Earlier this year, the Junior Reserved Officer Training Corps (JROTC) received a large donation from County Supervisor Robert Rickman totaling $26,000. Part of the funds are slated to send junior Baktash Azizi and sophomore Austin Cuevas to compete at the Golden Bear West Coast Nationals and the National High School Drill Team Championship.
“One of the reasons why I donated those funds is for competition,” Rickman says. He emphasized how Northern California has been performing excellently in local competitions, and he wanted to broaden that reach by adding West High into the game and getting JROTC to compete on a national basis.
The two competitions are on different sides of the country. The Golden Bear West Coast Nationals will be held around April this year in Torrance, California. Competitions will be between four different divisions: Unarmed, Armed, Color Guard, and Saber.
Azizi explains, “In JROTC, there’s different teams.” He tells us about a team meant for marching rifles and flags, along with another, Color Guard, reciting the national anthem. “…We also have another team that I’m a part of that involves spinning rifles,” he adds. Azizi will also be a solo competitor at West Coast.
The second competition Azizi is competing in is the National High School Drill Team Championship at Daytona Beach, Florida, from May 3 to 4 of 2025. “I will be going with someone else to Florida and competing against all the best drills teams in the nation and around the country,” he says. Other schools that compete there include schools from Guam, Taiwan, and Hawaii.
Azizi will be going with sophomore Austin Cuevas. He will be accompanying him as another competitor from our school and will be doing a two-man sequence with him. “I’m part of the armed drill competition team,” Cuevas says. When asked about how he feels about the competition, he replied, “A little stressed, but not that much.” Azizi felt happy and expressed his gratitude towards Supervisor Rickman.
“When you have competition, it’s something to push yourself further,” Supervisor Rickman concludes. “Hopefully, I can fly out there and watch.”
