Playing for hope

Mia Dixon Slaughter, Social Media Manager

December 13, 2013

On Dec. 6, both teams competing in the soccer tournament race towards the ball to score another goal. Team Biola ended with the score of 8-2.

On Friday, Dec. 6, students and staff gathered to play in a soccer tournament for the Soccer with Hope organization in support of suicide awareness , raising a sum of over $350.

During the tournament, two games were being played on both sides of the field. A total of eight games were played, starting off with the ASB team versus the girls soccer team, which Mr. Houts and Mr. Zegara were added on to.

During the first game, the amateur ASB players ran around, and scattered all over the field to try to get the ball from the CIF winning soccer players and the administrators. The highlight of the game was when ASB member, Marjan Abubo, who was playing goalie for his team, caught a goal and passed it to opposing member, Mr. Houts. The crowd chuckled at the mistake.

Junior Maritza Acuna thought the way Mr. Houts and Mr. Zegara played during their game was comical.

“Mr. Houts was shoving people with his body,” Acuna said, “and Mr. Zegara even pushed a kid away by putting his hand in his face. They were really competitive, but everything they were doing was against the rules; it was pretty funny.”

The tournament continued on with teams going head to head and ended with the final teams Biola and team Rio Downey. Team Biola worked together to score a goal against their opposing team, and continued to score easily throughout the game. Team Rio Downey put up a strong defense but ultimately, it was not enough to keep Team Biola from scoring three more times. Team Biola defeated Rio Downey with a score of four to zero and the winning team was awarded with Starbucks gift cards.

This year is the school’s first year participating with Soccer with Hope. A mother whose soccer player daughter committed suicide five years ago started the organization. She then started the Soccer with Hope organization to raise money so that her organization can travel to promote suicide awareness and prevention. The girls soccer team walked around school collecting money to donate to Soccer with Hope.

The idea to have the tournament came from the varsity girls soccer team. They are playing in a charitable game at Yorba Linda High School this week and wanted to help out even more so they decided to host a tournament.

Students were excited about the tournament and the cause. Junior, Matthew Leverde, wanted to help the cause but was also looking forward to playing.

“We just wanted to have fun,” Leverde said, “and I guess by us playing and getting other people to play raised a lot of money for it so that was really cool. We got to play and help.”

Coach Godfrey, the girls soccer coach, was proud of the turnout for the game and the organization.

“The turnout was better than we anticipated,” Godfrey said. “I didn’t know if we would have enough participants, but we actually had to turn some down!”

In total the game raised over $350 and had 70 students participants eager to help, come out and play. The tournament was successful as it allowed the students to help contribute to the cause while still having fun.

About the Contributors

Mia Dixon Slaughter, Co-Editor-in-Cheif

Mia Dixon-Slaughter, Co-Editor-in-Chief of The Downey Legend, stepped into the world of journalism 3 years ago as a sophomore. After a great deal of persuasion from her two best friends, who were on staff at the time, Dixon-Slaughter submitted her application at the semester and was welcomed shortly after. “I love writing and always have,” Slaughter said, “but I’ve always stuck strictly to literature so branching out into a different style and type of writing has helped me develop as a writer.” Although writing essays and covering stories can be polar opposites, the writer adjusted without much trouble. During her time at The Downey Legend, she has covered numerous stories, fiddled with the camera, and established the newspaper’s credibility on social media. She is competent enough to know what it takes to have efficient deadlines; all Slaughter has to do now is to guide her staff in that direction. If the writer is not covering stories happening around school, she is still somehow always somewhere on campus. Juggling AP classes, an ASB position, and her role in newspaper, Slaughter often finds herself with a hectic schedule. This being said, when genuine free time presents itself, she takes full advantage of it. “I love getting lost or ending up in places spontaneously because it feels so great to not have an agenda sometimes,” Dixon-Slaughter said. While the senior is busy getting ready for college and balancing out the rest of her responsibilities, she hopes to provide the staff with an exemplary example of the amount of greatness that can rise from commitment.

Alexandra Menendez, Photographer

Returner Alexandra Menendez took up photography for The Downey Legend her junior year. Since the purchase of her first camera as a mere 6^th grader, photography has been a point of interest for the 17 year old; the school newspaper is just one on a long list of creative outlets she uses to express her photography skills. “I like having the ability to capture a memory before it’s gone forever.” Menendez says. Outside of campus, she refines her skills through photo-shoots with her friends and sister along the railroad tracks and otherwise simple backdrops. She plans on enrolling at San Francisco State and studying to be a professional photographer, but if all else fails, she aspires to at least be a qualified teacher. Currently, she is attending the ROP class Principles in Education to guide her into being the ideal photography instructor she aims to be. The soft-spoken Menendez lives her life to the fullest of its potential each and every day. She is a proud film enthusiast, lover of Asian cuisine, and self-proclaimed introvert – though she claims to enjoy wasting away the weekends with her friends. Nonetheless, rather than having a traditional quinceñera with the spotlight on her, Menendez chose to travel Europe alone. “I’ve always wanted to go, just to see new places I’d never seen before.” Menendez says. “I wanted something new. She still longs to travel the rest of the world – all the while, documenting her trips through a camera lens. A small girl, Menendez has big dreams ahead of herself.