Senior captain Jean-Luc Uharriet and head coach David Lopez have high expectations for the upcoming boys’ basketball season. With “a good mix of young and veteran players,” Lopez said he is excited about the state of the team. Uharriet shares this excitement and hopes to be competitive this year.

“We got a real good shot of competing for league and getting real far,” Uharriet said.

With music bumping and high energy throughout pre-season practices, the team has spent time getting used to the new gym and taking advantage of the amenities provided by the renovations.

“We definitely prepared by spending a lot of time in the new gym, whether that’s through practice or just getting those shots up,” Uharriet said. “Just spending time together as a team, that’s essential for being on the court together.”

This year, students can finally attend home games for the Panthers, and Uharriet is excited to play on home court .

“We competed a lot last year, and I think we have gotten even better. Like, we built our chemistry and spent a lot of time in the gym. I think fans should expect competitive basketball and get excited,” Uharriet said.

When asked about expectations for the season, Lopez said, “Just to play as hard as they can and have a great time. We do those things, I think we’re gonna be happy about where we’re at.”

The girls’ varsity basketball team is coming back to its home court and getting ready to take on the season with a squad of returning varsity players and new faces.

After finishing 10-2 in league play and 15-9 overall last year, along with making it to the second round of the Central Coast Section (CCS) playoffs the past two years, the team is looking to continue its success.

“[Last season] was a great success. We played away again, we didn’t have a home gym. We were very competitive. We had a great group of senior girls that graduated, two years in a row they went to CCS, two years in a row they finished in second place,” head coach Ned Diamond said.

Players such as seniors and fourth-year varsity members Addie Uhrich and Haleh Ansari are expected to take pivotal roles this year, along with senior Sam Arce. Diamond said Uhrich’s skillful ball handling and three-point shooting, along with Ansari’s speed and defense, will be key strengths for the team this season.

Joining the squad as one of two underclassmen on varsity is sophomore Brooke Arce. Together with her older sister, Sam Arce, the two are anticipated to bring strong defense and aggressive play to the team.

“Sophomore Brooke Arce, who joins her sister senior Sam Arce to make a formidable family on the court. They really help set the tone on defense with their athletic instincts and aggressiveness. The BHS student body will enjoy watching these two,” Diamond said over email.

With this season being the first in the new gym, Diamond hopes students come out to watch the games and playing at home will create an exciting atmosphere.

“We just hope everyone’s gonna come out and support us now we have a home gym and home court. These girls are fun to watch. They’ll be surprised,” Diamond said.

This year’s wrestlers have some big shoes to fill. The team lost two state qualifiers, including Lauren Aguilar, who finished seventh in the state championships — higher than any wrestler in Burlingame history. But head coach Ernesto Nunez is not deterred, even with a large proportion of new faces on the team.

“They’re inexperienced, but we are going to at least four tournaments in December. So by the time January comes around and we start doing dual meets, I think we’ll be okay to compete in the league,” Nunez said.

Coach Nunez said he’s eager to teach good fundamentals to beginning wrestlers and train the program’s veterans to prepare for tournaments and eventually meets in January.

“I got a good amount of football players coming in and they got catching up to do, so the sooner I can get them caught up with their takedowns, their setups, two takedowns, how to get off the bottom and how to wrestle from the bottom, the better for us, because I need those young guys to give competition to the older guys,” Nunez said. “I just need everyone, all the rookies, all the beginners coming in, I need to catch them up as fast as I can.”

As a coach, Nunez said he also hopes to instill some core values in his wrestlers that extend beyond athletics.

“At the end of the day, it’s not just about winning,” Nunez said. “It’s what core values can you instill in teaching these young athletes that they can take with them into college and when they become young adults, you want to help them become productive members of society, so you can teach a lot to a student athlete through sport.”

In the past few years, wrestling has come close but never won the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) championships. Nunez said he is hopeful that the team can win their league title this year.

“The ultimate goal would be to surprise the league and win it,” Nunez said. “I think we have the numbers. I think we got enough leadership. I think if everyone does their part, comes to practice, commits to the season, I think we can surprise a lot of people and come out on top.”

Boys’ soccer players are looking to redeem themselves this season. After a dramatic final stretch of games, the Panthers narrowly missed a Central Coast Section (CCS) qualification last year by a margin equivalent to a single win. This year, the team aims to reclaim the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) title and do what they couldn’t do last year: reach the CCS playoffs.

“I don’t think we had a great season,” junior Ayaan Palaniappan said. “We didn’t make CCS unfortunately, and I think we really have to bounce back this year.”

Coming into the season, head coach Anthony Dimech said the tryout process has been difficult for the coaching staff because of the program’s deep roster.

“I’ve been here 10 years now, and this is one of the deepest rosters we had, top to bottom, from varsity to JV to freshman. So it’s been hard making the team and cutting kids,” Dimech said. “That’s my least favorite part of this job as part of coaching.”

Returning upperclassmen like Palaniappan, senior Dylan Rossen, and junior Thalin Rees are expected to be key players, bringing experience and leadership to the team. Standout newcomers like senior Max Temple and junior Lev Temple — upperclassmen who previously played on Major League Soccer (MLS) Next club teams — are also expected to make an impact on the field.

So far, the team has been preparing for their first game in December against Woodside High School, with strong emphasis on conditioning during practice.

“We haven’t got a lot of new players up to varsity. So just working on our positioning and tactically being in the right position, then obviously our fitness,” Dimech said. “We always run. We always work hard.”

After a difficult last season, finishing with an unexpected low of 2-4-4 in the league, girls’ soccer is ready to start fresh.

Head coach Andrew Flaherty said his goal is to minimize injuries while pushing players to perform at their maximum potential. Among them, senior team captains Gaelle-Anne Foy, Mika Haggarty, and Sophia Mausehund are ready to lead by example and find success this season.

“We’d love to give ourselves a chance to make CCS,” Flaherty said. ”So for us, it’s just a matter of just competing, and giving ourselves a chance to do well.”

Beyond the senior team captains, Flaherty said he believes several new players, including multiple freshmen, will step up their game this season.

“There’s a couple freshmen that we’re keeping an eye on, a couple transfers that we’re keeping an eye on, and then we have this senior class that we’re hoping has a lot of success throughout the season,” Flaherty said.

As of Thursday, Nov. 20, tryouts are still being held, and the final team is expected to be announced at the end of November. The team’s first game will be on Dec. 8, kicking off their season against Aragon High School.

Flaherty plans to improve the team’s overall performance rather than on wins and losses. Still, he said he hopes to hone in on the team’s play.

“To compete and try to make sure that we are kind of playing up to our standard of competition,” Flaherty said.