Football players make transition to basketball

Although the boys’ basketball team has begun training to prepare for its upcoming season, the Falcons have been playing short handed.

Missing from the lineup have been senior Alvin Kim, now out for the basketball season with a knee injury sustained in football, senior Joey Medeiros and junior Joseph Eschen. The three were part of a team that made it all the way to the CCS playoffs.

For Eschen, this will be the first time that he makes the transition between the two sports since this was his first season playing football.

“My mom sat me down for about a whole week after school ended and brought up the topic of football,” Eschen said. “She initially didn't let me play my first two years, but she came around to it.”

For his part, Kim will act as the team’s manager. In as much as it’s possible, Kim will continue practicing with the team in hopes of a miraculous comeback by season’s end.

“Even though I'm not playing, I'm gonna get back into shape with lots of practice,” Kim said. “It's going take a little bit of time, but repetition after repetition is going to get me back.”

Eschen, whose mom hesitated to let him play football for his first two years of high school, is making the transition from wide receiver to shooting guard. Eschen said that he does not expect the transition to be too hard, since he played basketball every weekend during the football season.

In fact, Eschen thinks his experience with football will help him.

“[My experience with football] will allow me to be more physical on the court and finish at the rim through contact,” Eschen said. “Also, it'll help with my mental toughness to persevere throughout the 42-minute games.”

Eschen also said that the conditioning for the two sports will also be a change that he needs to get used to as the sports workouts are completely different.

“Football workouts are a lot more intense and focused with more energy,” Eschen said. “They're both fun and good, but they're different atmospheres.”

Medeiros, on the other hand, has made this transition every year for the past four years. He said football helps prepare him for the basketball season because he is in top shape to start the season. Medeiros makes the transition between the two sports relatively quickly, only taking “a few days to get back into it.”

“I have no time to waste, so I need to work extra hard to make sure I’m on the same pace as the rest of my team,” Medeiros said.

Eschen hopes that with hard work the team will achieve its goals for this season.

“I feel really good about our team this year and were definitely going to do well,” Eschen said. “Our goal as a team is to be El Camino League champions and look to make a deep run into CCS.”