Claire Zhou
Sophie Lesser (12) holds up her backpack and On Cloud running shoes. The bag was a gift from her father, who has a matching backpack.
Stray socks, scattered notes and little things folded between jerseys somehow always find their way back inside of athlete backpacks. When student athletes carry backpacks from bag drop to practice fields to classrooms, they carry snippets of the people they care about, a reminder of the memories that built them and where they are headed.
Finley Krystkowiak, what’s in your volleyball bag?
Varsity volleyball player Finley Krystkowiak (12) reached for her affirmation cards in the side pocket of her volleyball bag like second nature, a habit she developed to prepare for big games.
“I can read these and just get daily reminders,” Krystkowiak said. “It was my dad’s idea because he knows that I get kind of stressed before games.”
Tucked beside her cards are loose notes and letters. Some, she collected from teammates.
“[There are] little notes from before games me and my teammates write to each other,” Krystkowiak said. “Kind of like ‘you got this’ or ‘we trust you.’”
One sticky note has been there since freshman year: a note from her mother.
“It says ‘go be yourself,’” Krystkowiak said. “Those reminders are kind of like my cards, just things I can read before games and remind myself that we’re on a journey together, and I have people that I can look out for and trust.”
Her backpack is a black USA bag from training at the Under 19 (U19) National Team Development Program, which is the country’s volleyball program to recruit high-potential athletes. Next year, Krystkowiak will be playing Division I indoor volleyball at The Pennsylvania State University.
“[I’ve had it for] probably two years, just because, when I got it, I used it right away because I thought it was cool,” Krystkowiak said. “I train with … U21 and U19.”
The backpack’s smaller front pocket contains scattered jewelry. Occasionally, she finds a random sock or two somewhere in her bag.
In the main pocket, Krystkowiak stores the larger items that she wears for volleyball: ankle braces, shirts and a yellow resistance band she warms up with before games out of superstition. She also keeps her volleyball jersey and shoes there.
“I’m number 11,” Krystkowiak said. “I’ve been number 11 for all four years. My sister’s number 12. We’re twins, so we try to wear similar numbers.”
But the most important items Krystkowiak keeps in her bag are her Nike Kevin Durant shoes, a 2007 model, which is fitting because that was the year she was born.
“I write a date on them for my grandpa, just so I can play with that meaning,” Krystkowiak said. “He passed away, so I kind of play for him…[My grandpa] was probably one of my best friends. [It is] just a little reminder that he’s always with me while I’m playing.”
Sophia Lesser, what’s in your cross country bag?
The first item varsity cross country and track and field runner Sophia Lesser (12) took out of her backpack was a pair of “not too beat up” running shoes. She lifted them by the collar and placed them on the ground, their soles stained faintly of dust, the kind of wear from miles of mud and gravel.
“These are just my normal trainers,” Lesser said. “But for races, I’ll use racing flats or carbon-plated shoes, which are a little bit lighter and bouncier.”
Lesser unfolded her practice outfit, tucked just beneath her shoes in the backpack: a sports bra, shorts and a T-shirt. After a little more digging, she fished out a rope and band.
“Probably, people think, like, ‘why are you carrying around a rope?’” Lesser said. “Before we run, we’ll do [Active-Isolated Stretching] (AIS), which is for injury prevention … We’ll use bands for hip mobility and strength.”
She then pulled out a bottle of Hawaiian Tropic sunscreen — her favorite brand. Admittedly, her mother is not a fan of its chemicals, but Lesser smiles a little when she talks about the coconut and tropical scent.
The last items in her backpack’s large pocket are a single sock, which she joked is “there just in case,” and a hairbrush — this time, she confessed it was pretty beat up, but necessary.
In the left pocket are supplements, a “pretty old” granola bar and electrolytes. Her favorite kind of electrolyte is from the brand LMNT, because it is mostly salt.
“I first started drinking [electrolytes] because I was having a lot of trouble drinking water during the day, so putting some flavoring in there kind of helps me, like, you know, consume more water, especially when it’s hot,” Lesser said. “But now I kind of drink them because I sweat a bit more than usual, and it helps me replace the salt that I lose. And there’s also potassium and magnesium, which help with hydration.”
In the other side pocket, she found another granola bar and a stray necklace. Then, she dug out a honey packet kept from the all-girls run club founded by athletic influencer Reene Noe, Noe Bad Vibes. Lesser participated in both runs that the club held in San Diego; one was this year at San Dieguito Park and the other in 2024, around Miramar Lake.
“[It was] a fun time just running when I don’t have the pressure of high school and the team,” Lesser said. “I can [run] with, like, a lot of my friends that aren’t on the team.”
She also pulled out a purple tube of blister balm that her dad bought her, which is “really important” because of the blisters on her heels and toes.
For races, she uses a different bag to hold more injury prevention equipment, such as Biofreeze or kinesiology therapeutic tape. There are “probably some metals and course maps” that she has not taken out yet.
“Honestly, I just never take them out,” Lesser said. “But I don’t know [why]. Like, sometimes when I get bored, I’ll just go through it.”
The bag itself is another gift from her father. Gray nylon and polyester frame the backpack, with one large pocket secured by a black zipper and a minimal pattern. On the front is a brown, leather “Rady’s Children Hospital” label.
“He had an extra [backpack], so he gave it to me.” Lesser said. “He works at Rady’s Children Hospital and we have matching ones.”
Ansu Perez, what’s in your football bag?
Varsity defensive lineman Ansu Perez (12) uses the same backpack for football and school. It’s a black Nike backpack. The front pocket is embroidered gold and red, the school’s falcon logo and his jersey number: 70.
“I have one of those [large football bags], I just don’t choose to use them,” Perez said. “In my bag, I have, like, my academic stuff too. [It is] important to be not just an athlete, but also an academic, especially with the schools I want to go to. So … I always have all my stuff in here, and I use the same bag.”
On bus rides to games, Perez holds his gold-winged helmet and fitted shoulder pads. Everything else, he either wears or keeps in his backpack.
Perhaps one of Perez’s most essential belongings is his knee brace, though he laughs about “having problems” with it. Last year, Perez tore his meniscus and medial collateral ligament, so he is required to wear the knee brace to keep his joint in place and prevent it from “bending back and forth too much.” Twice already, Perez has replaced this $300 device. Once, it was stolen along with his car. The second time, he landed on his knee, bending the metal.
“I’ve had some issues with forgetting it,” Perez said. “I had someone bring it to me [after] warm up. It wasn’t a disaster, but it was about to be.”
Other protective football gear in his backpack include his gloves, mouth guard and knee pads. On game days, Perez wears or stores his cardinal jersey, which the team “always [buys from] Nike.” This season, the varsity team received new jerseys. They are a slightly different shade of cardinal and are embroidered “Falcons” in cursive across the chest. Perez has Advil, contacts and an inhaler handy, too. The side pocket is home to his water bottle.
Perez is also inseparable from his AirPods.
“I always keep my AirPods and my phone, just [to] listen to music,” Perez said. “Before a game, I’d listen to Black Eyed Peas, Oasis and Arctic Monkeys. And then right before the game, I listen to Kendrick and then a little bit of Eminem to get energy building.”
He listens to music in noise-cancelling for four hours. From the end of school to the beginning of the game, music is central to staying “super hyped.”
“I left it at home one time,” Perez said. “And then I called my dad. [He] brought them up to me because I couldn’t leave … and then I listened to music for the rest of the time before the game.”
Technically not in his bag, but equally crucial to his game-day routine, Perez wears football merchandise from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) or Harvey Mudd College — schools he wants to play football for.
“I have my Torrey Pines football gear, or football gear of the school I’m trying to get into recruitment wise, like MIT or Harvey Mudd, for example,” Perez said. “I have an MIT football shirt and an MIT hoodie … and I have a Harvey Mudd shirt as well. I always try to wear something that represents my football journey underneath my jersey.”