UCLA women’s basketball team copes with | College News

Like many Angelenos, the UCLA ladies’s basketball team is dealing with the catastrophic toll of the large wildfires this week — a firestorm inching perilously nearer to home.

Just seven miles west of Pauley Pavilion, the Palisades fire rages, scorching every part in its path with the flames steadily advancing towards campus.

“I wish we weren’t having to go through it,” coach Cori Close stated. “I’m devastated by some of the hurt that people are experiencing right now and the devastation to our city.”

At one level, the blaze encroached upon the properties of Close and assistant Tony Newnan, who dwell close to the sting of the fire zone.

Fortunately, none of the athletes or coaches — besides Close and Newnan — had their properties in fast hazard or had been compelled to evacuate. Although the coaches lived close to Pacific Palisades, the shifting winds spared their properties, pushing the flames in one other direction.

With gratitude comes a profound tinge of guilt in understanding the hardships others have endured — the ravaging of more than 20,000 acres and displacement of tens of hundreds.

“It’s almost like you don’t even want to say it because you know so many people have it so much worse, but we’ve been very fortunate,” Close stated.

Amid this tragedy, the Bruins should stability their standing because the nation’s No. 1-ranked team whereas confronting real-world hardship past the courtroom and the college’s protecting partitions.

The previous few days have been extraordinarily troublesome for everybody as this system works to remain targeted on basketball amid the encompassing turmoil. For the out-of-state gamers who make up most of the Bruins’ roster, that is their first expertise with a wildfire — probably the most damaging in Los Angeles County historical past.

Since the fires started, coaches have given gamers the space to course of the unfolding occasions whereas conducting nightly check-ins to make sure security.

Compartmentalizing the dread and disarray gives an invaluable lesson that Close says teaches “how to be the best version of ourselves in the face of extreme adversity.”

“One of the reasons this experience is so valuable is because this won’t be the last difficult thing they have in their lives,” she added. “I wish it was. I wish I could protect them all and put them in a little bubble, but I can’t.”

After returning home from their decisive win over Purdue on Tuesday — the identical day the initial blazes ignited — the gamers took two days off from follow.

Before arriving in L.A. on a long flight from Indiana, the team confronted the uncertainty about what they might return to. Two donors touring with this system shared the identical concern, grappling with the fact that their home within the fire zone won’t face up to the flames — a concern later confirmed.

“We got off the plane, and our players knew that it [their home] was at risk, and they just went and engulfed them and hugged them,” Close stated, almost choking up. “That’s what Bruins do. We show up for each other.”

The following day, gamers like Gabriela Jaquez and Kiki Rice continued attending in-person courses whereas the campus remained shrouded in an orange haze, with ash and smoke filling the air because the Palisades fire burned miles away.

UCLA finally canceled courses for the remainder of the week, leaving the gamers with one full break day earlier than returning to follow.

For Jaquez, a Camarillo native simply an hour’s drive from the Pacific Palisades, wildfires are a unhappy actuality she’s long been acquainted with. Having by no means left California, conflagrations have been a frequent prevalence she’s witnessed firsthand.

“We feel very sorry, and it’s so sad, so tragic,” Jaquez stated. “Being from Southern California and having dealt with plenty of fires in the past, I feel like I found a way to handle it.”

Rice, a native of Washington, the place wildfires are almost nonexistent, encountering such natural devastation is new. She is one of 9 gamers from exterior California witnessing the decimation.

“This is obviously so devastating, just how close it is to us,” Rice stated. “Just seeing a lot of people close to this program have lost homes and a lot of stuff in these fires.”

While many gamers are grateful for basketball as a distraction, Close famous that others are wrestling with the nervousness of dealing with a wildfire.

“One of our players said in film, ‘Intellectually, I’m OK, but it’s sort of like being in Kansas for the first time and having there be a tornado,’” Close stated. “‘You know it’s far away, but you’ve still never experienced that, so it’s still so scary.’”

Close reassured the dad and mom of out-of-state gamers that their kids are secure. At the identical time, she and her workers are managing the well-being of their own households.

Friday’s return to follow introduced solace because the gamers refocused on sustaining their No. 1 rating.

“We still get to play the sport we love,” Close stated. “Just because there’s so much hurt going on right now and difficulty doesn’t mean we shouldn’t still find joy in playing this game that we love and be committed to that.”

Close is well-versed in main via adversity as she demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Continuing their success whereas the town burns round them is no completely different.

“This is what we do,” she stated. “We find a way. We can’t control this, but this is what we know how to do. We know how to lead through this. … I also believe our players are well equipped.”

Close takes pleasure in how her squad pivots to surprising challenges and perseveres. The hope is that when the team takes the courtroom, they may emerge as a squad cast in fire.

However, the return to the courtroom is delayed barely, now tentatively set for Wednesday at home towards Penn State.

Despite her best efforts to arrange for his or her matchup Sunday towards Northwestern, the Wildcats determined to not journey to L.A., citing “concerns surrounding ongoing wildfires affecting the greater Los Angeles area.”

The Big Ten Conference introduced that the sport — one Close was assured would proceed after discussions with the administration and convention officers — can be rescheduled.

It’s one of many sporting occasions disrupted by the continued wildfires, together with Northwestern’s recreation towards USC on Wednesday.

When the Bruins return to the courtroom, it is going to present a much-needed sense of normalcy. Just as Close has religion in its affect on her gamers, she believes L.A. will finally regain normalcy.

“What’s happening in our city is just overwhelming,” Close stated. “But I’m also so confident in the city’s resilience. Its unity. Its find-a-way mentality. I just know Angelenos are going to find a way to come back stronger.”