Last year, Palo Alto High School’s fall athletic teams spanned both ends of the spectrum, with some capturing league championship titles while others suffered from winless seasons. This season, as Palo Alto High’s fall sports kick off again, there are a select few teams especially to keep on your radar. 

Girls Flag:

Palo Alto High Girls’ Varsity Flag Football is coming into the new season with momentum, following last year’s first place in its league. Yaby Ketema, a junior at Palo Alto High, attributes her team’s success last season to the coaches’ division of practice time on multiple positions.

“It gave me an opportunity to focus on offense and defense separately, and improve my skills altogether,” Ketema said. 

Similarly, sophomore Tessa Payne emphasized the profound role her assistant coach, Nancy Nguyen, had on the team. Nguyen is a former member of the U.S. Women’s National Flag Team and is the head of the women’s Berkeley flag football team. 

“Coach [Nguyen] was very experienced and good at working with kids, and she really inspired us to see that there are opportunities for women in flag [football],” Payne said. 

Although the team has continued to improve its gameplay, coming off a successful season that ended with a 14-4 record, the team is now in a harder league, the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, which will be a step up in competition. 

With games starting mid-September, Payne believes the sport’s high-speed action makes the team worth watching.

“It is so cool to watch girls flag football,” Payne said. “Its a new sport, very popular, and it’s a very fast-paced game that’s just fun to watch in general.”

Boys Football:

After a difficult 0-10 season last year, Palo Alto High’s varsity football team is looking for a turnaround. 

Senior Leo Pires credited the team’s defeats to a lack of cohesion between players and a loss of ambition.

“None of us were on the same wavelength, and that really disconnected us,” Leo said. “When it came to being in the game, nobody was thinking straight.”

Junior Levi Pires echoed similar sentiments.

“I don’t think that we as a team were taking everything seriously, and I didn’t think that we had the drive to win,” Levi Pires, another member of the team, said. 

This season, however, the players adopted a more serious approach. Intense spring practices and summer workouts have helped prepare the team before the start of the season. 

Since last season, one factor that helped the team improve is their desire to perform well.

Additionally, Leo said the players now understand each other better, which will significantly enhance practices and games.

“I feel like [the refined team connection] could lead to a very, very successful season this year,” Leo said. 

Levi attributes much of the team’s closer bond to the new coaching staff, which has worked to create a more unified environment. Given these new developments, Levi expects a good outcome for the season.

“I think we’re going to have a really good playoff run,” Levi said. “We’re coming for the state championship.”

Girls Water Polo:

In the 2025 season, Palo Alto High Girls’ Varsity Water Polo placed first in their league for the second year in a row, coming in at sixth place in the Central Coast Section. 

Junior Cecilia Ryans emphasized the importance of team chemistry in building their long-lasting success.

“Every person on our team is treated as an equal and we became a very tight-knit group,” Ryans said. “That chemistry was heavily reflected in our games.”

Ryans also believes the dominance of Varsity Girls’ Water Polo is due to her coaches, Deke Rowell and Tim Mulcahy, who inspire the team to continue working hard and maintain excellence.

To ensure they will have a strong season, the team has been training since June.

“This gives us the opportunity to start bringing together a new team as we face the challenge of having only three returning varsity players,” Ryans said. “We practiced five days a week in the summer, alternating between gym and pool workouts, which will help us start the season off strong.”

Given her determination to keep their winning streak going, Ryans has aspirations for the team. 

“Our goal for this season is to improve as much as possible and be a top competitor in our league,” Ryans said. “I can’t predict where I see this season going, but I’m excited for us to get out there and give every game our all.”