Amid the blaze, Malibu volleyball teams found resilience through community and sports
The Malibu Volleyball Club’s boys and girls teams took the court for a volleyball match in the South Bay days after the Palisades Fire began its blazing march through Pacific Palisades, Malibu’s eastern flank, and other Los Angeles areas.
The squads scrimmaged at the Bob Crowell Multi-Purpose Athletic Center in Carson on Jan. 11 and participated in a tournament at Long Beach State the next day.
Derek Saenz, the club’s coach, and coach of the Malibu High boys and girls volleyball squads, said despite the historic devastation the fire handed their community, the Malibu players were upbeat.
“Everyone has been keeping a positive attitude,” he said. “The kids who lost their homes have been like, ‘We will figure it out one day at a time.’ It is sad. It is tragic, but they are not alone in this.”
A handful of the players’ homes were destroyed in the Palisades blaze, the largest of several wildfires that began decimating residential and business areas in Los Angeles and surrounding areas on Jan. 7. Mizuno Long Beach, a youth volleyball program, donated gift bags, which included gift cards, to Malibu players affected by the wildfire during the scrimmages.
Saenz, who lives 2 miles from Will Rogers State Beach, which had historic buildings destroyed by the furious inferno, said high school and college volleyball coaches offered to donate volleyball equipment to Malibu.
“The outreach has been great,” he said. “In volleyball, people are ambassadors of the sport and very much connect in a community way.”
Propelled by powerful Santa Ana winds, the Palisades Fire burned 23,707 acres and businesses, homes, and landmarks in Pacific Palisades and along Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu by Jan. 12. Neighborhoods such as Big Rock and Carbon Mesa are decimated. At least three Malibuites died.
The wildfire paused all athletics play in Malibu for several days. Play resumed on Monday at Pepperdine, though. The Waves men’s volleyball team hosted Missouri S&T at Pepperdine’s Firestone Fieldhouse defeating the Miners in three sets.
The squad’s Jan. 10 and Jan. 12 games were canceled. The team did community service during their time practicing in Newport Beach last week.
Marv Dunphy, the head coach emeritus for the Waves men’s volleyball team, said sports are a part of things getting back to normal.
“Sports — whether you like it or not, value it or not — are part of the fabric of our society,” he said. “It is part of who we are.”
Saenz said Malibu players were engaged during their time in the South Bay.
“They weren’t withdrawn,” he noted. “They were excited to be with their friends. It took them away from being immersed in all that happened.”
Malibu High football coach Mike Halualani, who lived in Pacific Palisades for two years before moving to Malibu in 1999, said due to power outages, it has been tough to connect with his players, but he is ready to assist his athletes.
“Sometimes the great thing about sports is that it is the great unifier,” said Halualani, also Malibu’s interim girls basketball coach. “It can take them away from their everyday loss. Hopefully, getting out and playing sports with their friends helps their mental and emotional well-being.”
Dunphy grew up in Topanga and has lived in Malibu for years. As a kid, he and his friends would ride bicycles to the“big city” of Pacific Palisades from their mountain homes.
“It was an all-day deal,” he said. “It was really fun times. People I know in the Palisades lost everything in the fire. It’stough.”
Pepperdine women’s soccer player Sophia Prudholme, a 21-year-old Malibuite, has fond memories of the Pacific Palisades. She had a habit of driving to Point at the Bluffs to walk around, take in the view, and enjoy some time to herself.
Prudholme went to the Palisades Village to purchase a gift for a friend the night before the Palisades fire sparked.
“It was super peaceful,” Prudholme said of the bluffs. “There is a point where you can see down the coastline. It’s super heartbreaking. The Palisades is a place where people who don’t live there still have a connection with it.”
Prudholme’s younger brother, Waves men’s basketball player Stevie Prudholme, 20, played youth flag football in Pacific Palisades. He noted that wildfires in the area are sadly a common occurrence.
“It is devasting,” he said. “It’s a hard thing to recover from. Our team and coaches pray about it and are always looking to help.”
Malibu High boys and girls water polo head coach Hayden Goldberg aims for his teams to do that. After the 2018 Woolsey Fire, the Palisades High water polo program gave the members of the Malibu water polo girls team who lost their homes in the fire a backpack of essentials. He wants Malibu to return the gesture.
“This is what you do for your community,” he said. “We are for everyone. For some of these kids, this is their second fire and they could have this fear for the rest of their lives that one day the winds will be just right to cause another.”
Goldberg, a Malibu native, said an image from his youth seared into his mind is of watching a wildfire in the mid-’90sburn while at his family’s home near Point Dume. He said one of water polo players and his family lost their Malibu home in the Woolsey Fire, so they moved to Pacific Palisades. That residence was destroyed last week, Goldberg said.
“It’s so sad for a lot of our students,” he said.
Halualani hopes students at Pacific Palisades’ schools are able to gather online or in-person somehow soon.
“The kids need the schools probably now more than anything,” he said.
They will return to the pool, though, Goldberg said. “They want to have a season.”