts you on the right road to a healthy lifestyle, one that you can follow for years.”

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The training for wrestling isn’t easier than other sports. With rules to learn and weight goals to meet, some find themselves hitting the gym more often.

Senior Michael Cooper said that wrestling presents him with a lot of challenges.

“It can be hard at times. I just concentrate on my diet and exercise a lot. Sometimes I just want to eat everything though, but with wrestling I can’t,” Cooper said

Wrestlers have proven that hard work is definitely the key to success. The team has won over 20 dual meets, two tournaments and are now nine to one.

Meeting weight goals is one of the most important parts of wrestling because if players don’t meet their certain weight they can’t compete.

Coach Jason Lampe said that weight restrictions for wrestling are strict.

“Even if you’re one-tenth of a pound over you don’t get to wrestle,” Lampe said.

Players cannot go below seven percent body fat, as set by the state. The state has put a lot of restrictions on wrestling due to some extreme measures wrestlers were taking to make their goal, including not eating for three to four days before the meet and even purging right before the weigh-ins. The state has set the standard that players are only suppose to lose two and a half pounds a week.

“By having set weight goals it teaches kids responsibility that they can use in later life,” Lampe said.

The most extreme thing junior Andrew Lamb has done before his meet was running stairs for an hour and then doing an intense workout. He has never been disqualified from a meet.

The team also pushes themselves off the mat. With grades affecting whether or not students get to wrestle, classes are taken seriously. Lampe does a daily check of students’ grades to make sure his wrestlers are keeping up on their schoolwork. In the Des Moines Public Schools, if a player isn’t passing classes they have to sit out for 30 days.

“(Lampe tells us) it’s a student athlete for a reason, the student comes first,” Lamb said.

Cooper said his teachers and wrestling friends are like his brother; players said they push him to do his best at everything.

Although having practice every day takes up homework time, the block schedule makes it easier to juggle wrestling and schoolwork. Lamb said that he likes to keep wrestling and school separate because it makes it easier to stay on top of things.

Even though the team has improved they’re still lacking fan support. Ever since the program combined into the North/Hoover team, the fans in the stands have diminished, leaving only a small group of kids.

“With only one home meet left we would love to get a huge Hoover crowd,” Lampe said.

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He enjoys coaching bowling because in bowling, girls and boys practice together, unlike in other sports where boys and girls practice separately.

 ”You don’t practice together in other sports,” Lundholm said.

Lundholm thinks the team should expect him “to have discipline, respect, guidance, (and) be there for any problems that (may) arise.”

Lundholm doesn’t expect greatness from the team. He only wants to see improvement from them.

“I just expect them to get better,” Lundholm said.

 Junior Charlie McInroy tried out for bowling this year. McInroy has been on the boys bowling team for two years.

“I like him because he’s (also) the golf coach,” McInroy said.

 Junior Niki McClain also tried out for the boys bowling team this year.

“‘I’ve been bowling for a couple of years and I liked it,” McClain said.

 McClain also said, “We’re going to do good this year.”

 He expects Lundholm to “be encouraging, help us with bowling.”

McClain also thinks that Lundholm should expect the team to “bowl good, and listen to him.”

 ”I look forward to coaching this year,” Lundholm said. “(I expect them to be) good players with good attitudes.”

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Math teacher Josh Griffith has been a soccer coach at Hoover for six years, and this is second year as head coach. He said that over the years, he has created a family-like bond with each one of his players.

“The players on my team know that I think of them as a part of my family,” Griffith said.

Griffith spends quality time with his players on and off of the field.

“Sometimes during my plan period, I track one or two of them down to make sure that they’re doing what they’re supposed to do in the classroom,” Griffith said.

Griffith also gets to know his players on a personal level.

“We do all kinds of things just to get to know each other and have a good time outside of school,” Griffith said.

Griffith invites the boys to his house to play video games, and sometimes they have video game tournaments. He also said he goes out of his way to make sure that each of the boys have everything that they need to succeed.

“I have gotten several of them jobs that needed jobs to help out their families,” Griffith said.

Each player that he coaches has a special bond with Griffith.

“All of the boys know that I care about them,” Griffith said.

——————————

Junior Tyler Peeler has known Griffith for about four years, and has been coached by him for three years.

“We have a good relationship,” Peeler said. “Sometimes I go to see him just to chill.”

Peeler thinks of Griffith as more than just a coach.

“He is younger so he relates to us. The way he acts is not like a coach,” Peeler said. “He’s like a friend too.”

Peeler feels that the team “really is like a family,” he says.

“During the season, we all hang out after practice,” Peeler said.

 —————————–

Josh Griffith has coached junior Adis Mujic for two years, but Mujic has known him for four years.

“He helps me a lot,” Mujic said.

Mujic considers Griffith as not just a coach, but someone that he can talk to.

“He helps me with things,” Mujic said. “And we talk about things too.”

Mujic agrees that the soccer team is like a big family.

“We are all like his sons,” Mujic said.

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Sports come along with many things including aggression, frustration, and struggle. Although the football team has only won 2 games since last year, player’s still have faith in the team. Junior Quin Gooch believes a lack of motivation and effort has caused the team to struggle. “Our size and communication have been off the past couple seasons,” Gooch said.

Gooch knows there are many keys to keeping a football intact and motivated during tough times. “I as well as many of the players realize we’re in a hole right now, but we are all ready to show fans what we got for the second half of the season,” Gooch said.

Gooch also thinks that some players have not been giving there all on the field. “Once our opponents score 2 touchdowns, some players look at the scoreboard and call it a night,” Gooch said.

With half the season still uncompleted, Gooch is already looking forward to the off-season. “I’ve been injured for this season and just had surgery done, so it will be great to get some playing time next season,” Gooch said.

Junior Anthony Johnson has been playing football at Hoover for 3 years and is enjoying his high school years as a player. “Even though we have not been winning many games, I’ve enjoyed my playing time here at Hoover,” Johnson said.

Johnson believes that size has played a major role in the teams losing streak. “We’re low in numbers, and too many of our players lack size,” Johnson said. The size of Hoover’s team does not compare to most in the conference. “We’re easily one of the smallest teams in the state,” Johnson said.

With many players playing both sides of the ball, Johnson believes players are getting worn out. “Too many players are playing multiple positions during games, we need less people playing both ways,” Johnson said.

Junior Parker Wolfe played football freshman year. Parker Wolfe quit for many reasons.

“The main reason I quit playing was because the coaches put me on the offensive and defensive line,” Wolfe said. Only weighing in at 143 lbs, Wolfe believes our team needs much bigger players to be competitive. “Our team needs way bigger people, most of our players lack size,” Wolfe said.

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In the past athletes have had to set a good example for other students at Hoover by getting passing grades.

The rules for athletes indicate that if an athlete fails a class, they have to sit out for thirty days.

When an athlete fails they are put in what is called “academic probation.” Athletes that have to sit out thirty days have to follow some rules. One of the rules athletes have to follow, they have to finish off the season with the team. They have to maintain passing grades. And they have to remain an active member of the team, which means going to all the practices.

Things are going to be different this year. The rules will be the same but they will be checking grades before the six week grading periods are up. This is meant to help athletes get their grades up before they fail and have to sit out for thirty days. The activities director will work with all students involved in activities.

John Means, Hoover coach and gym teacher said he will be “the middle man between students and coaching staff by identifying students who need help.

Student Athletes who need help will get tutoring.

“Participating in activities is a privilege. If a student wants to participate in an extra curricular activity, they have to be passing,” Means said.

Junior Cheerleader Mariah Goodson has been involved in cheerleading for three years and has had to sit out games her freshman, sophomore, and junior years because of grades.

“ It sucks because I had to watch them on the sidelines and couldn’t cheer.”

Although the rules are tough on her as an athlete Goodson said she understands.

“It’s somewhat fair. They want us to look good. They want teams to look and be successful,” Goodson said. “They want us to do better and get an education, everything else is a privilege.”

Goodson thinks athletes might not be the only ones dealing with the consequences of bad grades. She said the results might affect the whole school.

“Some of the good athletes are failing so they can’t play and the teams do bad.”

But more than likely this new system will help students before they fail. As Goodman put it, “This is a new year, no more slacking.”

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