Diminished dreams
Pandemic is stifling athletes’ chances to play on a bigger stage
When the pandemic shut down schools and canceled spring sports this year, the consequences were far-reaching for the student-athletes involved.
For some, especially those who lost their junior season, and potentially their senior season, they may have also lost the opportunity for an athletic college scholarship.
Brawley High Wildcat softball coach Kevin Kerns, who had two graduating seniors receive scholarships despite the canceled season, summed up the dilemma.
“I have four juniors who will be seniors and, at this point, can basically only send out emails and videos of themselves to college coaches,” Kerns said. “There have been some positive responses, but a coach can only get so much from a video.”
Kerns, who also organizes and coaches an off-season Valley-wide travel softball team, pointed outs the pandemic has impacted players’ ability to demonstrate their skills this summer and potentially this fall.
“Kids are missing out on showcases, camps, clinics and taking trips to visit schools,” Kerns said. “My travel team, we use a recruiting service which has been a great tool in helping the girls get themselves out there … but there’s nothing that can replace actually being seen.”
Normally, Kern’s senior scholarship prospects, outfielder Miaklyn Emanuelli, third baseman Dilynn Gill, first baseman Brianna Hoffman and catcher Caryzma Aguilar, would be finishing their summer season of travel ball.
Emanuelli, who also normally would be playing libero for the Wildcat varsity volleyball team, has done her best not to let the pandemic affect her attitude, work ethic or pursuit of a scholarship.
“I’ve been trying to turn a negative into a positive, to stay positive through this whole thing and just work out on my own … lifting, running, resistance training … I’m probably in the best shape of my life,” she said.
Emanuelli has been more fortunate that most players in her situation, having been invited to two “camps” this summer at the University of Redlands and Azusa Pacific University.
“At Redlands I was so excited to be back on the field I hit my first home run ever,” Emanuelli said. “It was technically a three-hour skill camp, and we had to wear masks and stay 6 feet apart and use lots of sanitizer.”
And while it was an opportunity, Emanuelli saw it as another chapter in a story being written on the go.
“I did get the feeling that we were getting closer to playing, but it still wasn’t the same,” Emanuelli said. “A lot of what I’m getting from coaches is that recruiting is on hold. They want to commit, but they are unsure of how things are going to be.”
For other Valley players, including Southwest Eagle senior volleyball-softball player Jaelyn Niebla, the opportunities to move toward their scholarship goals are even more limited.
“I wasn’t talking to a lot of schools because I thought I would make contact during last season or in summer ball,” Niebla said. “But I have had minimal contact with some coaches, but I feel like to play for a college I’m going to have to get back on field.”
While the details of getting back on the field are out of her control, Niebla is doing what she can to be ready for it if and when it comes, or not.
“I was supposed to be in volleyball right now and our coach posts workouts to keep us in shape and I’ll hit or take ground balls on my own,” Niebla said. “If nothing happens, I’ll make my college decision based solely on the education I’ll get.”
For Jaelyn’s Eagle and Fogball travel team softball coach -- her mother, Stephanie Niebla -- the agony and anxiety of watching her daughter lose opportunities is doubly difficult.
“Just from a parent’s point of view, you spend your life watching your child play growing up and then it’s taken away,” said the elder Niebla, who has coached for two decades.
“It’s been hard on all my players. I love coaching, and you become attached to them, and they reach out to me, but I have no answers. It’s tough.”
For Valley baseball players, also victims of the sudden shut-down of normal student-athlete life in March, the dilemma is the same if not in some ways more difficult.
“For baseball players, it’s a somewhat difficult picture,” said Imperial High baseball coach Javier Ramos. “Usually a lot of college players leave when they are drafted by major league teams, but this year’s draft was very small in numbers.”
According to Ramos, this means that college coaches are unsure of their scholarship count, and they also have to decide whether to take a high school player or maybe a junior college player they have watched more.
Ramos has been working with senior catcher Ryan Bonillas, pointing out that the last Tiger to get a scholarship, pitcher Kobby Lopez, garnered attention at a junior showcase in San Diego.
“We’re casting the net pretty wide, but the biggest challenge is lack of exposure, because we missed the season and showcase games and may miss them again,” Ramos said, “We’ve done Ryan’s NCAA clearinghouse and what he can control right now like reaching out to coaches … but it’s especially hard on Valley players who don’t usually get a lot of exposure.”
Bonillas has had playing college baseball on his radar for years and does have some exposure, but points out it was a somewhat mixed-blessing.
I’ve always wanted to play at the next level and I (put) work into my classes, too. Sixth grade is when I started to put in the work both in the classroom and the field,” Bonillas said. “I started playing varsity baseball as a freshman on our CIF runner-up team in 2018, but naturally the attention went to upper classman.”
As with other scholarship seekers, Bonillas’ plan was halted by the pandemic.
“The plan was to have strong junior season, get invited to CIF-San Diego
All Star games and showcases, and the plan came to an abrupt stop,” said Bonillas, who also plays off-season with the Imperial Valley Baseball Network’s California Diablos. “Summer was supposed to be baseball, baseball, baseball, and now that’s gone.”
Given the pandemic, Bonillas says there is no plan B.
“I’ve been taking batting practice and lifting and getting ready for classes,” Bonillas said. “Coach and I have been talking about what’s next. It’s a weird situation. I have to have a season. My attitude is there will be a season, and I’ll have to show up big.”
While hope abounds for all concerned, Stephanie Niebla cannot help but lament the unknown within this pandemic.
“As both a coach and parent, I didn’t know a life without sports, and then it came to a halt and now we don’t know quite how to handle any of this.”