Looking beyond the Coronavirus

Imperial Tigers A.D. sees positives through the pandemic.

Victor Cruz has seen a lot in his 26 years of service at Imperial High School.

But for the man who has been sitting in the program's athletic director seat for the past 17 years, the Coronavirus isn't one of them.

Since all sports activities have been suspended and ultimately cancelled due to the pandemic, Cruz has had to adjust his athletic department to the mandatory isolation mandates that were quickly put in place.

"It's something just like what teachers are doing, where they are doing teaching from home; we had to do the same thing with athletics. So, we had to have our coaches come up with some kind of routine specific to their sport that the kids can do on a weekly basis. I think kids are really going to value how important it is, how important practice is, games are, school, being around teachers, being around their classmates. All that is going to bring us a lot closer I believe."

Even though Cruz admits he doesn't know how soon the pandemic will turn, he plans on going alongside the Imperial School District in their efforts of keeping everyone in the community safe.

As the projected start of the Fall sports season is yet to be seen, Cruz is excited for Imperial High School and the rest of the schools in the Imperial Valley to finally bring prep athletics back to the forefront.

"I really miss the kids. I really miss being around them. I miss being at the games. I miss being at practices. It's disappointing to me, but I totally understand how important athletics is to kids."