Spring Sports Life

By: Daniel Ayala and Malayna Ceballos

Life in Gridley is very busy with little league softball Minors, Majors, and Juniors league starting the spring softball season.

There are four softball Minor league teams, their team names are:

• Lady Braves, coached by Johnny Ceballos

• The Giants, coached by Maria Vargas

• The A’s, coached by Zack Torres

• The Diamondbacks, coached by Matt McVicker

There are two softball Major league teams, their team names are:

• Gridley Peaches, coached by Matt Perkins

• The Blue Sox, coached by Jenny Benson 

And last but not least, the softball Juniors. There are two teams and their names are:

• Gridley Bulldogs, coached by Javier Solis

• Juniors, coached by Tiffany Andies

Opening day will be on March 18th at Vierra park. The times will be announced very soon!

Should Flag Football return?

By Maximiliano Topete and Leo Vargas

Some people think that volleyball is the only fall sport, but we think that Manzanita should have a flag football team. Bringing back a flag football team would be excellent for Manzanita because it requires less equipment and it has less contact than tackle football.

Three years ago Manzanita had a flag football team but then all of the sudden it just disappeared and no one could explain why. The great thing about flag football is it requires less equipment and the cost to participate is significantly lower. To sign up for the Gridley Titans football team costs more than $300, while at Manzanita every sport is free. The school also experiences lower costs for flag football than traditional football because helmets and pads are not required. 

In our opinion, we think that Manzanita Elementary School District should bring back flag football. The reason why the school should bring back flag football is that flag football doesn't have dangerous contact like tackle football. Also, tackle football and flag football have many similarities so if you're good at tackle football then flag football would come easier for you. According to Youth Tackle Football athletes ages 6 to 14 sustain 15 times more head impacts than flag football athletes during practices and games.   

Many parents don't let their kids play tackle football because there is too much contact and a high risk of injuries which could cause CTE, but flag football has less contact and less risk of serious injuries.

Return of Esports?

By: Antonio Candelario

2 years ago, Manzanita Elementary school had a Rocket League Esports team. We need that team again, this time with a fresh group of kids who have spent a good portion of their lives playing video games. We could do great! Many students have spent a long time playing video games and immensely enjoy them. If we were to bring back the E-Sports team, we should have a larger range of games to play, such as Rocket League, 2k, Super Smash Bros, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Splatoon 3, and the list goes on. Some so many people would have fun on this team. 

Video games are fun for children and can socialize kids. Having an esports team would socialize all the kids just as well as any other sport or team maybe even more than the rest. Video games are also quite cheap if you get a game for 10$ then you can have fun forever.

5/6 Tournament Victors

By: Max Topete

Manzanita 5th/6th Boys Basketball team played Ophir in their first game. Hudson Oakley hit a buzzer right before halftime. Hudson Oakley also ended up finishing the game with 12 points. Manzanita beat Ophir with ease by 20 points. The next day they played Stream to go to the Championship. Earlier in the season, the Mustangs played Stream and only beat them by 1 point, so it looked like the tournament game was going to be close. Surprisingly, it wasn't the Mustangs ended up beating them by around 20 points. Max Topete hit an and-one this game and completed the game with ten points. Manzanita ended up playing in the Finals against Achieve. Achieve was the only squad Manzanita lost to, so it sure was a good game this time, right? Nope, Manzanita ended up eating them up by roughly 20 points and winning 1st place! The two MVPs for the tournament were Talan Sannar and Hudson Oakley. Max Topete again scored ten points this game. Go Mustangs!