Chap­ter 21: “Full Sprints!” pro­vides an in-depth look into the rig­or­ous prepa­ra­tion and emo­tion­al chal­lenges faced by the River­side Cubs as they gear up for anoth­er foot­ball sea­son at the Cal­i­for­nia School for the Deaf, River­side (CSDR). On August 4, 2022, the coach­ing staff, led by Coach Kei­th Adams, con­venes in his office for an impor­tant strat­e­gy meet­ing. The office is arranged to facil­i­tate smooth com­mu­ni­ca­tion among the deaf coach­es, allow­ing mul­ti­ple con­ver­sa­tions to take place at once with­out con­fu­sion. Among those present are notable fig­ures such as Kaveh Angoorani, Ken Wat­son, and Michael Mabashov, each con­tribut­ing their per­spec­tives and strate­gies for the upcom­ing sea­son. The meet­ing is filled with dis­cus­sions about refin­ing their train­ing pro­grams, address­ing weak­ness­es from the pre­vi­ous year, and prepar­ing the play­ers to be in peak con­di­tion before the first game. One of the key top­ics dis­cussed is a change in the play­off for­mat, which could sig­nif­i­cant­ly impact the team’s road to the cham­pi­onship. The coach­es acknowl­edge the chal­lenges ahead but share a col­lec­tive deter­mi­na­tion to build on last season’s suc­cess­es.

Despite their enthu­si­asm, the meet­ing also high­lights the dif­fi­cul­ties the team faces due to the out­dat­ed and inad­e­quate ath­let­ic facil­i­ties at CSDR. Unlike oth­er elite high school foot­ball pro­grams with cut­ting-edge tech­nol­o­gy and resources, the Cubs must make do with what they have. The gov­ern­ment-issue build­ing where they train lacks spe­cial­ized design fea­tures that would make com­mu­ni­ca­tion eas­i­er for a deaf coach­ing staff and team. How­ev­er, rather than allow­ing these obsta­cles to dis­cour­age them, the coach­es exhib­it resilience and adapt­abil­i­ty, ensur­ing that the play­ers receive top-tier train­ing regard­less of their envi­ron­ment. Ken Wat­son sug­gests imple­ment­ing weigh-ins to mon­i­tor the phys­i­cal devel­op­ment of play­ers, while Coach Adams remains stead­fast in his belief that speed and strength are the keys to vic­to­ry. The staff agrees that play­ers must be held account­able for their con­di­tion­ing, empha­siz­ing the impor­tance of hard work and dis­ci­pline in their train­ing reg­i­men. Their ulti­mate goal is to ensure that this year’s squad enters the sea­son stronger and bet­ter pre­pared than ever before.

As the play­ers gath­er on the prac­tice field for their first ses­sion, the ener­gy is elec­tric, yet the pres­sure is unde­ni­able. Coach Adams ral­lies the team with an impas­sioned speech, rein­forc­ing their iden­ti­ty as cham­pi­ons and remind­ing them of the lev­el of com­mit­ment required to achieve their goals. The field, while far from ide­al, is trans­formed into a prov­ing ground where the play­ers must push them­selves to their lim­its. Ear­ly signs of fatigue emerge as the gru­el­ing drills take their toll, with some strug­gling to keep pace. Cody Met­zn­er, over­come by the phys­i­cal exer­tion, is seen vom­it­ing on the field—an image that serves as a tes­ta­ment to the inten­si­ty of their train­ing. How­ev­er, the coach­ing staff quick­ly notes an improve­ment from the pre­vi­ous sea­son, with few­er play­ers show­ing signs of exhaus­tion, a promis­ing indi­ca­tion of their enhanced fit­ness lev­els. The Cubs are prov­ing that they have tak­en pre­sea­son con­di­tion­ing seri­ous­ly, but their work is far from over.

A somber note is struck by the absence of Phillip Cas­tane­da, a play­er who had been side­lined due to aca­d­e­m­ic inel­i­gi­bil­i­ty and per­son­al strug­gles. His sto­ry reflects the harsh real­i­ty that many stu­dent-ath­letes face—balancing the demands of both school and sports. Coach Adams had made every effort to advo­cate for Phillip, hop­ing for a res­o­lu­tion that would allow him to return to the team. How­ev­er, despite these efforts, the final deci­sion stood, pre­vent­ing Phillip from play­ing. For a brief peri­od, he takes on the role of team man­ag­er, attempt­ing to stay con­nect­ed to the sport and his team­mates. But the emo­tion­al toll proves too great, and he ulti­mate­ly steps away from the team entire­ly. As the Cubs con­tin­ue their jour­ney, his absence serves as a reminder of the chal­lenges that extend beyond the field. Yet, for those who remain, the sea­son rep­re­sents an oppor­tu­ni­ty to rise above adver­si­ty, to push for­ward with relent­less deter­mi­na­tion, and to prove that they have what it takes to claim vic­to­ry. With their first game just around the cor­ner, the Cubs are more moti­vat­ed than ever, know­ing that every sprint, every drill, and every moment of prac­tice is bring­ing them clos­er to their ulti­mate goal.