Sports

High school football player Ronald Jenkins

Crack, snap, and pop. That it is all you hear on the football field as Ronald Jenkins, known to his friends and teammates as RJ, drives his shoulder into the waistline of the ball carrier for the opposing team. With a huge thud that sounds like a body breaking in half, they both hit the turf. As the whistle blows in the background, signaling the end of the play, Jenkins gets up and proceeds to dance, not even acknowledging his…

High school bowling team member Benton Lu

Bang! There go the bowling pins, as Benton Lu knocks down another strike on the bowling lane. He stands there quietly, and admires his work. Then he turns around, and walks back to the resurfacing machine to grab his ball. Lu returns to position to deliver another strike. He cocks his left foot back, and begins to walk slowly towards the lane, like a lion getting ready to devour its prey. His eyes look as if he was in a…

High school volleyball player Hannah Hoang

The ball smacks down right in the middle of the court off of Hannah Hoang’s hand. She quickly runs back into the line, as she gets ready to deliver another devastating spike. She leaps into the air as gracefully as if she were performing ballet, but comes down hard with a spike that will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. As a defender on the women’s volleyball team at Oakland Senior High School, Hoang is…

Competing to compete: The rise of Oakland student athletes

Some athletes have a strong passion for their sport, and play it recreationally. Others play their sports because they rely on them to escape the stress of their daily life. And still thers depend on their performance to land them an athletic scholarship, and compete within the Oakland Athletic League hoping to get recruited to college teams and compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association level. In this series, three Oakland student athletes spoke about what brings them to the field,…

Oaklanders voice opinion about new A’s stadium at Peralta College meeting

More than 100 community members attended a rare standing room-only meeting of the Peralta Community College Board of Trustees on Tuesday night. The unusually large crowd came out to share their opinions about the proposed construction of a new stadium for the Oakland A’s between 8th Street and the 880 freeway on land currently owned by the Peralta Community College District. Tuesday’s meeting was an opportunity for Peralta Community College Board of Trustees to hear public concerns about the project…

Welcome to Video Lab, stories from the Bay Area and beyond

Video Lab covers current stories from the Bay Area and beyond. In this edition of Video Lab. learn about the controversy surrounding the Hollywood sign, a nonpartisan news app covering the battle over free speech in Berkeley, Oakland’s soon-to-be only remaining professional sports team, and an Oakland studio that’s transforming dance. Produced and reported by Angeline Bernabe, Cameron Clark, Katie Woodruff and Marian Davidson. Footage contributed by Andy Beale and Abner Hauge.