Though there are water fountains in the Matador Arena, many are non-functioning, serving as a problem for many athletes.
Where’s the water? Students bring up concerns regarding water locations
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It is recommended that athletes drink nine to 18 ounces of water per hour, according to the American College of Sports Medicine and USA Track & Field. However, at San Gabriel, some athletes are not getting enough of this necessity. There may be plenty of water, but the lengths athletes go to obtain it are inconvenient
People are recommended to drink eight ounces of water eight times a day. These numbers are projected to be much higher especially for athletes.
Even differing from person-to-person, the water consumption for athletes is extremely high. However, these necessities can not be met when sports do not have convenient water sources. Junior Solimar Zubiate, varsity volleyball player, explains the detours they take simply to get water.
“[By our second] water break, we don’t have water, so usually we have to go get it at the cafeteria filter water because the other water is not that great,” Zubiate said. “It just cuts into practice.”
Zubiate said that staying hydrated is vital and that “everyone in general should just drink water all the time.” She believes that available water sources can be improved.
“I think there could be more water fountains in the gym,” Zubiate said. “We have some but they don’t work; usually we don’t even drink water because we don’t have any.”
Similarly, sophomore Tam Phan, varsity tennis player, said that getting water from the kitchen behind the small gym is not the easiest job to complete.
“It’s not far from the courts, but the water faucet is very slow,” Phan said. “To fill two coolers it definitely does take time, about 15 to 20 minutes sometimes.”
The time-consuming factor is especially troubling during hot weather.
“When it’s really hot and we need [water immediately], the small spout does not help,” Phan said. “It wouldn’t hurt if there was an even closer water source to the courts.”
On the contrary, other sports have more convenient sources. Sophomore Kevin Almontes, varsity football player, said that water is located in accessible areas, but “the transporting of the water [makes a significant] difference.”
“If we didn’t get water from the shed [next to the football field], we’d have to get it from the kitchen behind the small gym,” Almontes said. “If we did get our water from the kitchen, some of the uncleared or non eligible players would have to carry the water jugs down to the field which cuts into our practice.”
The shed is also utilized by other sports; sophomore Rick Tan, cross country member, is content with their water sources.
“There’s fresh water from the tap down in the shed by the track,” Tan said. “It’s pretty convenient because if we ever run out [of water], we ask our coaches to refill it and it’s pretty quick. I think that our water situation is pretty good.”
Though water sources are not the most convenient for certain sports, all athletes will continue to utilize the available sources of water.
