With this being Parkdale’s first year of in-person learning since the 2019-2020 school year, students have been forced to make adjustments. The year was filled with ups and downs but that did not stop Parkdale athletes from succeeding. 

As a way to celebrate the athletes achievements, Parkdale held an Athletics Awards Night’ on June 6th in the big gym. All Parkdale athletes, including seniors, were asked to attend so that their coaches may present them with awards to appreciate their athletic achievements. The ceremony opened with a guest speaker and food and drinks were served in the multipurpose room afterward.

“I sincerely appreciate all of the athletes who came out to the event.” said Coach Moore, head of the athletic department. “Everyone was dressed nice and had a great time.”

The event honored athletes who participated in Fall, Winter and Spring sports, and as the athletes went up to accept their awards, their pictures were taken in front of a green and white backdrop. 

There were various different categories for the awards including highest GPA, most improved, and MVP.  

The MVPS for each team were as follows: 

• Boys Soccer: Anthony Manzanares
• Girls Soccer: Fatima Al-mohammedawi
• Football: Rob Speight
• Volleyball: Iveth Martinez Gutierrez
• Cross Country: Carlos Ochoa
• Fall Cheer: Joy Orimogunje
• Wrestling: Abu Bakar Sesay
• Indoor Track: Carlos Ochoa
• Boys Basketball: Chris Wilson
• Girls Basketball: Layla Burton
• Swimming: Michael Bailey
• Winter Cheer: Neveah Alexis
• Baseball: Santana Grady
• Softball: Karina Diaz
• Tennis: Sidney Steele III
• Outdoor Track: Carlos Ochos
• Boys Lacrosse: Anthony Manzanares
• Girls Lacrosse: Sandy Zelaya Pena
• Unified Track: Ivan Mendez
• Bocce: Kevin Rall

In addition to the individual awards, separate awards were gifted to the teams that made it to regionals. The Girls Soccer team won Regionals this year, making them back-to-back 4A South Region I winners. In addition, the Varsity Girls Basketball team also won Regionals this year making them Back to Back 4A South Region winners.

“These teams are what I call programs and not teams because they are successful year in and year out,” said Coach Moore. 

While things went smoothly for the most part, there are still things that Coach Moore wishes to add to the program for next year.

“I really have big ideas for this event and I eventually want it to mimic the ESPY Awards which is the annual Awards night for professional athletes.”

Overall, Moore wants the event to be big, with future events hopefully being live streamed and shared throughout various social media platforms.