Over the 10 years of Yorba Linda High School, there has been a long standing rivalry against Esperanza High School in every sport, event, and pride competition. The across town rivals have always played a big part in Yorba Linda High’s history. Yorba Linda competes against Esperanza in nearly every sporting event up until recently when the Esperanza football team did not play against Yorba Linda. Despite the lack of the popular football game, there have still been multiple fun activities to participate in the rivalry like the yearly can food drive, basketball, water polo, and other sports.

The history of the school’s rivalry all started ten years ago. Before the building of Yorba Linda High School, Esperanza’s rival was Canyon High School. Esperanza was not originally intended to be Yorba Linda’s rival, but it was born over time after the Century Conference was made. Mr. Flynn (Staff) comments,”We wanted to keep it traditional by having a cross town rival.” Thus, a new big rivalry was born in Yorba Linda.

Football has become a big competition between the two schools until recently due to the division raise. Each team would give all of their effort to pull in a win. Coach Bailey (Staff) states “It’s hard to have a rivalry when they won’t play us,” Over the few years, Yorba Linda has dominated in the football rivalry. People were heartbroken and upset when they discovered this year’s football rival would be Canyon High School. Esperanza still wasn’t ready to let go of a big rival game just yet though.

With other rivalries still able to go on, basketball has replaced football as the most awaited rivalry game. Students were excited to see Esperanza compete in a big sport against them once again. Basketball coach Mr. Pietsch (Staff) adds, “The sports rivalry with Esperanza is awesome.  It’s a great way for both schools to showcase their school spirit and support their teams.  The boys basketball rivalry has produced some awesome crowds and intense environments throughout the years.  Most of our players know each other and/or have played with each other growing up, so the games are always tight and full of action!” Water Polo also has become a big competition between the schools, even if some years they aren’t lucky enough to take a win home. Nonetheless, every sport is a big competition for the schools. Baseball players are excited to go up against the across town and hopefully take another win. Wrestling has also became a good rivalry sport in which Yorba Linda has successfully taken a win at the recent match. There are other sports that similarly have big competitions such as tennis, golf, volleyball, and lacrosse. Tennis players say the rivalry can sometimes get intense for the win, but they like to remind themselves it is a big rivalry after all.

Even if there is a rivalry between the two schools, many friendships happen during the school year. Students enjoy seeing old friends that attend rival schools. Sport competitions are also great ways to catch up with old friends and to meet some new ones. “It’s good feeling beating your rival, but it’s a great story for you and your friend to talk about,” Hannah Bucklin (9th). Lots of students meet up before the game to hang out and talk about who will truly win.

Over time, this rivalry has grown bigger and bigger while still maintain friendly relations with one another. Esperanza is glad to have a closer rival school now, but they do wish for more competitions. Students and teachers on campus do miss the big football games, but there are other sports to make up for it. Even if the rivalry can get intense, competitors still like that feeling of winning and make sure they can take it. Aside from the big rivalry, every student can agree that they have made some nice friendships over the years. The Yorba Linda-Esperanza rivalry will always be a big part of the school’s history.