Cheering, clapping and yelling was all that could be heard coming from the RUHS athletic facilities for this year’s fifth and eighth grade RBUSD Fitness Day, which brought in students from all eight elementary schools and both middle schools. Held on Monday, March 27, this year’s Fitness Day, like previous years, gave future Sea Hawks the opportunity to attend three different sports sessions of their choice. According to girls varsity softball co-captain, senior Annie Maden, each session allowed the kids an intro into each program and learning of some new skills. 

At Maden’s softball session, she and five other players set up two separate stations, one for hitting and another for a fielding juggling drill. With each session being around 20 minutes, Maden also helped answer any questions the kids may have had about the softball program and RUHS as a whole. At the end of her sessions with the fifth graders, Maden and her teammates did some Redondo cheers, which were “really fun.” 

“Our goal was to have a welcoming effect for future Sea Hawks and for eighth graders especially, encourage them to try out next year,” Maden said. “Even if they didn’t do softball, we just wanted to show them what RUHS has to offer and get them excited for next year, or for the fifth graders, when they go into high school.”

Aside from girls softball, fifth and eighth graders were able to choose to attend sessions for boys and girls basketball, golf, tennis, football, flag football, strength and conditioning (advanced), boys baseball, dance, cheerleading, boys and girls soccer, PE (fitness), boys and girls lacrosse, boys and girls volleyball, Junior Reserve Officer Training Corp (JROTC), cross country/track and wrestling, according to Marvin Brown, principal of Lincoln Elementary and district lead for the event. Fifth graders were welcomed for the first half and eighth graders for the second. 

For boys and girls golf head coach John Burke, Fitness Day was a chance to see the golf interest level for incoming athletes and he was “shocked” to see how many kids came. At the golf session, Burke had four of his varsity golfers down at the golf facility to help out with each of the different stations, which included hitting their drivers into the net, chipping onto the putting green, hitting out of the sand trap and putting. 

Despite not having enough golf balls and no left-handed clubs, the golf session still had a “really good turnout,” with six eighth grade girls from Parras Middle School signing up for the team next year to replace the six graduating senior girls.

With softball and golf being two of the many sports spreading the word about their programs during Fitness Day, Maden was able to realize how proud she was to be a Sea Hawk.

“Participating in Fitness Day really made me appreciate our school,” Maden said. “You can’t not be impressed by our facilities, and I feel fortunate for all of the athletic opportunities that I’ve gotten at Redondo.”