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A11
Masks may
be back for
indoor sports
OSAA waiting for
more info from
state health bosses
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Adrian Romero, left, works with Romeo Bombela, 9, during the free bilingual basketball camp Saturday, July 31, 2021, at A.C. Hough-
ton Elementary School in Irrigon.
Heroes in basketball shoes
Bilingual camp in
Irrigon a hit with
players and parents
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
IRRIGON — When Nancy Rodriguez
signed up her children Leah and Trey for
the bilingual basketball camp in Irrigon,
she failed to mention all the goodies that
awaited them.
“Our family is a soccer family, but my
daughter, Leah, is a basketball player,” the
Boardman mom said. “When we were leav-
ing, they said they could keep their basket-
balls. She was so excited. There aren’t really
a lot of camps in the area, or ones that are
free. In our community, we need more of
that.”
There were 160 players who signed up
for the free bilingual basketball camp Satur-
day and Sunday, July 31 and Aug. 1, at A.C.
Houghton Elementary School, and the few
stragglers who came at the last minute were
welcomed as the camp directors did not turn
anyone away.
The two-day event was a huge success,
according to camp directors Adrian Romero
and Mitch Thompson.
“It has gone really well,” said Romero
during a break between age groups. “We
had a lot of little ones. They have so much
energy and are super excited. Their energy
is contagious and makes for a good environ-
ment. Everyone has enjoyed themselves.”
Romero’s former Irrigon basketball
teammates Fredy Vera, AJ Timpy, Anthony
Landeros and Xavier Rambo helped with
the camp, as did former Hermiston stand-
out Jazlyn Romero, and former Hermis-
ton sharpshooter Cesar Ortiz, now at Blue
Mountain Community College.
“Jazlyn did a great job,” said Romero
of his younger sister. “The kids know her.
They were getting their picture taken with
her.”
In addition to the camp, the players went
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Marely Navarette, 11, right, and Yazmin Guzman, 11, toss up shots Saturday, July 31, 2021,
during the free bilingual basketball camp at A.C. Houghton Elementary School in Irrigon.
home with a basketball, T-shirt and school
supplies. They also could get a free haircut,
which eight kids took advantage of.
“Everything was on point,” said Rodri-
guez, whose son Trey, 11, sat for a haircut.
“The whole thing was positive and orga-
nized well. It’s awesome to be part of some-
thing like this.”
The camp was directed in English and
Spanish to make everyone feel welcome.
“All of our instructions were in English
and Spanish,” Thompson said. “Kids who
only speak English, hopefully we were able
to teach them some things in Spanish. All
the kids were receptive to instructions in
both languages.”
While the camp was a hit locally, free-
lance videographer Nick Goodwin from
Omaha, Nebraska, was on hand to capture
the uniqueness of the event.
“Mitch and and I have a mutual friend,”
Goodwin said of his involvement. “The plan
is to make it a bigger project. They need
to have this story told and hopefully recre-
ate something like this in other places. The
enthusiasm is very real.”
Antonio Salinas, who grew up in Zillah,
Washington, and now plays at Western
Oregon University, worked with the kids
at the camp on July 31, and left them with
a piece of advice from one small-town kid
to another.
“He told them they can ‘do what they
want to do and go where they want to go,’”
Goodwin said. “Even if you don’t end up
doing anything in sports, you learn life
lessons.”
With the success of the camp, Romero
and Thompson are looking to come back
next year.
“That is the goal, to have something like
this for the community,” Romero said. “It
shows you can grow up here and still do
good things.”
There are heroes in every community, in
Irrigon, they wear basketball shoes.
PENDLETON — Put your mask on.
That is the word from the Oregon
School Activities Association for indoor
sports this fall.
The announcement came shortly
after Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
announced on Thursday, July 29, that
staff and students at K-12 schools will
have to wear masks at school this fall.
The OSAA did say it is waiting for
more information from the Oregon
Health Authority, so nothing is set in
stone.
The mandate relates to just volleyball
in the fall, as football and cross-country
are held outdoors.
“Nothing is certain yet,” Pendleton
Athletic Director Mike Somnis said. “I
know the governor put something out,
and I’m sure it will happen sometime,
but we have not gotten the directive yet.”
In Umatilla and Morrow counties,
the number of COVID-19 cases has
increased dramatically in the last half
of July. The two counties had the high-
est number of positive COVID-19 tests
in the state from July 11-22.
Longtime Riverside Athletic Direc-
tor Clair Costello said whatever the
Oregon School Activities Associa-
tion and the Oregon Health Authority
decide, they have to comply.
“I have no say,” Costello said. “It’s
just whatever they say, we have to do. If
the administration says we wear them,
we wear them. It’s hard on the kids when
they have to run, especially if they are
asthmatic.”
Somnis agreed.
“I don’t think anyone wants to put
these things back on when it comes to
competition,” said Somnis, who noted
that statewide athletic director meetings
are set for next week and may off er some
clarity.
While there has been mention of
athletes wearing masks, neither athletic
director has heard anything where fans
are concerned.
“With all the new COVID outbreaks,
I don’t know what we will do with fans,”
Costello said. “Outside we will be OK.
We are waiting on Morrow County to
see what we have to do. There is no
arguing, you just do what they tell you
to do.”
The rules also may change athletic
schedules, which were a jumble this past
spring.
“In soccer and basketball, we have
overnight trips, which we couldn’t have
last season,” Costello said. “We already
lost a football game in Week 3. We will
have to see what happens there.”
For Hermiston, which plays in the
Washington Interscholastic Activities
Association, the mandate would be for
home games only, as the WIAA has not
issued any restrictions for fall sports.
The Bulldogs’ eight Mid-Colum-
bia Conference partners — Chiawana,
Hanford, Kamiakin, Kennewick, Pasco,
Richland, Southridge and Walla Walla
— are all in Washington.
SPORTS SHORT
Biles set to return for balance beam final
By JENNA FRYER
Associated Press
TOKYO — Simone Biles will at
last return to Olympic competition
Tuesday on Day 11 of the Tokyo
Games.
The 2016 Olympic champion
pulled out of competition a little
over a week ago to focus on her
mental health, but will return for
the balance beam fi nal in what will
certainly be the highlight of NBC’s
coverage.
Biles was the face of these
Olympic Games leading into Tokyo
until a case of the “twisties” side-
lined the six-time Olympic medal-
ist.
Biles, citing issues surrounding
air awareness, fi rst pulled out of
team competition after one event
and said she needed time to focus
on her mental health. She also
skipped four of her fi ve scheduled
events, only announcing Monday
that she’d return for the balance
beam.
“We are so excited to confi rm
that you will see two U.S. athletes
in the balance beam fi nal tomorrow
— Suni Lee AND Simone Biles!!
Can’t wait to watch you both!” USA
Gymnastics said in a statement.
The 24-year-old Biles won
bronze on beam in Rio de Janeiro
five years ago. Lee won the
women’s all-around while Biles sat
out, bronze in the uneven bars and
was part of the group that won silver
in women’s team competition.
The women’s balance beam fi nal
will be streamed live on Peacock
starting at 4 a.m. with an encore —
along with the men’s horizontal bar
fi nal — during NBC’s primetime
coverage beginning at 8 p.m.
The men’s horizontal and paral-
lel bars also will be decided.
And it will be a big night at
Olympic Stadium for American
hurdlers Sydney McLaughlin and
Dalilah Muhammad. They are
expected to race each other for the
gold in the 400-meter hurdles.
The women’s golf tourna-
ment begins with four Americans
— Nelly Korda, Jessica Korda,
Danielle Kang and Lexi Thompson
— headlining the 60-player fi eld.
Gregory Bull/Associated Press
Simone Biles, of the United States, center in blue, looks on with team-
mates during the women’s fl oor exercise in artistic gymnastics Mon-
day, Aug. 2, 2021, in Tokyo at the 2020 Summer Olympics.