Local sports figures reflect on 25 years since 9/11
By McKenzie Jackson · Fri Sep 11 2026
Pepperdine athletes, coaches and local sports figures honor those lost while sharing lessons of unity, service, and remembrance with a generation born after the attacks
Nearly 3,000 flags were planted by 200 Pepperdine alumni, students, and staff during the annual Waves of Flags ceremony on Sept. 5, including American flags and one flag for each foreign country that lost a citizen in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Among the volunteers who planted flags in Alumni Park along Pacific Coast Highway and Malibu Canyon Road were athletes from several Pepperdine teams. Since the attacks occurred before the student-athletes were born, events such as Waves of Flags are important, said Pepperdine Director of Athletics Tanner Gardner.
“It is super meaningful,” he said. “What is important is that they don’t forget about this, and we don’t lose sight of the incredible tragedy that it was. This was a great opportunity to educate our students on what happened and is a way for them to honor and pay homage to the tragedy.”
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, in which al-Qaida terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners. Two planes struck the World Trade Center in New York City, another hit the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and the fourth crashed in rural Shanksville, Pa.
In conversations with The Malibu Times, local sports figures explained how the anniversary is a time of remembrance and an opportunity to teach younger generations about the day that changed the country.
Gardner was a high school sophomore in a geometry class in Topeka, Kansas, when he and his classmates found out about the terrorist attacks.
“Disbelief was probably what was going through our heads,” Gardner recalled. “I believe a TV was rolled into our classroom to watch what was going on. You can’t quite comprehend something that you would never expect to happen.”
Malibu High School water polo coach Hayden Goldberg was a 10th-grader at Malibu High in 2001. He recalled waking up to the news of the first World Trade Center tower being hit before going to school.
Goldberg was only in classes for a portion of the day when he and other students were pulled out of school by their parents. Goldberg and his dad discussed the attacks at the beach, and the conversation continued in the water when they went surfing with others.
“I remember all the American flags that were on people’s front porches,” Goldberg said. “We were all one. My friend’s dad was a firefighter. Weeks later, he talked to us about what the firefighter and police brotherhoods are. All those heroes, who went into action to save people. That was a big thing to me.”
Sophie Prudholme, 23, who played baseball in the Malibu Little League before going on to play women’s soccer at Notre Dame and Pepperdine, is among the one-third of Americans born after 9/11. She said each year the day reminds her to spend time with loved ones and treasure life.
“I think about honoring and remembering the lives that were lost, and I always feel immense empathy for the families and people who lost loved ones that day,” she said. “I also think about the civilians who were heroes on that day and who helped save lives. Those people inspire me to be a better person, more supportive, more helpful to people because they risked their lives just to help others.”
Pepperdine beach volleyball player Ginevra Merlini, a 19-year-old sophomore from Italy, was among the Pepperdine athletes who took part in the flag planting ceremony. She learned about 9/11 through school, the news, and documentaries.
“As I got older, I started to understand more about what happened and how much it affected the United States and people around the world,” Merlini said. “Now that I live here, I have a different perspective because I’m part of a community where it is something people remember very personally.”
Merlini added that she and her teammates’ participation in Waves of Flags is a meaningful way to come together for something bigger than sports.
“Sports can play a really important role because they have the power to bring people together,” she said. “It’s a really powerful way to remember and honor the people who were tragically lost. Even something simple like planting flags or having a moment of silence before a game can make people stop for a moment and reflect.”
The Pepperdine men’s volleyball team has taken part in Waves of Flags since its inception in 2008. Head coach Jonathan Winder, who was a high school student in 2001, said the ceremony is a great way to educate the team on the impact that 9/11 had on the world.
Additionally, Pepperdine head coach emeritus Marv Dunphy, a military veteran, always made sure volleyball team gear was adorned with an American flag.
“We’re proud of the country we get to compete in and the university we get to represent,” Winder added.
Pilot Sports Group founder and president Ed Pilot, an attorney and certified NBA and FIBA agent, remembered the emotion surrounding Major League Baseball’s New York teams returning to play in the wake of the terrorist attacks and President George W. Bush throwing the ceremonial first pitch before Game 3 of the World Series between the New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks. Pilot also recalled the patriotic moments during the Super Bowl months later.
“A lot of times, we as a nation want to rally around sports during significant moments of national accomplishment or tragedy,” he said. “It seems to be a point of pride. Large gatherings of people and patriotic settings. It’s kind of a perfect match to say, ‘We are here. We are not afraid.’”
Goldberg, the high school coach, said his athletes have asked about his memories and views of 9/11.
“I tell them how many people were heroic and joined together to help people,” he said. “Helping people out is an important aspect, I think.”
Several Pepperdine student-athletes and coaches were among the 200 volunteers planting nearly 3,000 flags for the Waves of Flags ceremony on Sept. 5. The event came six days before the 25th anniversary of 9/11. Photos by Ron Hall