Haley Sawyer – Orange County Register

This former UCLA coach’s class provides a unique learning environment

Haley Sawyer — Sat, 07 Jun 2025 16:00:27 +0000

Former UCLA gymnast Katelyn Ohashi, left, joins her former coach Valorie Kondos Field, known as Miss Val, for a class on leadership on Monday, Mar. 10, 2025, at UCLA in Westwood. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)

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Life and death. Senior citizen sex. Alex Rodriguez and performance-enhancing drugs.

This is Education 472: Introduction to Philosophies of Coaching. Valorie Kondos-Field is in charge – and it’s a learning environment unlike any other.

“She’s just so … herself,” UCLA women’s basketball player Charlisse Leger-Walker said. “The very first class, I thought she was crazy.”

Kondos-Field, known affectionately as Miss Val, won seven NCAA championships and collected more than 800 victories in her 29 years as head coach of the UCLA gymnastics team. She’s returned to the school as an educator in the School of Education and Information Studies’ Transformative Coaching and Leadership graduate program.

A team of educators has developed a curriculum to give Bruins the tools they need to transition from student – or student-athlete – to coach. EDUC472 is a small but influential piece.

“The main point of the class is to get these young adults to start thinking about what their values are and instructing their leadership values, moral foundation, cultural foundation and style,” Kondos-Field said.

“You have to be authentic, otherwise you will never be a leader worth following.”

Bringing the outside in

On the last day of class, Kondos-Field stands with poise at the front of a classroom in Moore Hall as students and guests funnel in. Balenciaga pumps are on her feet, graffitied with fluorescent, inspirational words and the year “2019.”

A wedding ring is on her left hand and a 2010 national championship ring is on the other. Not a hair is out of place.

There are two main objectives for today’s three-hour class: discussion of Kondos-Field’s first book, “Life Is Short, Don’t Wait to Dance” – she has a second in the works – and final presentations. Each student has prepared a 2-minute speech explaining their coaching philosophy.

It feels more like a gathering than a class. Former UCLA gymnast and NCAA champion Katelyn Ohashi leans on a table while Kondos-Field’s 90-year-old roommate, Beverly, is seated on the other side of the room and looking refined in a turquoise sweater and sepia-tinted sunglasses.

“She has made me reframe my thoughts of what getting older is,” Kondos-Field tells the class, referring to Beverly.

Guests are critical to the course’s effectiveness. Students read a book per week about a particular coach, then guests are invited to discuss the subject matter with the group.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has made an appearance. Former Bruin and NBA star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo and baseball icon Alex Rodriguez have stopped by.

“If we’re studying say, Pete Carroll, that week,” Kondos-Field said, “Alex doesn’t speak to Pete, but Alex Rodriguez comes in and talks about how to move from being a player, a student, to choreographing your life. Crafting your life.”

There is one regular face in the class – Director of New Initiatives Arif Amlani, who has a background in philosophy and philosophy of education. Amlani has co-taught the class for six years, although at this point he sees himself as playing more of a supportive role.

He teams up with Kondos-Field to connect leadership techniques with ancient philosophy passed down through centuries. The unexamined life is not worth living, as Socrates said.

“I have full confidence in her and the wisdom that she imparts,” Amlani said. “I am perfectly OK letting her do her thing.

“And conversely, there might be times when I do my thing. I have a very different style and I’ll talk about very different kinds of things. I might go more into philosophical issues. We have that understanding and, really, it’s by design. We have full confidence in each other.”

A strength space

UCLA running back Anthony Frias II is laughing and holding his phone in front of him, the screen facing the class.

Instagram’s algorithm showed him a postgame interview of classmate and former Bruins softball player Sharlize Palacios. Her teammates stacked bats in her arms and topped them with a Squishmallow before placing a box of Reese’s Puffs cereal on her head.

Palacios shakes her head as wide smiles spread to everyone who sees the clip.

Before class had even started, the group was applauding Leger-Walker and Angela Dugalić as they walked into the room. The women’s basketball players were returning to campus fresh off a Big Ten Conference Tournament victory over USC.

“Being in the grad classes, everybody is so curious about the other sports,” said Leger-Walker, who sat out this past season recovering from a torn ACL. “They’ve come out to our games and then the next day, they were all congratulating us. It just builds that sense of community at UCLA, and it’s pretty special. Everyone’s genuine about supporting each other.”

The dialogue flows freely in Education 472 but Kondos-Field is always at the forefront. She requires that all students stand up when they speak and if there are guests in the room, they introduce themselves and name the sport that they play.

Even in the Zoom-based first class of the semester, Kondos-Field asked the students to unmute themselves as she called on each of them. Leger-Walker recalls being good-naturedly pestered by her instructor until she turned her camera on during that class, a purpose she now understands.

“It’s very interactive, very discussion-based, very opinion-based and because it’s a graduate class, people aren’t afraid to speak up and share their opinion and share their perspective,” Leger-Walker said.

“Honestly, it’s probably one of the top three classes I’ve had in my entire college career so far. And that’s five years, so that’s a lot of classes.”

Athletes of the same sport sit together in the U-shaped seating arrangement but intermingle with each other during group work, asking questions about others’ sports or what their future might hold.

Casual conversations swirl into silly ones and juxtapose themselves with words of emotional depth, revealing to students that vulnerability doesn’t have to be a weakness.

An in-class anecdote from Kondos-Field: She once declined a dinner invitation from a group of gymnastics friends because she thought gymnastics gossip might end up dominating the conversation.

Instead, she planted herself on the couch beside Beverly. They worked on knitting projects in their pajamas, watched tennis and “talked about older people having sex,” she recalled.

Later in the class, Beverly reflects on her experience with cancer and Kondos-Field adds details about her own challenges while going through breast cancer.

Dugalić shares that she and her brother didn’t always have a basketball to play with while growing up. In another class, Joshua Swift delved into the hurt of being cut from the football team two days after the season had ended.

“It was riveting,” Kondos-Field said. “It was one heartbeat in that class, listening to Joshua Swift stand up and share his pain with everyone.”

Even Alex Rodriguez lets down his defenses when he enters Moore Hall.

“He always knows I’m going to throw him hardballs,” Kondos-Field said. “I start every time he’s in class – I go, ‘Why did you do it? Let’s talk about the performance-enhancing drugs. Why did you do it?’ And he gets really vulnerable, he gets really humble.”

Gray areas brighten and blurred lines in communication snap into focus. Tough conversations aren’t just unavoidable – they’re welcomed. But don’t call it a safe space. In the words of Kondos-Field, it’s a strength space.

Not just a degree

Colleges and universities across the country offer many coaching-related degrees, but none are as intensive as the Transformative Coaching and Leadership program at UCLA.

It was launched in fall 2019 and built on former UCLA men’s basketball coach John Wooden’s adage that coaching is teaching, creating a win-win situation for the university.

The master’s program was a perfect match for graduate student-athletes who wanted to pursue coaching or leadership positions. On the other side, it allowed UCLA to attract and retain student-athletes.

“After hearing about that program, it was definitely another check box that I could put for UCLA,” said Leger-Walker, who transferred from Oregon State a year ago.

Jessica Clements, the leadoff hitter on the Bruins’ softball team, had a similar experience. The 2024 Big West Player of the Year at Cal Poly had her pick of schools, but Coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said the Transformative Coaching and Leadership experience made UCLA a top choice.

Clements will finish playing this season, then be a graduate manager next season before beginning her search for a coaching job.

“It’s everything she could possibly want,” Inouye-Perez said. “Academics, athletics, the experience as an athlete, the experience as a grad manager, transformative coaching, a leadership master’s program.

“And then she wants to be able to fly it out there and figure out where she could land a coaching position, which I believe is going to be very, very easy for her.”

There are two UCLA gymnasts in the program who are taking Kondos-Field’s class: Carissa Clay and Chae Campbell – or “Chae girl” as Kondos-Field affectionately calls her during class.

“I’ve seen them both grow in the way that they communicate and the confidence that they hold themselves with and also how they show up as a leader,” Bruins gymnastics coach Janelle McDonald said.

“It’s a great opportunity for people to be able to continue their education and their sport, but also just learn a lot about life.”

Transactional vs. transformative

Sue Enquist was a transactional head coach when she helmed the UCLA softball team for 18 seasons. She was tough on her players but empowered them, and won 10 NCAA championships between 1982 and 2004 as a result.

“I loved it,” said Inouye-Perez, who won three national championships as a player under Enquist.

“She’s, like, man, if I were to coach the way I did back then versus understanding what’s needed today, I’d be a whole different coach today than I was back then,” Inouye-Perez recalled.

Enquist, along with Kondos-Field, is now embracing transformative coaching, which emphasizes athlete growth while still putting emphasis on success.

Transformative – sometimes called transformational – coaching sees sports beyond winning and losing, supporting athletes as they undergo difficult situations in order to create personal growth.

“Everybody coaching today should definitely understand what transformative means,” Inouye-Perez said, “because if you’re not, you put yourself at risk of not only not succeeding, but also being fired for not getting the fact that you no longer can be transactional. Everyone’s looking for everyone to have a quality experience, to learn and grow and be better people.”

The current generation of college students has likely experienced a mix of the transactional, do-as-I-say coaching style and transformative coaching. The future, as Inouye-Perez and those in the Transformative Coaching and Leadership Program believe, is the latter due to its ability to meet the mental and physical needs of this generation’s student-athletes.

“If we were teaching this class in the ’80s, a lot of people in the class would not have experienced what transformational leadership feels like,” Kondos-Field said.

“But this generation has experienced both. And now, guess what? Since you’ve experienced both, you get to choose. You don’t get to just say ‘because that’s how I was coached.’ Or ‘that’s how I was parented.’ It’s a choice.”

Philosophies built to last

It’s time for the grand finale of Education 472. The last task of the last class is for each student to present their personal coaching philosophy in 2 minutes.

Kondos-Field proudly tells the class that Cam Brown, a former student and women’s basketball player, had secured a job offer by reciting her philosophy during an interview. Dugliać, equally proud, films her instructor retelling the story on her phone to send to Brown.

“The interesting part is I tend to overcoach,” Kondos-Field said. “I tend to give them too much information. And Dr. Amlani, he’s like, let them figure it out.”

The ways in which this group of students figured out the coaching philosophy assignment are myriad.

Swift has a central theme – “Keep it G” – and involves pillars that all begin with the letter G. Beach volleyball player Natalie Myszkowski talks about the importance of preparation and how “the dumbest you can look in the rain is wet.”

Swimmer Joanie Cash shows a graphic of a blue-and-yellow bridge that she had created to demonstrate the pillars of her philosophy. Leger-Walker gives an energetic and clear presentation, but not before she discloses that she struggled to decide which leadership style they learned about was her favorite.

“I don’t think that I’ve ever sat down to this extent and thought about leadership the way I have this quarter,” Leger-Walker said. “It can be such a general term thrown out there. Like, what is a leader? Everybody has a different perspective on it, but I didn’t realize how complex it truly was.”

Each student’s face is the future of leadership, and its powerful ideals are felt in the presence of and passed down from the instructor.

Kondos-Field tells them in a brief, spirited lecture that she was never afraid of getting fired while she was coaching at UCLA and that she would still hold true to her own coaching philosophy today – which includes no chewing gum and no hair ties on wrists, of course.

And she is steadfast in that as an educator, which will forever resonate with her students.

“Everyone is different 100%,” Leger-Walker said, “but there are so many different ways and different skills and different experiences that you can draw from to really have your own philosophy so that you stay true to that.

“No matter what.”

Crespi baseball holds off Mater Dei to move on in regional playoffs

Haley Sawyer — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 04:03:15 +0000

Crespi’s Mikey Martinez is congratulated at home after hitting a three-run homerun against Mater Dei in the first round of CIF State SoCal Regional Division I playoffs June 3, 2025.(Photo by Andy Holzman, Contributing Photographer)

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ENCINO — Crespi infielder Mikey Martinez is a sophomore, but his character exceeds his year in school to head coach Mike Glendenning.

“There’s a lot of times I look at him,” Glendenning said, “and the way he carries himself, the maturity, sometimes I look at him as a 22-, 23-year-old man.”

So it was with little surprise that Martinez laced a three-run home run to left field to score over half of the runs needed for the Celts to beat Mater Dei 4-3 in the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division I playoffs.

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Crespi, which was eliminated in the CIF Southern Section Open Division quarterfinals, will have to wait to learn their regional semifinal opponent. Tuesday’s game between Santa Margarita and Patrick Henry was rescheduled due to inclement weather and will be played at noon on Wednesday.

Santa Margarita shut out the Celts 12-0 to knock them out of the CIF-SS playoffs. Even though that game was nearly two weeks ago, it’s still on the Celts’ minds.

“The loss was really hurtful to us with all of our seniors leaving,” Martinez said, “so it kind of left something in me, a little drive to go back out there. It motivated me to do better.”

Martinez made his first start at shortstop on Tuesday and caught a fly ball to end the top of the second inning before stepping up to hit his home run in the bottom of the third.

Leadoff hitter Troy Miller was walked and three-spot Josh Stonehouse was hit by a pitch before Martinez drove them in.

Usual leadoff Landon Hodge is preparing for the MLB Draft and did not participate in Tuesday’s game. Nate Lopez and Diego Lopez did not play due to prior college obligations.

“What we do as a program trickles down into the guys who got the opportunity to play today,” Glendenning said. “And I think that showed on the field. We play a lot of small ball and execute. That younger group that’s following those guys are bought into that, and it proved to be successful for us.”

Freshman Nathan Toscano is one of those players. Tyler Walton singled and advanced to second base on an error and a single by Toscano gave him enough time to reach home plate for the go-ahead run.

“We believe in our guys,” Martinez said. “Everybody trains for their moments and when it’s time to come through, I know everybody will come through.”

Jackson Eisenhauer closed out the final two innings on the mound and struck out the side in the bottom of the sixth to set Crespi up for the win.

Walton, a UC Santa Barbara commit, provided a quality start and gave up four hits while striking out five hitters and walked three. But his start wasn’t easy to come by.

“He wanted to pitch, so I gave him the rock,” Glendenning said. “I had my concerns — the last thing I want to do is jeopardize a kid’s future. But he begged me and begged me and begged me. I gave him the rock, and he came out and gave us a good outing.”

Mater Dei scored two runs in the top of the fourth inning off a single by Austin Gerken and Ezekiel Lara stole home in the top of the fifth inning.

Other scores from Tuesday’s regional playoffs:

Division II

Point Loma 6, El Camino Real 4

Division III

Venice 5, Trinity Classical Academy 2

University City 5, Birmingham 2

Transgender athlete AB Hernandez wins twice at CIF state track championships

Haley Sawyer — Sat, 31 May 2025 23:32:01 +0000

CLOVIS — Jurupa Valley’s AB Hernandez, Long Beach Poly’s Jillene Wetteland and Monta Vista’s Lelani Laruelle stood atop the podium at the CIF State track and field championship finals Saturday evening.

The three tied for first place in the high jump as a result of a new rule enacted this week by the CIF ahead of the meet. Each of the three received nine points that would contribute to the overall team scoring.

Hernandez, a transgender student-athlete, competed in the long jump, high jump and triple jump finals on Saturday. She jumped 20 feet, 8¾ inches to come in second in long jump, cleared 5-foot-7 to win first in high jump and recorded 42 feet, 2¾ inches to win first in triple jump.

Although Hernandez had the best mark in high jump and triple jump, the new CIF rule allows for a cisgender female competitor who was displaced by Hernandez to also win in those respective events.

Long Beach Wilson’s Loren Webster won the state title in long jump for the second straight year, leaping 21 feet and ¼ inches for the crown. She said she was aware of the attention surrounding her event this season, but tuned it out when it came time to perform.

“I knew there was a lot of media around the event, but I knew to dial in and focus on myself,” Webster said. “Me worrying about other people and trying to control the uncontrollable wasn’t going to help me or fall into my favor.”

Demonstrators who were against the new rule and Hernandez competing were outside the stadium Saturday and briefly forced the championships to pause.

The group of about 15 was chanting phrases like “protect girls sports” and “stop discriminating against female athletes” through a bullhorn.

The championships were paused for roughly a minute as the event announcer asked the demonstrators to stop chanting in the direction of the track.

“The only thing you are hurting is these athletes on the field,” the announcer said. “Please show respect to the athletes that are out here. They have worked hard. You are distracting them. We will continue to pause if this behavior continues.”

The crowd that filled the stands at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium cheered after the announcement. The bullhorn chants briefly continued, but eventually died down.

Earlier in the day, drivers passing by honked horns and waved in support of the group as spectators cheered for Hernandez inside the stadium.

Two protesters wore shirts with the acronym “CIF” spelled out as “can’t identify females.”

“I’m a gay woman and I’ve been called you name it,” said Marcy Strange, who wore one of the shirts. “I don’t care. What I do care about is protecting all children, including the transgender kids, because they’re being sold a bill of goods that physically harms them.”

There was no sign of a pro-trans group openly protesting in opposition. Some social media accounts had encouraged supporters to purchase a ticket for the track meet and cheer on Hernandez.

The day before, a plane had flown overhead with a banner trailing behind that said “NO BOYS IN GIRLS’ SPORTS!”

The banner was organized and funded by grassroots coalition Women Are Real, a group that’s in favor of single-sex athletic competition.

“The action is a direct protest against the California Interscholastic Federation’s policy of allowing male athletes to compete in the girls’ division, displacing female athletes and undermining the integrity of women’s sports,” Women Are Real said in a news release.

Aside from the banner, Women Are Real did not have a physical presence at the track meet Friday or Saturday.

Inside the stadium, Hernandez chatted and laughed with other jumpers Friday as she waited for her flight to compete in the triple jump.

She had already qualified for the high jump and long jump finals, recording top marks out of all competitors in each event. She went on to do the same in triple jump and needed only one jump of 40 feet, 9¾ inches to qualify for Saturday’s finals.

Group flew anti-trans athlete banner over CIF track championships seeking ‘big statement’

Haley Sawyer — Sat, 31 May 2025 22:25:55 +0000

CLOVIS — It was a relatively quiet day of protest outside the CIF State track and field championship prelims Friday afternoon, with just a handful of demonstrators standing with signs outside of Veteran’s Memorial Stadium.

That briefly changed when a small plane with a banner trailing behind it that read “No boys in girls’ sports!” began to circle the stadium as Jurupa Valley’s AB Hernandez, a trans student-athlete, began to compete in the high jump – her first of three events that day.

“It was time for a banner because we’ve done the protests and nothing’s changed. We’ve shown up at all the CIF public comment periods and nothing’s changed,” Julie Lane, co-founder of Women Are Real, said.

@haleymsawyer

A plane with a banner that says “no boys in girls sports!” flew in circles around Veterans Memorial Stadium on Friday as openly trans student-athlete AB Hernandez started competing in high jump, her first event of the day, at the CIF State track and field prelims. #sportsreporter #sports #trackandfield #trackmeet #trans #transathlete

♬ original sound – Haley Sawyer

Women Are Real – or WAR for short – is a grassroots organization with more than 160 members across California who are against trans athletes competing in girls’ and women’s sports. Many members have lost partners, friends or family members over their involvement, but the group remains steadfast.

The group did not have a large physical presence at the track meet Friday aside from the plane. Lane said Women Are Real members were inside the stadium two years ago for a protest but were removed by the CIF.

The CIF is not allowing signs or banners into Veteran’s Memorial Stadium this year.

“We wanted to make a big statement and we didn’t want to be shut down by the CIF again,” Lane said. “They shut us down all the time.”

The plane and its message cost more than $3,000 and was funded entirely by Women Are Real members, Lane said. Members pledged a monetary donation and when enough was raised, Lane began calling companies for quotes.

There were no difficulties getting quotes or finding a company to agree to fly the message, she said.

“It’s really difficult for us to have a voice in this when everybody is censoring us or beating us up or trying to shut us up,” Lane said. “We figured a plane in the air, nobody can stop that.”

The CIF introduced a new pilot entry program related to transgender athletes after the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet, which allowed an extra biological female to advance in the events that Hernandez competed in.

Lane says it’s not enough.

“We’re not preventing anyone from playing,” she said. “We’re just saying, play in your correct category. The CIF ought to be doing that too.

“I’m talking about common sense, that’s all we’re talking about. This is similar to anorexia, it’s similar to suicide, these things are social contagion issues that later people finally figure out and stop doing it. And the Democrats have so much power right now in California that it’s really hard to stop this delusion.”

The federal government launched an investigation into California school administrators, the CIF and the Jurupa Unified School District for allowing transgender student-athletes to compete in girls’ sports.

California state law allows students to access restrooms, sports teams and other facilities based on gender identity. A 2023 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 3.3% of U.S. high school students identified as transgender and 2.2% identified as questioning.

The probe is seeking to determine whether Title IX is violated by California law – specifically, AB 1266.

Jurupa Unified School District did not respond to a request for comment regarding AB Hernandez’s participation in the track and field championships ahead of the event.

SoCal triple jumper benefits from CIF rule change regarding transgender participants

Haley Sawyer — Sat, 31 May 2025 03:53:09 +0000

CLOVIS — The CIF State track and field meet is introducing two new rules related to the participation of transgender student-athletes, and at least one Southern California athlete has benefited from it.

Amaya Faison of Rosary Academy in Fullerton competed in the triple jump at the prelims on Friday as a result of the rule change.

“She has a twin sister who qualified in the long jump,” Rosary head coach Brandon Thomas said. “And so for them both to be able to come to state and be able to compete is a magical moment for her and her family.”

The CIF created a pilot entry process as a result of the participation of openly transgender Jurupa Valley student-athlete AB Hernandez, something that President Donald Trump has weighed in on.

Hernandez qualified to compete in the high jump, long jump and triple jump at the CIF State track and field championships, which is taking place on Friday and Saturday at Veterans Memorial Stadium at Buchanan High School in Clovis.

The CIF announced a change at the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet — a qualifier for the state meet — that would allow more competitors to take part in the state meet.

“Biological female student-athletes who would have earned the next qualifying mark for one of their Section’s automatic qualifying entries in the CIF State meet, and did not achieve the CIF State at-large mark in the finals at their Section meet, was extended an opportunity to participate in the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships,” the CIF said in a press release.

The same process applied to the state prelims on Friday, which had a total of 1,533 participants.

Faison jumped 37 feet, 5 inches in triple jump to place seventh at the Masters Meet and would not have qualified to join her sister, Jada, at the state meet unless the rule change occurred.

The jumper and her coach knew that she was headed for the state meet before the Masters Meet had concluded.

The accomplishment was a major breakthrough for Faison. Both sisters are accomplished soccer players and are Cal Berkeley commits, but track didn’t always come as easily to Amaya.

“She’s always been living in her sister’s shadow when it came to track and field,” Thomas said, “but now she’s starting to make her mark, too. With her emerging as one of the top jumpers in Southern California, it’s an amazing feat for her.”

The CIF also made a second rule change that will potentially award an extra medal in any event that Hernandez podiums in after the finals conclude on Saturday night.

“If necessary, in the high jump, triple jump and long jump events at the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships,” the CIF said in its statement, “a biological female student-athlete who would have earned a specific placement on the podium will also be awarded the medal for that place and the results will be reflected in the recording of the event.”

Not everyone is pleased with the rule changes, including Blake Nestell, a protester from Fresno who is against trans athletes’ participation in girls and women’s sports. Nestell was one of roughly 10 protesters who rallied outside Veterans Memorial Stadium on Friday during the prelims.

“This compromise has allowed the female competitors to compete against a male competitor again at a larger venue,” Nestell said. “You’ve changed the date. You haven’t changed anything about the nature of the competition.”

The CIF State track and field finals are slated for Saturday afternoon and evening. Field events will begin at 3:45 p.m.

Small group protests outside CIF State track finals as transgender athlete AB Hernandez prepares to compete

Haley Sawyer — Fri, 30 May 2025 23:20:54 +0000

CLOVIS — About 10 people stood outside Veterans Memorial Stadium Friday afternoon, May 30, where the CIF State track and field prelims were slated to be held, protesting the participation of openly transgender athlete AB Hernandez.

The state finals will be held on Saturday, and Hernandez has qualified in the girls long jump after recording 19 feet, 11.75 inches in the prelims — the top mark in the event — and the girls high jump with a leap of 5-5. She qualified for a third event late in the meet when she hit 40-9 3/4 for the top mark in the triple jump.

Multiple demonstrations were held at CIF Southern Section postseason track meets leading up to the state meet regarding the participation of Hernandez, a Jurupa Valley student-athlete who qualified to compete in the girls long jump, triple jump and high jump at the state meet.

“I wouldn’t need to know a single thing about AB Hernandez other than the fact that AB Hernandez is male in a female competition,” Blake Nestell, a Fresno resident who is against the participation of trans athletes in girls sports, said Friday afternoon outside Veterans Stadium.

Nestell brought a sign that read “Your bravery wins when the game isn’t fair,” and was frustrated that signs and banners were not allowed inside the stadium for the event.

“I have a lot of women in my life who have played a sport and I asked a lot of them: What message would you want to see if you were out there? It’s a message to them.”

A banner is flown above Veterans Memorial Stadium on Friday, May 30, 2025, to protest AB Hernandez, a transgender student-athlete from Jurupa Valley High, competing in the CIF State track and field championships at Buchanan High in Clovis. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

A plane with the message “No boys in girls sports!” also flew in circles around the stadium as Hernandez competed in high jump — her first event of the day — at 3 p.m. as the temperature reached 95 degrees.

President Donald Trump even weighed in on her participation earlier in the week, threatening to pull federal funding to the state of California if trans student-athletes are allowed to compete in girls events.

@haleymsawyer

A plane with a banner that says “no boys in girls sports!” flew in circles around Veterans Memorial Stadium on Friday as openly trans student-athlete AB Hernandez started competing in high jump, her first event of the day, at the CIF State track and field prelims. #sportsreporter #sports #trackandfield #trackmeet #trans #transathlete

♬ original sound – Haley Sawyer

The CIF introduced a pilot entry program prior to the state meet that allowed an additional student to compete in the events that Hernandez is competing in.

Amaya Faison of Rosary Academy in Fullerton is one student-athlete who was allowed to compete in the triple jump as a result of the rule change.

“She has a twin sister who qualified in the long jump,” Rosary coach Brandon Thomas said. “And so for them both to be able to come to state and be able to compete is a magical moment for her and her family.”

A representative from the CIF confirmed that on-site security at Veterans Stadium was increased and a plan was in place to increase the scale and scope of that security if needed.

Six Clovis Police Department vehicles, in addition to two police motorcycles, were parked outside the stadium’s spectator entrance, and police officers were seen roaming the area both on foot and in vehicles.

Jurupa Unified School District and Jurupa Valley track and field did not respond to requests for comment before Friday’s CIF State prelims.

Hernandez’s mother, Nereyda, is declining interviews with the media at this time out of an abundance of caution, but issued a statement on Thursday that was shared to social media accounts including 50501 Movement and Pride at the Pier.

“As a mother, my heart breaks every time I see my child being attacked, not for a wrongdoing but simply for being who they are,” she said in the statement.

“My child is a transgender student-athlete, a hardworking, disciplined and passionate young person who just wants to play sports, continue to build friendships, and grow into their fullest potential like any other child.”

Additionally, 50501 Movement listed steps that supporters can take to show solidarity as opposed to protesting or rallying.

An Instagram post by the organization requested that those attending the meet should not bring pride flags and clothing but rather wear plain clothes and cheer for Hernandez as they would for any other student-athlete. The post also asked supporters not to engage with anti-trans protestors.

Hernandez has been competing for Jurupa Valley High School for the last three seasons in various events, but has the most experience and success in long jump, triple jump and high jump.

“It is not until recently that she has faced an onslaught of hatred, lies and harassment,” Nereyda said in the statement. “It is most heartbreaking that it is not her fellow competitors the ones attacking her. In fact, many of them. Have shown respect and sportsmanship.”

Hernandez is not the first openly transgender student-athlete to compete in high school sports.

Athena Ryan of Sonoma Academy and Lorelei Barrett of Buckley competed in both cross country and track and field last season but opted not to compete in the CIF State track meet.

UCLA begins NCAA-record 33rd Women’s College World Series against Oregon

Haley Sawyer — Wed, 28 May 2025 22:01:38 +0000

The UCLA softball team opens its NCAA-record 33rd Women’s College World Series appearance against a familiar opponent.

Oregon won their best-of-three Big Ten Conference series mid-April, even shutting out the Bruins 9-0 in five innings in the series finale.

“The whole season is a journey,” Bruins head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez told reporters after their Super Regional-clinching victory over South Carolina. “There’s no easy path. Every opponent that you play can beat you, so you’ve gotta be able to step up and play your game.”

Redemption can begin in the first round of the WCWS on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. PT in Oklahoma City. If ninth-seeded UCLA (54-11) beats 16th-seeded Oregon (53-8), the Bruins will move on to play the winner of 12th-seeded Texas Tech (50-12) and Mississippi (42-19) on Saturday.

If they lose, they’ll still have another chance to advance but will have to play the next day Friday against either Texas Tech or Ole Miss.

UCLA – the Big Ten regular-season and tournament runner-up – advanced to the WCWS by beating host South Carolina in a rare Super Regional road trip. The Bruins dropped Game 1 before bouncing back to win two games, shutting out the Gamecocks 5-0 in the final contest.

“To be able to be a final eight is something that is a goal,” Inouye-Perez told reporters after the game, “and the ability to overcome Day One is because they were so committed to the process and it allowed them to be able to take a trip back to OKC.”

Jordan Woolery hit a walk-off, two-run home run to keep UCLA’s season alive in Game 2 against South Carolina.

The hard-hitting junior infielder is a USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 10 finalist and is No. 1 in the nation with 86 RBIs.

Next to her in the batting order is Megan Grant, a USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 25 finalist. Together, the juniors are the second duo to each hit more than 20 home runs in a single season. Grant has gone yard 25 times this year and is sixth in the nation with 79 RBIs.

Outfielder Jessica Clements leads off for the Bruins and has stolen nine bases on 11 attempts this season in addition to owning a team-best .500 batting average. Savannah Pola bats second and is closing in on two UCLA single-season records.

Two more runs will tie the senior utility player with Natasha Watley’s program-best 75 runs and one double will tie her with Lyndsey Klein’s record of 21.

“A big part is when we’re facing adversity, we’re not separating and getting down on ourselves,” Pola told reporters after beating South Carolina. “We lean in and we have each other’s backs. If one person doesn’t get it done, then the next person will have their back.”

UCLA’s pitching staff is talented despite not having a veteran ace. Junior Taylor Tinsley, sophomore Kaitlyn Terry and freshman Addisen Fisher have appeared in 30 games each and combined for 110 innings. Alexis Ramirez provides guidance at catcher, mostly working with Tinsley.

The three have a collective 1.07 WHIP and Tinsley holds a team-best 0.92 WHIP and 8.26 K/BB ratio. Terry has increased her contributions as a two-way player this season, slashing .278/.385/.397.

UCLA made it three games into the WCWS last season, falling to then-Pac-12 rival Stanford in an elimination matchup.

“This team has gone through a lot,” Inouye-Perez said. “We’ve succeeded, we’ve failed, we’ve dealt with our own adversity and have come together and it’s what UCLA does.”

Women’s College World Series Game 1: UCLA (54-11) vs. Oregon (53-8)

When: Thursday, 6:30 p.m. PT

Where: Devon Park, Oklahoma City

TV: ESPN2

UCLA softball taking rare NCAA Super Regional road trip

Haley Sawyer — Thu, 22 May 2025 21:32:44 +0000

The UCLA softball team is hitting the road for the NCAA Super Regionals for the first time since 2016. It’s unfamiliar for the Bruins, but they’re not lamenting the situation brought about by their No. 9 seeding.

“If you get a group of athletes that are committed to just wanting to win so badly, then whatever the road map is, whoever we play – everything else is just outside noise,” head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said.

UCLA (52-10) will travel to Columbia, South Carolina, to play eighth-seeded South Carolina (43-15) in a best-of-three series that begins Friday at 10 a.m. PT. Game 2 is slated for Saturday at 10 a.m. If necessary, Game 3 will take place Sunday at a time to be be decided.

It’s the Bruins’ 15th appearance in a Super Regional.

If the Bruins win the series, they will travel straight from Columbia to Oklahoma City for the eight-team Women’s College World Series. It’s an intense travel arrangement, but their inaugural Big Ten Conference season has prepared them well for cross-country trips.

“Just pack everything, literally,” UCLA pitcher Kaitlyn Terry said. “It’s good that we’ve traveled kind of far this year. Just for things like this that we’re ready and know what to pack and what to bring and not stress about it too much.”

UCLA is 12-1 all-time against South Carolina, which finished seventh overall in the SEC regular-season standings.

The SEC has dominated softball this season since the disbandment of the Pac-12 Conference – the winningest conference in college softball. Eight of the top 10 teams in the final RPI rankings were from the SEC.

“They have more teams at the end of the day, and therefore like their RPI is higher,” Inouye-Perez said. “Their losses can be more valuable than a win. And those are things that are part of the formula that I don’t necessarily agree with, but it’s facts and we got to reap the benefit of that when we were in the Pac.”

UCLA bounced back from a 2-0 loss to Michigan in the Big Ten championship game with three dominant wins in the NCAA Regional. None of the games surpassed six innings.

Alexis “Lefty” Ramirez went a career-best 3 for 4 with five RBIs in the final 12-1 win over UC Santa Barbara and three additional home runs came courtesy of USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year finalists Jordan Woolery and Megan Grant as well as leadoff hitter Jessica Clements.

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UCLA softball player Jordan Woolery sends a ball to deep center field off of pitcher Taylor Tinsley, who happens to be her roommate, during active BP. #sports #sportsreporter #softball #collegesoftball #bp #batting #battingpractice

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The Bruins collectively hit for a season-best 1.297 OPS in the regionals and set a record for run differential in an NCAA Regional by outscoring their opponents 31-2 across three games.

“After the Big Ten tournament, we just came back together, regrouped,” Ramirez said. “Went back to just the fundamentals, just focusing on ourselves and what we can do and what we can control. We took that into this past weekend, just being focused on us and knowing that our plan is the best plan.”

The Bruins have a selection of aces in Taylor Tinsley, Kaitlyn Terry and Addison Fisher. All have thrown for at least 100 innings and the staff as a whole is fourth or better in three different categories: K/BB ration (4.39), WHIP (1.05) and strikeouts (439).

“We all get together, we always talk,” Terry said. “We all knew each other from club ball, so all of us coming in together was a good thing.”

The team as a whole is closely bonded, due in part to the cross-country travel that the Big Ten schedule brought. The Bruins spent their time at the airport studying and braiding each other’s hair and became so close that Inouye-Perez decided to keep them together in a hotel for the NCAA Regionals.

“We’ve been doing a lot of traveling all year, so we’re pretty accustomed to taking off for long trips,” Ramirez said. “But I think we’re just more excited just to get out there and play. Wherever we ended up or wherever we were gonna go, we were just excited to play.”

NCAA Super Regional Game 1: UCLA at South Carolina

When: Friday, 10 a.m. PT

Where: Carolina Softball Stadium, Columbia, South Carolina

TV: ESPN2

El Modena ends Notre Dame softball’s playoff run with rally in 7th inning

Haley Sawyer — Thu, 22 May 2025 03:15:06 +0000

Notre Dame’s Nadia Ledon is congratulated by teammates at home plate after scoring a run against El Modena in the CIF-SS Division 1 quarterfinals at Balboa Sports Center in Encino on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (Photo by Mark Savage, Contributing Photographer)

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ENCINO — Charley Tapia had a bruised hand after getting hit with a line drive just three days earlier, but she was not going to miss Notre Dame’s CIF Southern Section quarterfinal game against El Modena on Wednesday.

It was the furthest the Knights had made it in the playoffs in her varsity career — and it was in Division 1, at that.

“I wanted to be in the moment with them, and I felt like I couldn’t do that if I was just sitting on the bench hurt,” she said. “I’m gonna do everything in my power that I can to play because I was not missing this moment.”

Tapia finished the day 2 for 4 with a solo home run, a triple and a walk as part of an impressive day of hitting by the team as a whole, but the Knights ultimately fell to El Modena 6-4.

“We’ve never made it to the third round, and this year we did,” Knights senior Nadia Ledon said. “And we never stopped fighting. It was that grit that we really found this year.”

Notre Dame (25-6) was leading 4-2 heading into the final inning, but the Vanguards scored four runs in the top of the frame. Sophomore pitcher Alisha Covarrubias came in to relieve an exhausted Aliyah Garcia, who had matched up well with El Modena’s hitters all game, but the Knights were unable to get out of the jam.

El Modena (21-8) will be at Temescal Canyon for the semifinals Saturday.

The Vanguards hit two home runs in the first inning and the Notre Dame defense responded by holding them scoreless for the next five stanzas. Meanwhile, the offense went to work.

Tapia went yard in the second inning and the Knights added three more runs in the fourth to pull ahead, 4-2.

“All year long, that’s been the strength of this team — the depth of our lineup,” Notre Dame head coach Justin Siegel said.

Tapia tripled to start the rally, then University of San Diego commit Adiah Fountain worked a full count and got on base with a walk. Pinch runner Haley Maldonado scored on a passed ball during Fountain’s at-bat.

“She’s an aggressive baserunner and she has really, really plus speed,” Siegel said. “If she reads downward angle, and she sees her hip, she’s going to score on that, no question about it.”

Ledon, a University of New Mexico commit, singled and freshman Jackie Morales smoked a two-run double that gave Notre Dame an advantage it held on to until the final inning.

The Knights were the undefeated Mission League champions this season and did it with six freshmen on the roster. Three of them were included in the batting order Wednesday.

“I’m here to tell you that it’s going to be hard to beat us for the next several years,” Siegel said. “We’ve got to come to work, but if the next year’s team works the way that this year’s team did, it’s gonna be tough to beat them. They believe in themselves.”

Other softball scores from Wednesday

Division 3: Westlake 4, Mission Viejo 0

Division 4: Harvard-Westlake 12, Dos Pueblos 9

Division 5: West Ranch 7, La Cañada 4

UCLA catcher Alexis Ramirez’s love for softball ‘at an all-time high’

Haley Sawyer — Wed, 21 May 2025 20:54:45 +0000

LOS ANGELES — Alexis Ramirez has loved softball, had it taken from her and, finally, had fallen in love with it.

“I have a lot of love for even showing up every day,” Ramirez said. “I pride myself in showing up with a smile, not just because I have to, but because I get to be here and I get this opportunity to even play still. Some people don’t ever get that again.”

Ramirez – or “Lefty,” as she’s known in the softball world – was shaping up to be a major contributor for UCLA last season both offensively and at catcher after prepping at La Serna High School, but an early-season injury altered her course.

She’s returned this season with a new perspective as a redshirt sophomore, hitting .354 in 79 at-bats while guiding the Bruins’ pitchers with her signature calm confidence.

A season-ending injury

Ramirez was in right field in February 2024 when she slipped in mud while running for a ball during the Bruins’ opening weekend. A popping sensation rippled through her body and the next thing she knew, associate head coach Lisa Fernandez was holding her hand as she sat on the ground.

She walked off the field on her own power – and it was the last time she would be able to do so for more than a year. Doctors were almost immediately confident that Ramirez had torn her ACL as well as both menisci in her left leg.

Surgery followed three weeks later but her recovery was not swift, taking months longer than expected. The team that she had tended to and supported so deeply was now caring for her.

“It was definitely frustrating when she first came back,” said head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez, whose ninth-seeded Bruins travel to South Carolina this week to take on the eighth-seeded Gamecocks in a best-of-three NCAA Super Regional that begins Friday. “She was hard on herself because in practice, she was doing so well that everyone was cheering for her.

“But when she didn’t come through right away, it started to wear on her.”

Ramirez consulted the team’s sports psychiatrist while creating a new sanctuary for herself to fill the void that softball had left. She leaned on her faith, going to church every Sunday as the rest of the team traveled to their weekend games.

“I’d journal every day,” Ramirez said. “I’d read a chapter out of the Bible, take notes, pray. Doing those things whenever I could. Just trying to stick to a routine and like, have faith in the plan that I like is already set out for me and just knowing that each step I take has already been written.”

Building experience

Inouye-Perez needs a pitch.

“Something outside, what do you got?”

That’s the dialogue of the co-calling process that Inouye-Perez employs to give her catchers and pitchers a sense of autonomy and a better understanding of the game.

Ramirez has been co-calling games with her coach all season, building on a process that began while she was injured. Inouye-Perez makes the final decision and Ramirez sends the signal.

“She’s been into the game the whole time,” Inouye-Perez said, “and it lets her see it from a different perspective as well. She was dialed in. She’s communicating. We’re looking at scouting reports.”

The foundation was laid in Ramirez’s freshman year. She came into the program as the No. 24 recruit in the country, according to Extra Inning Softball, and at one point, decorated pitcher Megan Faraimo chose Ramirez to catch for her when Sharlize Palacios went down with injury.

Ramirez has caught for Taylor Tinsley and Kaitlyn Terry in games this season while catching for Addisen Fisher in the bullpen.

“She tells me to literally just calm down, just be slow and not try and go so fast,” Terry said.

The tranquility that Ramirez brings to the position allows her to soothe pitchers, but it’s the relationship-building that takes place off the field that leads to overall success.

She learns throughout the fall what makes each of the pitchers smile and what words trigger positivity or could give them a particular cue in a game.

“I would never call a pitcher difficult,” said Ramirez, who went 3 for 4 with a team-high five RBIs in a 12-1 victory over UC Santa Barbara on Sunday to sweep the NCAA Los Angeles Regional. “You just always have to understand how to approach each of them individually because they’re all very different.

“It’s taking advantage of the time we have together in the bullpen and really being intentional with our interactions and really hearing them and understanding them and what they’re saying.”

Falling in love with the game

Ramirez spoke fluidly at the podium on behalf of En Fuego, a youth softball and baseball program, during a Santa Fe Springs City Council meeting in early September 2024. She had an internship with En Fuego and had even co-coached an 11U baseball team with fellow Bruin Megan Grant and was helping the program acquire a park.

UCLA third-base coach Lisa Fernandez, left, tosses some candy to reward Alexis Ramirez, who is all smiles rounding the bases after one of her two home runs against Northwestern during a 15-8 Bruins victory on May 3, 2025, at Easton Stadium in Westwood. (Photos by Mac Brown/UCLA Athletics)

“I want to put my stamp on those kids in Santa Fe Springs and hope to see another one of me at UCLA, Florida, Oklahoma, wherever it is because I know it’s a lot of those kids’ dreams,” Ramirez said in her speech. “And for the kids that don’t get to make it there, at least they had the experience of being in love with something.”

Working with En Fuego sparked an emotion in her. The time away from the sport, forced by injury, kindled it. Returning to Easton Stadium has fanned the flame, and it’s providing warmth and comfort to her team.

“My love for the game is at an all-time high right now,” Ramirez said. “The amount that we play this game, it feels very easy to take it for granted. But I’m grateful for every day that we get to be here – in every swing and ground ball and rep.”