We did it! Thanks to the help of Mira Loma Alumni, staff, and students, Mira Loma High School was able to host its first Sports-A-Rama since the beginning of the pandemic! Sports-A-Rama, our school’s most highly anticipated event, was held last week, on Friday, April 1st. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the number of attendees was restricted to around 1000 people, but those that attended made up for any numerical deficiencies with their unbounded spirit and enthusiasm!
This year’s themes for each class were quite varied, ranging from classic animated films to modern favorites. The senior class chose Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, based on the first book of the original series by Rick Riordan. The junior class selected Indiana Jones using the entire franchise as inspiration. As for the sophomores, their theme was based on the beloved Disney movie The Lion King. Finally, the Freshmen chose a fan favorite, Encanto, for its catchy songs and beautiful design potential.
This year’s Sports-A-Rama season kicked off with Penny Wars, as each class raced to collect the most coins and gain a head start in the competition. Shortly afterward, at Skate Night, classes competed to see which class would have the most students in attendance, which would also contribute to their overall point total. Following this was a series of broomball games, which in a nutshell, is a game that is played in a similar way to street hockey, but with slightly different equipment. The broomball tournament proved to be very popular, particularly because all games were held during lunch. The final preliminary event was Matafan, where a large crowd made up of all four classes, cheered on the boys varsity volleyball team. At the end of all preliminary events, the senior class was in first after having won Penny Wars, Matafan, and Broomball. The sophomores followed behind them in second place, and the juniors and freshmen tied for third place. These initial games helped to build a sense of camaraderie among classmates before the night of SAR.
When the day of SAR finally arrived, the level of enthusiasm had reached its peak. In the afternoon, a rally occurred where the preliminary rounds of Izzy Dizzy and Basketball Relay were held. After the rally, seniors and juniors were set to face off against each other for first place in Izzy Dizzy, while sophomores and seniors were to compete for first in Basketball Relay, the night of. After getting a small sample of what the rest of the night could be like, anticipation for the event grew to greater heights!
In addition to the climbing enthusiasm, there were food trucks parked on campus for several hours after school, offering shaved ice, pizza, french fries, and more. To ensure everyone’s safety, the audience was allowed into the large gym in preassigned groups. SAR night began with the opening ceremony, where each class also provided a brief performance based on their theme. This was a simple preview of the bigger Statue performances that would happen at the end of the night. Early on in the evening, opening ceremony results were announced: juniors first, seniors second, sophomores third, and freshmen fourth.
There were around 10 events planned for SAR, including Statue. The games played at Sports-A-Rama each originated from different places: some games were brought from La Sierra High School, where the tradition of SAR was started, and other unique games were developed at Mira Loma as time went on and more students became involved in the tradition. Events included Crab Soccer, in which players crab-walk and try to score goals with a large inflated soccer ball (this year the ball became deflated during the boy’sxz` crab soccer game), Izzy Dizzy, a popular SAR game where players test their ability to kick a ball accurately and quickly after spinning in circles several times, Caterpillar, a game that requires teams to construct a line of 12 people and then stack a second group of “crawlers” on the back of the bases, Obstacle Course in which four members of each class race through a course and across the finish line on scooters, Rolly Polly where three people are dragged on scooters while holding onto a broomball stick, Big Foot and Body Slam.
Not all events were able to be played with four classes pitted against each other, so some, like Tug-O-War, included multiple rounds for all classes to earn points and participate. Each class found immense successes, as each had the opportunity to win first at least once in every event.
Games aside, Statue was one of the most anticipated events planned for the night. “All the main characters in Statue were insanely well-picked,” says Adrian Li, current ASB president. All four classes had stunning performances, featuring various acrobatic feats, complex lifts, and creative choreography. In a surprising move, the judges announced two tied results for this year’s Statue performances. The sophomores and seniors tied for first, while the juniors and freshman tied for second.
All statues can be viewed at the following links:
- Seniors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VM7ZsiD10M
- Juniors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Dmj18EtUng
- Sophomores:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho158TX60rc
- Freshmen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK_cbHqmNdI
After two years of distance learning, only the senior class had one year of SAR under their belts, and most of Mira Loma had never experienced Sports-A-Rama before. Some speculated that this would lead to all the teams being more well-matched. Whether or not the results matched, though, the event led to a lasting sense of camaraderie between classmates. Anela Rei, a senior, felt that “even when the seniors weren’t doing well, it was really fun to see the other classes have their moment to shine and we cheered them on as well.”
Her sentiments were also shared by many others who participated in the event. Sophia Micsa, ‘25, says, “I liked the amount of teamwork and communication that was involved in every event because it made everybody a lot closer. Even though we placed fourth, it doesn’t matter because the process was so much fun!” The spirit of the event has been truly understood by all, especially the freshmen class. Their class Vice President, Graeme Plant shared, “SAR was incredibly hard work but paid off and was a night full of memories; that’s how I saw SAR. I loved it and can’t wait to do it again next year.”
As another season comes to an end, Sports-A-Rama continues to fulfill its original purpose of uniting the student population. For those who attended the event as audience members, and for those who were not able to make it, we hope that your experiences encouraged you to become more involved with it next year.
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