CA Issue 15, 01.13.2011

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vol. 1. issue 15

FReecaliFoRnia edition JanuaRy 13, 2011

Livermore, San Lorenzo soccer rise up Pg 16

Liberty’s Jesse baLdazo eyes a crown Pg. 18 de La saLLe seeks three-peat Pg. 19wrestLing’s best: naming names Pg. 20

Liberty’s Jesse baLdazo eyes a crown Pg. 18 de La saLLe seeks three-peat Pg. 19wrestLing’s best: naming names Pg. 20

mighty monarchs: Coach Sue Phillips has Archbishop Mitty-San Jose girls hoops aimed at another state title. Pg. 28

mighty monarchs: Coach Sue Phillips has Archbishop Mitty-San Jose girls hoops aimed at another state title. Pg. 28

Support Your Local Business • Say You Found Them In SportStars™ SportStars™ 3January 13, 2011

on tHe coveRliberty High wrestler

Jesse Baldazo (top) eyes a state title at

145 pounds. Page 18Photo by

Bob Larson ([email protected])

First Pitch ................................................. 4

Game Day: Games you have to see ...5

Get Mental ............................................... 6

Health Watch .......................................... 7

Locker Room ...................................... 8-9

SportStar of the Week ........................10

Wally’s World ........................................11

Behind the Clipboard ..........................12

Club Scene .............................................14

Training Time .........................................25

Tee2Green .............................................26

Twenty-four7 .........................................34

Impulse ...................................................37

Photo Finish ...........................................38

Bishop o’Dowd heads south to find way back up. page 22

victor rodriquez and san lorenzo on the rise. page 16

all access

taylor ellerman (lefT) and oak ridge-el Dorado hills eye success. page 20

desirae sanchez and the archbishop mitty-san jose basketball program keep rolling. page 28

Bob Larson

Jonathan Hawthorne

Dennis Lee

SportStars™4 Upload photos and team stats! www.SportStarsMag.com

Many moons ago, before any of to-day’s current high school athletes were born, an impressive work of

movie magic was created. A landmark movie of my childhood, “Bill

and Ted’s Excellent Adventure”, starring Ke-anu Reeves bearing a striking resemblance to Concord High quarterback Ricky Lloyd. (To our new non-East Bay readers, it’s true. Do a Google image search for “Ricky Lloyd Concord.” And then, if you’re unfamiliar with Reeves’ character of Ted “Theodore” Logan, then image search for that, too. It’s creepy.)

Anyway, back to the reason I’m refer-encing this piece of cinema gold. There’s a character in the movie named “Ox”. His role is minimal. In fact, only serious Bill & Ted connoisseurs would likely know the character by name. His one line, however, is most memorable.

While delivering a history report, this less-than-studious individual provided the following words of wisdom.

“Everything is different, but the same ... things are more moderner than before ... bigger, and yet smaller ... it’s computers ... San Dimas High School football rules!”

Why am I sharing it? Two reasons: I figured it was my one chance to use the non-word “morderner” in my column, AND — more importantly — Ox’s words help describe some of the changes here at SportStars. Changes that are beginning with this issue.

Our goal of world domination is taking its first step this month as we begin circulat-ing issues throughout Northern Califor-nia. It’s an exciting venture, but one that involved a lot of considerations.

The first consideration, and perhaps the most important, was how do we expand to cover new areas of the state and still stay true to our mission of providing in-depth local coverage to our original region of Contra Costa County and the greater East Bay? We know, because our loyal readers tell us — constantly, that the fact our focus is so local is our most attractive feature.

We don’t want to lose that. Therefore, SportStars will now have two editions: An East Bay edition, which will be devoted to the region we’ve been circulating in for the past six months, and a Northern California edition which will attempt to highlight differ-ent areas of the North State each week.

Of course, we will share some content between the two edi-tions, because we do have regular items, and occasional sto-ries, which we feel can be enjoyed by all. Besides, high school sports and teen athletics are the same everywhere, right?

To our new readers throughout Northern California:

Think we don’t know about you? Think again.

I attended and played sports at Red Bluff High and had parents who each coached within the Northern Section. I attended college at Humboldt State and worked for the Eureka Times-Standard covering the northern-most high schools of the North Coast Section. As a nine-year high school sports writer for the Contra Costa Times, I traveled to all points of Northern California covering playoff and state championship events. We also have a number of key con-tributors who have done the same, some for much longer than I have.

We know about you. And we’re going to find stories in your areas. Furthermore, the more you show interest in us and provide us feedback and story ideas, the close your area could be to getting your own specific edition. So let us know what you think. Good or bad.

Now, to our loyal readers East Bay read-ers: You’ll see some slight changes. Remem-ber what Ox said, “Everything is different, but the same.”

So for fun, let’s play a game I like to call, “New. Not new.”

New — Some areas like Locker Room, and our sport-specific sections like “Red Zone” for football and “In the Paint” for basketball, will now be more widely fo-cused. That means our basketball rankings and notes will cover all Northern California teams. And you may see some fresh new voices in the Locker Room.

Not new — Our goal to highlight the names and faces of Contra Costa County and Alameda County athletes. Our Sport-Stars of the Week page will remain East Bay-only in your edition, and we will con-tinue to have two to three East Bay-focused features each week.

New — Wally’s World, featuring the wit and whims of Mike Wolcott, is on a new page now.

Not new — He’s still wearing the same light green slacks that you swear you’ve seen him in each time you run into him at games.

New — An addition of a new feature called Club Scene, where we are hoping to put highlights of teen athletes competing in non-high school-sanctioned athletics. This is an item that will run in both editions, and open to all. So, if you’re coaching or

coordinating a community league or club team, email us about your competitions and successes and we’ll get it into the magazine.

Not new — We’re still aimed at bringing you the best pho-tography, coverage and design that you’ve grown accustomed to. Hang with us. You won’t be disappointed. ✪

January 13, 2011

PHONE 925.566.8500 FAX 925.566.8507EditOriAl [email protected] Chace Bryson. Ext. 104 • [email protected] Bill Kolb, Erik Stordahl, Mike Wolcott, Jim Mannion, Mitch Stephens, Dave DeLong, Gary Xavier, Doug Gardner, Matt Smith, Clay KallumPhotography Butch Noble, Bob Larson, Jonathan Hawthorne

CrEAtivE dEPArtmENt [email protected] manager Mike DeCicco. Ext. 103 • [email protected]

PublisHEr/PrEsidENtMike Calamusa. Ext. 106 • [email protected]

AdvErtisiNg & CAlENdAr/ClAssiFiEd [email protected] Executives Mike Wolcott Ext. 109 • [email protected]; Patrick McCormick Ext. 102 • [email protected]; Erik Stordahl • ErikS@Sport StarsMag.com (Special Sections, Calendar, Marketplace sales)

rEAdEr rEsOurCEs/AdmiNistrAtiONAd Traffic, Subscription, Calendar & Classified Listings [email protected] • Deb Hollinger. Ext. 101 •

distributiON/dElivEry [email protected] manager Butch Noble. Ext. 107 • [email protected]

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bOArd OF dirECtOrsDennis Erokan, CEO, Placemaking GroupRoland Roos, CPA, Roland Roos & CoSusan Bonilla, State AssemblyDrew Lawler, Managing Director, AJ Lawler Partners

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This Vol. #1, January 2011 Whole No. 15 is published by Caliente! Communications, LLC, 5356 Clayton Rd, Ste. 222, Concord, CA 94521. SportStars™© 2010 by Caliente! Communications, LLC. All rights reserved. Subscription rates: 24 issues, U.S. 3rd class $42 (allow 3 weeks for delivery). 1st class $55. To receive sample is-sues, please send $3 to cover postage. Back issues are $4 each. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission of Publisher is strictly prohibited. The staff and management, including Board of Directors, of SportStars™© does not advocate or encourage the use of any product or service advertised herein for illegal purposes. Edi-torial contributions, photos and letters to the editor are welcome and should be addressed to the Editor. All material should be typed, double-spaced on disk or email and will be handled with reasonable care. For materials return, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope. SportStars™© and STARS!™© Clinics are registered trademarks of Caliente! Communications, LLC.

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Chace Bryson Editor

FIRST PITCH

Chace@ SportStarsMag.com

(925) 566-8503

SportStars takes a most excellent step toward world domination

Support Your Local Business • Say You Found Them In SportStars™ 5SportStars™

Jan. 17 — martin luther King

Classic, Haas Pavilion, Berke-

ley, 10 a.m.De La Salle’s

multi-game showcase has slowly grown into the premier mid-January event for boys basketball in Northern California. This year’s schedule includes five boys games (and one girls game) featuring a slew of Northern California’s top-ranked teams. Monte Vista and San Leandro open things up at 10:15 while Benny Battle (pictured) and the host Spartans close the night against Sheldon-Sacramento. For more detail on the matchups, turn to page 23.

January 13, 2011

game day

WRESTlIng

BoyS BaSkETBall gIRlS BaSkETBall

Jan. 29 — The Clash Wresting TournamentCollege of Marin, Kentfield, all day

Twenty-four teams will head just north of the Golden Gate Bridge to compete in one of the North Bay’s biggest wrestling tournaments of the season. Among the teams confirmed are Granada-Livermore, McNair-Stockton, Davis and Lincoln-Stockton. Luke Hudson (pictured) and the Antioch Panthers are also in the field, returning to defend their title from a year ago. For a list of more upcoming wrestling tournaments, turn to page 20.

Jan. 22 — Campolindo Shoot-

out, Campolindo HS, Moraga, all day

One day. Seven high-profile girls basketball games from teams from four different sections (Central Coast, North Coast, Sac-Joaquin and San Francisco). The high-lights, however, will be a 5 p.m. game between Dougherty Valley-San Ramon and Archbishop Mitty-San Jose, fol-lowed by a 6:30 show-down between Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland and a Berkeley team led by Brittany Boyd (pictured, left). Find more about this and the equally-in-triguing Common Good Classic (also featuring Berkeley), on page 24.Bob Larson Bob Larson

Bob Larson


?January 13, 2011

You wake up one morning in January and you are determined this is the year you will work harder, be better prepared and commit more to your sport.

You start working out, maybe even eating better. You start to organize times to practice and train and you are highly motivated, as you begin a new year, full of hope and limitless possibilities.

You wake up earlier or stay up later, carving out more time to train. One day, something throws a wrench in your schedule and you do not accomplish what you wanted to do. Sure enough, another day like this occurs and your frustration builds because your plan for the day and the reality of your day do not mesh.

Days and weeks go by, inconsistency increases along with external responsibilities and the internal struggle rages in your mind, knowing that you wanted to work so hard and accomplish so much, yet by April 1st, there is a realization that you just did not get it done.

Life has a funny way of interfering with our best intentions and plans for improvement. Over time, the multiple demands that student-athletes face create obstacles for goal attainment, especially when goals are set with the best intentions but are estab-lished incorrectly.

A New Year’s resolution is simply another term for a goal, housed under the context of a different word, a “resolution.” If goals or resolutions are set up incorrectly, individuals and teams are unknowingly setting themselves up for failure, while thinking they are working diligently and with the best intentions.

Despite the attention placed on setting New Year’s resolu-tions, most people are never taught how to establish goals in a realistic fashion. The “carrot” is extended to you in the

form of what the outcome and end result will be, without discussing the commitment, hard work and the struggles endured to accomplish what we want.

One of the most important jobs of a sport psychology professional is to teach athletes, coaches and parents the

correct ways to establish, maintain and adjust personal goals on both the small and large scale.

The first common mistake athletes make is not spending enough time thinking about what they truly want from participating in their sport. Instead, many athletes blurt out goals without much thought about personal owner-ship and the short and long-term aspects of what they are trying to accomplish.

To establish effective goals, an athlete must first ask themselves some pretty difficult, hon-est and direct questions. Why do I participate in my sport? What do I want from my sport? Where do I want to be in two, three or five years?

If we cannot address these fundamental and basic questions, how can we truly set purposeful, specific and meaningful goals.

Before setting goals or making resolutions, it is first im-portant to take inventory of yourself and be objective about where you currently are in your development, compared to where you want to be. Identify your current strengths and weaknesses in the technical, physical and mental aspects of your sport and your position.

It is much easier to set realistic goals if you first have an objective understanding of your own ability compared to the ability level you would like to achieve. It is natural to compare your ability to the ability of others, yet the chal-lenge becomes comparing your current ability to your past and future ability.

Goal setting, done correctly, is all about controllability. Set goals that are challenging, not too easy or too difficult. Be specific about the smaller steps that add up to the end result and focus on improving each step within the process. Developing a sense of accomplishment, on a daily basis, is an important motivator to continue working on areas of your game that you consider weak or in need of improve-ment.

Most importantly, commitment to learning is critical throughout this process. Improvement does not occur with-out mistakes, frustration and set-backs. You have the choice to decide if you will judge these situations as good or bad or if you will view them as learning experiences to grow from.

Athletes who learn how to blend short-term experience with a long-term perspective will stay more emotionally level and will understand that mistakes are opportunities to learn more about themselves, their performance and their reactions in critical moments.

The reality of goal setting is that it is an everyday process. It is an unfair and unrealistic expectation to wake up one day and radically change everything you have been doing. What makes January 1st any different from any other day?

The real question to ask yourself is: When is your Janu-ary? ✪

Dr. Doug Gardner is a Sport Psychology Profession-al who spent six years (1998-2003) as the Sport Psy-chology Consultant for the Boston Red Sox. He is the owner of the ThinkSport Consulting Services, which has locations in Northern and Southern California. You can find more of his “Get Mental” columns at www.Sport-StarsMag.com. Contact Dr. Gardner by email at [email protected].

Doug gardnerget Mental

AprilNewYear’s

Day

foolsON


When people think of sports injuries, the discussion usually circulates around knee and ankle sprains, or lately, concussions. But as a certified athletic

trainer working at one of the local high schools here in the East Bay; I am seeing more athletes with complaints of hip pain. It could possibly be a muscle strain (pulled muscle), a bruise or something else entirely.

Sports place a high demand on our bodies. When it comes to the hip area, injuries can come from sprinting, kicking a ball, or any type of activity that involves trunk rotation (like twisting for instance). This may cause a sudden onset of pain or gradually build up to what we call an overuse injury.

The three main type of injuries that athletes, coaches and parents should be aware of are muscle strain, hip labral tear and apophy-sitis.

A muscle strain is an indirect injury caused by excessive stress or force on the muscle rather than direct trauma to the muscle. There are typically three degrees that a strain can fall under:

1st degree — Is considered mild. There is little tissue disruption with no loss of strength or motion.

2nd degree — Has some tissue damage and strength and motion are compromised.

3rd degree — Complete disruption of the muscle with vis-ible damage (bruising, swelling), loss of function and motion

A hip labral tear involves the ring of soft tissue that follows the outside rim of the socket of your hip joint. Athletes who participate in sports such as soccer, football, golf and ballet are at a higher risk of developing a hip labral tear.

Signs and symptoms: hip pain, locking, clicking, catching sensation, stiffness and limited range of motion.

Causes: Repetitive motions such as sudden twisting or piv-oting are common in golf and softball and can lead to wear and tear; degenerative changes can increase friction inside the hip joint (osteoarthritis); structural abnormalities — some people are born with hip problems that can accelerate wear and tear of their joint; injury to or dislocation of the hip joint which can occur during car accidents or from playing contact sports such as hockey.

Apophysitis is an injury to the growth plates of the bones in your hip. These growth plates are where tendons attach to the bones. It does not affect how tall you are. During growth spurts, bones usually grow first followed by ligaments and tendons. This may cause pain because of decreased flexibility.

This injury usually occurs as a result of repetitive back or hip movements; otherwise known as an overuse injury. However, it can also be caused by a sudden twisting or cut-ting movement.

Symptoms: pain over hip, more pain during or after play-ing a sport, pain is generally relieved by the activity, typically there is no swelling in the hip area, may cause immediate pain and limping where it is hard to put your full weight down as you try to walk.

With any of these injuries you may need to consult your family physician who may refer you to a doctor who special-

izes in sports medicine or hip disorders. At this point, the physician will perform a physical exam, look at your history and possibly order an x-ray or an MRI to help determine exactly what is going on inside your hip joint region.

It is usually necessary to rest or decrease your activity so that you are not having pain. Stretching and doing specific strengthening exercises for your abdominals (core) are very important.

Prevention is a key element especially for muscle strains. Several factors include proper warm up, dynamic and passive stretching, muscle strength, getting enough rest, staying hydrated and eating healthy meals.

Last but certainly not least, one of the missing pieces in injury prevention is fatigue. Fatigue alters proper movement patterns, decreases sound technique and increases the risk of injury. ✪

Kelli Adams is a physical therapist assistant for the staff of Sports Medicine For Young Athletes, a division of Children’s Hospital Oakland with a facility in also in Walnut Creek. If you have questions or comments regarding the “Health Watch” column, write the Sports Medicine For Young Athletes staff at [email protected]. To view Kelli’s references for this article, view it online at www.SportStarsMag.com.

January 13, 2011

kelli adams

Health Watch

are you hip to the hip strain?

Support Your Local Business • Say You Found Them In SportStars™ SportStars™SportStars™ Upload photos and team stats! www.SportStarsMag.com 9January 13, 2011January 13, 20118

“We blitzed more than usual.”

Terry Eidson, the defensive coor-dinator for the De La Salle High football team, expressing what he felt was the key for the Concord school winning the 2010 Massey Virtual National Championship

game against South Panola-Bates-ville (Miss.). The virtual national

championship begins as a 64-team bracket of elite high school teams

from across the nation. The bracket is then played off using the Massey

computer ratings system — yes, the same one that’s included in the BCS formula. According to the

ratings, the Spartans defeated South Panola 24-10. The full brack-

ets can be viewed at www.highschoolsports.net.

Wrestlers are, by and large, a taciturn bunch. Need a particularly pithy quote to tie up a story you’re writing or for some resolution or clarity on a mat-based controversy? Find a coach. Find a referee. Find someone at the snack-shack. Because chances are you won’t fi nd what you’re looking for from the wrestler in question.

It’s not that they aren’t bright or dedicated (we would, in fact, argue that high school wrestlers are the most dedicated and disciplined of all prep athletes -- nobody else has to train hard in the weight room and the gym, then go home and train hard at the dinner table. We’re just sayin...). It’s just that, for the most part, they don’t have a whole lot to say. A loquacious wrestler like a Nikko Triggas or a Robbie Smith (or if your area wrestling knowledge goes way back, a Casey Strand), only comes along once every so often. Most grapplers tend to let the wrestling speak for itself. With that in mind, here are the top 5 (generic, stereotypical) quotes from a wrestler after a match:

1. “Yup.”2. “Nope.”3. *No words, just a nod or shake of the head, or a noncommittal shoulder-shrug*4. “He shot a single, but I sprawled and circled and caught an ankle. He managed to belly, but I cross-faced him hard and was able to turn him for 5.” (Editor’ s note: If that

made any sense to you, you probably are or were a wrestler. If not, well, nyah nyah nyah.)5. “I’m hungry.”

Most likely wrestler soundbites

HE SAID WHAT?!?

Not unlike the Marine Corps A-4 Skyhawk attack jet that sits airborne in their school’s parking lot, the Encinal Jets continued to soar above their competition this past football season. When the Alameda school knocked off Marin Catholic-Kentfi eld 20-15 in the North Coast Section Division III semifi nals last month, it reached the NCS fi nals for a third straight year. A big factor in Encinal’s success has been the homegrown coaching staff — head coach Joe Tenorio and assistants Nick Loy, Hugo Guerrero, Barry Ford and Donovan Brown are each former Jets themselves, and Guerrero and Tenorio were members of Enci-nal’s championship team in 1994.

from across the nation. The bracket

yes, the same one that’s included in

It’s another edition of Chatter, where we respond to the emails or Facebook comments from our readers. Join the conversation whenever you feel like it by emailing us at [email protected] or posting to our Facebook page — after you offi cially “Like us,” of course.

■ First, let me say how much I enjoy SportsStars. You had a great article in the Dec. 23 issue (“Wally’s World”) on De La Salle vs. Servite. I, too, have always questioned the “ rumors “ about DLS and recruiting. Of course they are unfounded and not a shred of proof exists. To question their success completely negates the hours, days, weeks and months of conditioning and training the players and coaches dedicate themselves too. It makes me angry. When this era is over we will never see the likes of it again. Bob Ladouceur is an icon, not just a coaching icon, but a true legend. Too bad so many people don’t appreciate what is right in front of them -- E-mail, Dec. 23

SPORTSTARS: Thanks for your compliments! You were also among several readers who asked the question, “Why doesn’t every private school in the Bay Area win 151 games in a row? They play by the same rules as De La Salle.” We haven’t heard an answer to that one yet.

It’s another edition of Chatter, where we respond to the emails or Facebook comments from our readers.

RANDOM ACTS OF FACTNESS

Jonathan HawthorneOak Ridge-El Dorado Hill’s Brandon Buriani (blue) and Chico’s Efren Rodriguez.

Bob Larson

SportStars™ Upload photos and team stats! www.SportStarsMag.comJanuary 13, 201110

t

of theweek

pow

ered

by:

dano gravesfolsom . football . senior

For the record, the Folsom High School quarterback stands 5-foot-9 and weights 185 pounds, and though that figure is small by signal-calling standards, his numbers and accomplishments in 2010 were astronomical. He completed 236 of 363 passes for 3,702 yards and 62 touchdowns, with just six inter-ceptions. He also rushed for 994 yards and 23 more scores, which meant he accounted for a ridiculous 85 touchdowns – a state re-cord. Bigger than all of that, his Bulldogs won the CIF State Division II Bowl Game champi-onship. All of it has added up to a January full of awards, including being named Mr. State Football by CalHiSports.com and the National Player of the Year by MaxPreps.com.

sportsstars: What was your most cher-ished moment this season?

dano graves: Before the state title game, in the locker room. We’re normally a pretty rowdy group but we knew this was our last game together. Most of us have played together for eight or nine years. So it got real quiet. It got real emotional. Tears were shed by a lot of guys and even our coach. After the game it was real loud.

sportsstars: You had your hands in 85 touchdowns this year. Have a favorite?

dg: The last touchdown run in the second Grant (Sacramento) game. It was about 20 yards and there was no one around and at that point, we had them. People thought I put my finger up to signal “No. 1” but I was pointing to the sky. A lot of prayers were an-swered just for me to even play in that game (because of bad knee). That felt awesome.

sportsstars: Tired of being asked about your lack of size?

dg: I have to admit, I thought about it the other day and yes, it made me a little angry. Every story ever written about me had some-thing about my height. At the same time, it definitely drove me.

dANO’s QuiCK HitsCollege offers: Sacramento State, Port-

land State, Air Force.QBs you admire: Tim Tebow, Colt Mc-

Coy, Sam Bradford.Other sports you play: Baseball, cen-

terfield.

elisama padilla

Clayton Valley’s super-sophomore delivered a hat trick and even added an assist as the Eagles romped to a 6-2 nonleague win over Freedom on Jan. 8. The Eagles im-proved to 7-1-3 with the win. Three games into the Diablo Valley Athletic League schedule, Clayton Valley was alone in first place.

chairese culberson

The senior post player does a good deal of the dirty work for the

state-ranked Berkeley girls basketball team. On Jan. 8 she provided six points and nine assists as the Yellow Jackets improved to 10-1 on the sea-son a with 75-50 win over Bradshaw Christian-Sacramento.

ashley watson

The 5-7 senior point guard delivered a game-high 19 points to

help lead the Archbishop Mitty-San Jose girls basketball team to 61-30 win over Notre Dame-Belmont at the Jimmy Valvano Classic in Brentwood on Jan. 8.

honorable mention

nominate your star at [email protected]

Todd Shurtleff/MaxPreps.com


It’s Greg Papa’s voice, all right. But instead of screaming his customary “Touchdown, Rrrrrrraiders!” he’s calling

the action for the Benicia Panthers.For those out of the loop, that’s a Bay

Area football team filled with some pretty talented 12-year-olds.

“The center, number 55, LOGAN NONIES!, with the pancake block on the middle linebacker to spring his teammate, Trey White, on a spectacular 58-yard touch-down run!” Papa bellows, with the same trademark, over-the-top enthusiasm he’d show on a Darren McFadden touchdown run.

Moments later, another call: “Logan is incredible! Twelve years old, 5-feet, 120 pounds on defense – collapsing the pocket, forcing the pick and it’s a PANTHER CONVOY to the end zone! And guess who is leading the way — number 55, LOGAN NONIES!”

Oh, but the story doesn’t end there. Like any broadcasting legend, Papa knows more about the athlete than just what is seen on the field.

“Nonies, who, by the way, is also a star baseball player and buddies with the Gi-ant great from the past, Jeffrey ‘Hac-Man’ Leonard …”

At this point, I studied the video on www.callmyplay.com to see if Nonies was imitat-ing Leonard’s “one-flap down” while leading the blocking charge near the end zone, but saw no sign of it.

I watched the video four or five times and I couldn’t help but think “Man … how cool would that be, to be a kid and have a big-time announcer calling your name on a video?” And the answer is: Very.

In a creative mix of sports and new-age media, some entrepreneurial folks have started a business called “Call My Play” where professional announcers — including some pretty big names — will take a video featuring a young athlete, add the play-by-play (for a very reasonable fee) and send it your way for a lifetime of viewing and listening pleasure.

You even get to choose the announcer. There are five “professional” announcer options, including Kate Scott, who handles the Cal Bears postgame shows. And then there are the “premium” announcer options, featuring longtime Sharks play-by-play man Randy Hahn as well as Papa, as big of a name as exists in today’s Bay Area sports broadcasting world.

It’s largely the brainchild of Washington’s Josh Beil, whose uncle, longtime Bay Area sports announcer Larry Beil, served as a consultant on the project.

“It was just brainstorming in 2009 about where sports and technology are meeting,”

Josh Beil said, “and we came up with the idea.”

The first step was trying the idea on some focus groups — “Some fanatical parents we knew personally,” Beil said — and people loved the concept.

The timing has been perfect. Call My Play fits in neatly with another trend, one the Wall Street Journal recently referred to as “Me-Tailing” — where people can buy custom-made posters, or NFL jerseys, featuring themselves as the star.

“This is just another level, a fully custom-ized broadcast about the kids and their performance,” Beil said.

Once the video is sent to Call My Play, and the broadcaster adds the audio, customers receive a link to the raw file. There is also an option to have the file posted on youtube, Facebook and www.weplay.com.

While the initial idea was to target parents and their kids in sports, Beil said they’ve already gone into other areas, such as an announcer adding words to a video clip of a baby’s first steps.

(And yes, the call of the baby’s steps really does feature the words “He could ... go ... all ... the ... way .... to mommy!”)

While the young athletes are an obvious first market, Beil said there’s really no age limits on what people can submit.

“We’ll call anything people want to be called,” he said, “even the 45-year-old softball player.”

My mind flashed back to my youth. In those days, we had to provide the play-by-play ourselves, or at least inside our own heads. Given the chance, who would have called my most famous Little League high-light?

I decided it would have to be Harry Caray, and sadly, it would have gone like this:

“Wolcott, number 2 for the Paskenta Braves, digs in at the plate and takes a strike. Oh, he doesn’t like the call! Holy Cow, he’s getting into it with the umpire! He’s still glaring at the umpire and – WATCH OUT! – here comes the next pitch! He turns his head late and the pitch HITS HIM RIGHT IN THE FACE! Oh, Crimany! Right on the ‘ol nose!

“Wolcott’s nose is a bloody mess! Tough day at the plate for 4-foot-11, 95-pound Mike Wolcott, who is being carried back to the dugout by his manager. And here comes Larry Vance in as a pinch-runner.”

What can I say? I was no Logan Nonies, that’s for sure. ✪

To submit a video of your athlete for a professional broadcaster’s touch, go to www.callmyplay.com. To see the video of the baby’s first steps, go to www.youtube.com and type in “callmyplay” (one word).

January 13, 2011

Mike Wolcott

Wally’SWoRlD

MikeW@ SportStarsMag.com

(925) 566-8500Ext. 109

Backyard announcers suddenly have some big name competition


When SportStars asked me to do an introduction to the “ask the coach” column, it made me think about when I first started to coach, and why.

When? In college, I was in charge of the intramural teams I played on. Why? Because I wasn’t very good, and it gave the other guys a reason to keep me around.

Eventually, I worked my way into coaching at the high

school level, and I started out coaching girls’ softball in 1977 at Monte Vista High School. Over the years, I’ve switched to basketball (it’s always warm in the gym, and the field maintenance is a lot easier), and I’ve helped out at too many schools to mention. I even dabbled in coaching JV football, but for the most part, I’ve always coached girls.

But coaching is coaching, and high school is high school,

and though there are obvious differences between coaching girls and boys, the fundamental issues are always the same. To keep coaching, having a winning record over time is pretty much a necessity, so just being nice won’t get it done. Then again, just winning doesn’t guarantee much either, as we all know about very successful coaches — in terms of winning and losing — who didn’t stick around long.

If nothing else, I’ve stuck around. Over the years, I’ve learned a few things (with a lot more to go). And since it’s often more difficult than it should be for players or parents to talk to their own coaches, hopefully this column will serve as an alternate way to try and understand why coaches make the kind of deci-sions they make – and how fami-lies can make their relationship with coaches the best it can be.

On top of that, there are always concerns about playing in college, and what it takes to get a scholarship, and how to approach that whole process. Today’s topic deals with that aspect of the athletic equation …

What question do parents not know enough to ask college coaches?

J. L., MartinezThe inexperienced family asks about academics and

campus life and all the questions coaches have scripts memorized for. The more sophisticated get right down to it and ask what number their child is on the coaches’ list of recruits. But only a very few think to ask this one: How long is your contract?

The NCAA has this fiction that athletes choose their schools because of the schools, when we all know it’s the coach. A particular coach with a particular system will recruit a particular player who fits that system – but if the coach moves on, that particular player might not fit any more.

“So when does the head coach’s contract run out?” should be asked of every school. If it’s less than two years, that high school athlete better really, really like the campus because he or she could be playing for a brand new coach who has absolutely no allegiance to — and likely no interest in — the old coach’s recruits.

By the same token, a very successful coach is quite likely to get a better job, and sooner rather than later. Since the NCAA allows coaches and administrators to transfer with-out penalty (unlike the athletes who generate the income), the players can’t go along, so that’s another scenario in which the athlete gets pretty much cut adrift. ✪

January 13, 2011

getting recruited? Here’s one question to be sure to ask

Clay kallam

Behind the Clipboard

got a question for the coach?

To submit a question for Behind the Clipboard, email

Coach Kallam at clayk@

fullcourt.com.

SportStars™14 Upload photos and team stats! www.SportStarsMag.com‘January 13, 2011

club scene

While high school soccer is currently in full swing, the club scene is preparing for liftoff. Tryouts are right around the corner and it won’t be long until the soccer moms with their mini vans and orange slices are front and center.

Club soccer can certainly be a competitive environment for players of all ages, and a daunting one for those who aren’t as skilled as their seasoned counterparts. But Heritage Soccer Club has offered up a free winter academy to all comers which will be held at College Park High School.

Occurring throughout the month of Janu-ary at College Park High School, the winter academy will teach players all the basics and skills necessary to elevate their game and, perhaps, crack one of Heritage’s rosters.

One of those teams, the girls U12 Pride, just took home the NorCal State Cup on Dec. 18 when they shut out the Walnut Creek Fury 3-0 in the final.

Led by their coach Breanna Lisle, the

Pride dominated the game from start to fin-ish. Ashlynn Bilich scored the first goal as-sisted by Claire Cimino and the Pride didn’t look back. Delaney McKee and sabine Silva added a goal each in the second half and Pride goalkeeper Caroline King halted all shots on goal.

One could argue the Pride would’ve been happy with just being in the final. After all they trailed Diablo FC 98 3-0 with 20 minutes left in the semifinal match before they mounted a furious comeback scoring four goals in 15 minutes. They held on for the 4-3 win and a ticket to the final against the Fury.

Heritage Soccer Club U12 Pride bring home norCal State CupCrow Canyon swimmer

dazzles in Dubai Welcome to the clubClub Scene is the new home for

news, scores, highlights and information for club teams, youth leagues, camps and training opportunities across Northern California. If you’d like to have your team, league or camp in Club Scene, send an email to editor@ SportStarsMag.com.

Submitted photo

Support Your Local Business • Say You Found Them In SportStars™ 15SportStars™January 13, 2011

club scene

“These girls have worked so hard,” said coach Lisle. “I’m so proud of each one, and how far they’ve come on and off the field as a team. It’s been such a great team to coach because they all get along so well and really do play for each other.”

By being on a club team like the Pride, players are able to gain notoriety at national tournaments which can lead them to college scholarships.

JoBl gears up for 2011With the dawn of another year comes the genesis to

another season of America’s favorite pastime. But before as-piring players can attempt to crack the all-star squad in July, they first have to try out for a team in January.

One such league in these parts is the Junior Optimist Baseball/Softball League, better known as JOBL.

Established as the Optimist Club of Concord in 1963, JOBL offers something for everyone ages 4-18, whether it’s a recre-ation league for beginners or a traveling team for experienced high schoolers.

What makes JOBL different from other leagues is their willingness to accommodate its players.

“We always try to offer the players what they want,” explains JOBL president Pattie Behmlander. “If they want a travel team, they’ve got it. If they want a rec team, they’ve got it.”

Another intriguing aspect of JOBL is how they prepare its players for real baseball. As players get older, they’ll experi-ence an increase in difficulty which will prepare them for the high school ranks down the road.

“Every age group we make it closer to straight baseball,” says Behmlander. “We let most of our kids pitch, except for five- and six-year olds.”

For players 10 years or older, they can qualify for a travel-ing squad and play teams all over the country during the summer. Not a bad vacation. It certainly beats mowing lawns week after week for chump change.

Finally, JOBL is the ideal league for high school baseball and softball players alike wanting to scratch that competitive itch year round. Starting this season, players can stay on a travel team for the entire year without taking a break.

CyC gymnasts excel in state meetNicole With was named All-Around Champion in the 13+

age division at the NorCal Gymnastics Level 4 State Meet on Dec. 4 and 5 in Rancho Cordova. She also placed second in the Floor and Beam competitions.

“This is a great feat for (Nicole),” says coach Aussie Ramos. “This time last year she was on our Pre-team — this is her first year competing and she took first at state. We are so proud of her.”

Also, Isabella Vargas took home first-place honors in the uneven bars and beam at the Level 6 State Meet held in Redwood City on Nov. 20 and 21.

“These were her two hardest events at the beginning of the season,” explains coach Michelle Horn. “She has worked really hard on this event and came through at the state meet.”

Both With and Vargas train at the Community Youth Center in Concord.

White places in international waters Sophomore swimming phenom Madison White (Caron-

delet-Concord) placed seventh in the 200 M Backstroke at the 2010 Short Course Meter World Championships in Dubai on Dec. 19. White squared off against the top swimmers in the world as 120 countries were represented in India for this premier swimming event. Swimming for her club team, the Crow Canyon Sharks, White was only one of two Americans competing in this event. White also competed in the 50 M Backstroke and won one of her heats but ended up not placing. White will continue swimming for the Sharks until it’s time for her to help Carondelet defend its NCS championship which they won in May 2010.

Chase hoop dreams at the Hoop House Didn’t make the varsity basketball team this year? Well,

you can start preparing for next November today.If you want to get serious about hoops training, and you

live in the greater Bay Area, then the Hoop House might be worth looking into. The Hoop House, located in San Ramon, is the creation of Randy Duck, a former Cal-Berkeley stand-out who went on to play professionally overseas. It’s a state of the art basketball facility open to the public. Among the many things the Hoop House offers are private fundamental training sessions, semi-private sessions (two players), group sessions (three or more), full-on team training, gym rental and even just regular open gym hours. Further explore the Hoop House at www.thehoophouse.com.

— Erik Stordahl

SportStars™16 Upload photos and team stats! www.SportStarsMag.comJanuary 13, 2011

Fans of the East Bay high school soccer commu-nity are used to hearing the same names when it comes to talking about the top teams in Division I and Division II.

De La Salle-Concord, Richmond, San Ramon Valley-Danville, Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland and Acalanes-Lafayette, among a few others. Those are names one seems to hear year-in and year-out when talking about the contenders.

But the 2010-2011 season is featuring a shift, with a pair of non-traditional contenders rising up in both divisions.

The Livermore and San Lorenzo High soccer pro-grams don’t have a long, illustrious history of league and section titles, but all of that could be changing. Both teams are rising to the top of their respective league, as well as East Bay rankings. More impor-tantly, they are being considered top contenders when the North Coast Section playoffs roll around.

It takes a lot to get a program going in the right di-rection. One of the most important things is getting the kids to buy into the team-first philosophy, as well as supporting one another, no matter what happens.

“We try to put away the individual work and focus on working as a team,” first-year San Lorenzo head coach Ruben Machado said. “I just reinforced that working as a team will work, and so far everyone has been ready to work hard and to listen, and to apply it on the field. No matter if we win or lose, we still work as a team and they support each other on and off the field.”

The Rebels don’t have a lot of NCS history, ad-vancing to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in school history just last year. But this year

Reversing FieldReversing Field

By mAtt smitH | Contributor

San Lorenzo and Livermore have risen

from relative obscurity to become contenders


the team enters the week atop the Hayward Area Athletic League and ranked in the top five among all soccer teams in the East Bay.

“At the beginning, we set up goals, and they were just goals,” Machado said. “But now that we keep moving forward they keep realizing that it’s possible. It’s inspired them to keep working. They see that the program is going well and the unity from the team is keeping them to together.”

And sometimes you just have talent. San Lorenzo certainly has that with guys

like Victor Cuevas, Victor Rodriguez and Carlos Gonzalez, among others.

Livermore, on the other hand, had a tal-ented team that became supremely-talented when it got a rush of players who play Acad-emy.

“The bottom line is we have 11 guys on the field that can absolutely play soccer,” Liver-more coach Mike Foscalina said. “We have 10 or 11 Division-I players. We really are that talented. And since the Academy guys came back, we’ve gotten a lot better and we’re go-ing to be tough to beat. We’ve improved im-mensely.”

Livermore entered the week as a top 10 team in the East Bay, right in the middle of a logjam in the East Bay Athletic League — the area’s toughest league. The Cowboys have lost only twice since having their full roster. And all four of their losses have been one-goal

defeats to teams currently ranked among the top five in the region.

But for Foscalina, the moment he realized he had a special team came before the cav-alry came to solidify the roster. It came in a 1-0 loss to a great team, in a game where the Cowboys had a late goal called off that would have given them a 1-0 lead.

“When we played Newark Memorial in the consolation finals of the Winter Soccer Clas-sic, we didn’t have our Academy guys yet,” Foscalina said. “I looked at that game and I knew we were gonna be alright. That was the light bulb moment.”

Perhaps the biggest key to schools like San Lorenzo and Livermore doesn’t have to do with kids buying in, or having the most talent. It has to do with keeping the kids on the field as a result of them succeeding in the classroom.

Grades have been known to decimate teams as the regular season ends and the play-offs near, but when a school is having its first taste of success in many years —or ever — it can motivate players to do better in the class-room than they have done before.

Soccer gives them that something to strive for.

“That is something good,” Machado said. “Because it’s something that they love, so it’s inspiring them to keep up with the grades.”

Machado encourages his players by allow-

ing them flexibility with their practice sched-ule if they need to study, or get help with homework.

Foscalina uses grades as motivation as well, and has to deal with Livermore’s trimester system, which could cost him a kid for the entire season if his grades do not meet the standard.

“It is a tool that I use with them,” Foscalina said. “Because they do have to make grades at the end of the school year and in November to be eligible for the whole season. I use that as an incentive.”

Despite losing for the first time, a 3-1 road loss to Hayward, the Rebels are still a favor-ite to reach the NCS finals in Division II. The team took a mature perspective at the loss.

“I was surprised because I thought they would be down, but they were okay because they knew that losing is okay and that it is part of learning,” Machado said. “When you’re on the top, every team wants to beat you, and this loss will help us improve and to keep going.”

The Cowboys, on the other hand, are cer-tainly a contender in Division I, and are still getting to know one another, which will only make them more dangerous.

“When it comes to playing as a team, we’re getting better,” Foscalina said.

“Whether we win league or not, I think we’re a legitimate threat to win the NCS title. I don’t think there is anyone more talented than we are.” ✪

January 13, 2011

Butch NoblelEFt: Behind the play of Carlos Gonzalez (10), among others, the San Lorenzo boys soccer team didn’t suffer its first defeat until Jan. 4. The Rebels are looking

to reach the NCS semifinals for the first time this year (CREDIT: Bob Larson). AbOvE: Everardo Naranjo helps make up a very balanced Livermore squad. All

four of the Cowboys first four losses this season were decided by one goal.


Jesse Baldazo doesn’t expend a lot of energy on wasted speech or false movement.

Off the wrestling mat, Baldazo conserves his words like there might be a major shortage pending.

On the mat, the Liberty High School senior is pretty eco-nomical of motion, too. From the moment he strides pur-posefully from the corner to take his place in the center circle, he shows few signs that he is about to engage in any sort of strenuous activity. But once the match starts, he is a flurry of snake-like quick strikes and powerful holds.

Off the mat, the Lions’ laconic 145-pounder will just look at you with big, friendly eyes and a pleasant half-smirking smile, nodding his way through questions and shrugging off compli-ments.

On the mat, the visage shifts. Those friendly eyes don’t look quite so friendly when they’re staring you down across the mat; piercing and just a little bit scary is probably a better description. The smile is gone, too, transformed into a thin, tight-lipped line on Baldazo’s grim, all-business face.

That ‘all-business’ bit is something a little different for

Baldazo. Despite turning in a highly successful junior-year campaign that saw him win a North Coast Section title at 140 pounds before placing eighth at the California Interscholas-tic Federation tournament in Bakersfield in March, then take home second at the Cadet/Junior National Championships in Fargo, North Dakota in July, Baldazo hasn’t always shown the fire one might expect from the kind of competitor bent on winning a state title.

“He has always been serious (about wrestling),” Liberty coach Greg Chappel said of Baldazo. “But this year, since Fargo, you can tell he wants to win it (a state title). It’s good to see — some passion.”

Chappel said that Baldazo sustained a severe shoulder strain while battling his way to No. 2 in the country in Greco-Roman at the nationals in Fargo, but that something seemed to snap into place for Baldazo in the process, and that the in-tensity and enthusiasm he has shown since has taken Baldazo to another level.

“He’s doing really well,” Chappel said. “He hurt his shoulder really bad (in Fargo). When I saw how he winced, I was really concerned. But he started back up rolling around in Septem-ber. (In early December) I had him in a tournament and he

wrestled all 152s and 160s and he throttled everybody. He’s unbelievably strong. He doesn’t look overly huge, but he’s got a vice grip. My assistant coaches who work out with him come back and tell me, ‘Coach, he’s got a grown-man’s grip.’ Once he gets a hold, they can’t get away. … He’s my shining star. He can really place this year.”

Baldazo said that, because of the shoulder injury, he couldn’t wrestle freestyle, just Greco, in Fargo, and that it had him frustrated and a little concerned.

“That was a big deal,” he said. But since the shoulder has rounded into shape and he is no

longer feeling any adverse effects from the injury, the boost placing second has given him has him believing he has a legit-imate shot at making some serious noise at State come March.

“I want to do it big,” he said. “It’s my last year. … My con-fidence is higher since placing second (at Nationals). Some-thing clicked. I can’t really explain it. … I know now that, if I put in more work I can accomplish more at State. All the extra work I did for Nationals transformed into success. That makes me want to work even harder.”

And it’s not as though Baldazo has been some sort of slouch. He enters the season ranked No. 4 in the state at 145

By bill KOlb | Contributor

Bob LarsonAfter being slowed by a shoulder injury, Liberty wrestling standout Jesse Baldazo (top) is more driven than ever to reach a state final at 145 pounds.

No holding backAfter a runner-up finish at

Cadet/Junior Nationals, Liberty-Brentwood senior Jesse

Baldazo has found a new gear


by thecaliforniawrestler.com for some very good reasons.He placed No. 7 in the NCS at 145 pounds in 2009 after having advanced to the

CIF tournament as a sophomore in 2008 when he finished No. 4 at 140 pounds and helped the Lions to the NCS overall and East Bay Division I team dual cham-pionships. Then he put it all together last year, romping through the NCS field at 140 pounds with two pins (including one in the championship match against Dublin’s Nate Vincent), a technical fall and a major decision.

Still. Placing eighth in the state means that a wrestler has to have lost his last two matches in the tournament. And that didn’t sit all that well with Baldazo.

“It made me feel good to place (at State),” Baldazo said. “But to lose that last match, it made me want to do better next year.”The ‘better-next-year’ theme could apply to the entire Liberty squad. Since

winning the NCS title in 2008, the Lions have taken a back-seat to former Bay Valley Athletic League rival De La Salle. The Spartans have been dominant with-in the section for the past two seasons, winning two-straight overall and team dual titles. Liberty was fifth overall in the NCS in 2010 after placing second in 2009. The Lions won NCS East Bay Division II team dual titles both years.

With the Spartans off to the East Bay Athletic League, Liberty’s major league rivals remain Antioch and Freedom.

“The league is good this year,” Chappel said. “We already lost to Antioch by three points, and Freedom beat Antioch. I think Freedom is the team to beat. I’m excited.”

A handful of standouts, along with a solid top-to-bottom lineup, give Chappel good reason for that excitement. Sophomore Austin Solari, who placed No. 2 in NCS at 103 as a freshman last season, returns to the lineup and will likely move up to 112 pounds. He was an honorable mention in the state rankings at 112 entering the season.

“He’s gotten bigger and stronger,” Chappel said of Solari, who has been wres-tling at 119 early in the season. “He’s a tough kid and he’s putting some things together.”

Junior Jake Thompson is, in Chappel’s estimation, the “kid who has come on the most,” since last season.

“He spent a lot of time getting better during the summer,” Chappel said of Thompson, who will wrestle either at 119 or 125. “He’s maturing and things are really starting to click.”

Junior Xavier Johnson is in just his third year of competitive wrestling, but Chappel sees him as the guy on the roster who could be the biggest surprise.

“He’s so athletic and has such a great wrestling body,” Chappel said. “He’s cocky and really smart. My biggest problem is I can’t get him to slow down. … He’s got a good chance to make state. He can go to the next level. He has a big upside.”

Johnson, who placed seventh in NCS at 125 last season, will probably bump up to 130s this season.

Senior Nico Serrano, who was sixth in NCS at 130 in 2010 and fifth at 130 in 2009, entered the season ranked No. 19 in the state at 135 by thecaliforniawres-tler.com.

“De La Salle is the cream of the crop, obviously,” Chappel said. “They are the team to beat. College Park should be back this year. But we’re right there.” ✪

The De La Salle High School wrestling team is the big green elephant in the room.

Seems like nobody — not even the Spartans’ own head coach — really wants to talk about just how good the Green Machine can be this year.

Sure, in sports circles, De La Salle is known first and foremost (and rightfully) as a football school.

Still, coach Mark Halvorson and his grapplers have a little something cooking on the Concord cam-pus as well.

“We’re missing three or four guys from last year,” Halvorson said. “And football just ended, so we have to get those guys back out. … You never know. It’s so early. Hopefully everybody stays healthy.”

The Spartans have won back-to-back overall North Coast Section championships to go alongside their NCS East Bay Division I team dual titles in 2009 and 2010. Those team dual titles mean that the Spartans have won team dual titles in four straight seasons. They won the NCS East Bay Div. II team dual championships in 2007 and 2008 before bump-ing up to Div. I.

“There is no power team in the section other than De La Salle,” thecaliforniawrestler.com editor Al Fontes said. “I don’t see them being beat. They have the best chance to finish in the top 10 at state.”

In fact, thecaliforniawrestler.com slotted the Spar-tans No. 7 in the state in its preseason rankings. And, considering the talent that returns from a team that placed No. 8 at the California Interscholastic Federation championship tournament in 2010, there is certainly a good chance the Spartans could even crack the top 5.

Returning North Coast Section champions and state placers Luke Sheridan and Joe Moita lead the charge for the Spartans. Sheridan, a senior who was No. 3 in the state at 171 pounds in 2010, won a na-tional championship in Greco-Roman wrestling at the Cadet and Junior Freestyle and Greco-Roman National Championships in Fargo, ND, in July. He is ranked No. 2 in the state at 189 by thecaliforniawres-tler.com, trailing two-time defending state champion

Morgan McIntosh from Calvary Chapel. Moita, a junior, won a Greco-Roman national

championship at 103 in 2009, and placed fourth in the state in 2010. He entered the season ranked No. 3 in the state at 112, but might bump up in weight.

Junior Alex Abono was second in the NCS at 130 last season and entered the season ranked No. 5 in the state.

Newcomer Jon Jay Chavez could make some real noise at 125. The freshman was ranked 11th in the state in the preseason, and has drawn rave reviews from local coaches.

“He is very, very talented,” Liberty coach Greg Chappel said. “He could beat Moita. He already beat the kid who placed second at State last year. He’s just yoked. He’s tougher than … He’s tough.”

Then there are guys like junior Joey Ramirez, who was eighth in the section at 119. Or senior Dylan Wynn, who was third in the NCS at 285 last season. Or junior Justin Walker, who is ranked No. 4 in the state at 215 entering the season after placing 5th in the section at 189 as a freshman in 2009.

And… well. You get the picture. If anyone not wearing green singlets and hooded sweatshirts hoists the overall NCS trophy this year, it will be an upset of elephant-sized proportions. ✪

De la Salle faces extra large expectationsBy bill KOlb | Contributor

Jonathan Hawthorne Just a freshman, Jon Jay Chavez (behind) is already making some noise for the Spar-

tans at 125 pounds.


Nor Cal Wrestling previewIt’s been 23 years since a team from the North Coast Section has won a

California Interscholastic Federation wrestling championship. It is so long ago that Jason Verduzco, Pat Sweeney and Casey Rhyan led Antioch to their dominating 1988 state title at the Spanos Center in Stockton that one begins to wonder if it ever really happened, or if the Panthers’ brazen audacity was merely a fi gment of the imagination.

Worse still, it has been 19 years since a team from the section even cracked the top fi ve (College Park was fourth in 1993).

And though it’s been just four years since Sac-Joaquin Section power Vacaville managed to put a notch in the NorCal’s belt with a team title in 2007, the notion of the North rising up and somehow snatching a team title away from Southern, San Diego and Central section stalwarts like Calvary Chapel, Poway, Bakersfi eld and Clovis remains little more than laughable.

All of which is to say that if you’re waiting for some local or even Northern-half-of-the state squad to take home the heavy hardware from this year’s tournament at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfi eld, well, keep waiting.

Bakersfi eld and Selma, from the Central, are the runaway favorites for the team title this year, with Clovis (Central) and Calvary Chapel (Southern) ranked No. 4 and 5, respectively, by thecaliforniawrestler.com entering the season. Sure, scrappy Oakdale (Sac-Joaquin) slips into the rankings at No. 3. The point is, for NorCal kids, glory at The ‘Bank will come in individually wrapped portions.

That being said, there are a host of grapplers from the NCS and throughout Northern California who have legitimate shots at making deep runs come late March.

At right is a weight-by-weight list of northern wrestlers to keep an eye on in the coming months (with 2010 state placing and accolades in parentheses).

By BILL KOLB | Contributor

Key tournament dates and sites for the remainder of the season. Sites are high schools, unless otherwise noted.■ 1/14-15: Five Counties Tournament, Fountain Valley; Battle for the Belt, Temecula Valley-Temecula.■ 1/15: Clayton Valley Invitational, Clayton Valley-Concord■ 1/29: The Clash Wrestling Tourna-ment, College of Marin, Kentfi eld■ 2/4-5: Mission San Jose Invitational, Mission San Jose-Fremont ■ 2/5: Sac-Joaquin Section Duals Championships, Lincoln-Stockton■ 2/12: North Coast Section Duals Championships, Castro Valley (East

Bay), Maria Carillo-Santa Rosa (Red-wood Empire)■ 2/18-19: SJS Divisionals, various high school sites■ 2/25-26: Central Coast Section Championships, Independence-San Jose; Northern Section Champion-ships, Redding Civic Center; NCS Championships, Newark Memorial-Newark; SJS Masters Championships, Stockton Arena. ■ 2/26: San Francisco All-City Cham-pionships, Washington-SF■ 3/4-5: CIF State Championships, Rabobank Arena, Bakersfi eld

GET OUT TO THE MATS!

Joey Moita, De La Salle (4th), Martin Ramirez, Elk Grove (5th), Hermilio Esquivel, Orland (6th), Blake Borges, El Molino-Forestville (CIF qualifi er), Ty Stevenson, McKinleyville (CIF qualifi er), Andres Torres, Windsor (CIF qualifi er), Brian Sergi, College Park-Pleasant Hill (CIF qualifi er), Kaleb Obien, Independence-San Jose (CIF qualifi er)

112Nahshon Garrett, Chico (defending state cham-

pion), Garrett Fortado, Oakdale (8th), Lee Corbin, Mission San Jose-Fremont (CIF qualifi er), Austin Solari, Liberty-Brentwood (CIF qualifi er), Artemio Flores, James Logan-Union City (CIF qualifi er), Leif Dominguez, Gilroy (CIF qualifi er)119

Willie Fox, Gilroy (returning National champion) Cody Tow, Union Mine-El Dorado (3-time state medallist), Jorge Barajas, St. Francis (CIF qualifi er), Aaron Pen Krueger, Albany (CIF qualifi er), Efren Rodriguez, Chico (CIF qualifi er125

Shane Tate, Oakdale (3rd 2010, 5th 2009), Alex Abono, De La Salle (CIF qualifi er), Zach Wiley, Freedom (CIF qualifi er), Anthony Linares, Oak Grove (CIF qualifi er)130

David Ferry, Oakdale (defend-ing state champ), Nick Cano, St. Francis-Mountain View (3rd) Blake Kastl, Gilroy (6th), Andrew Perez, Pitman-Turlock (8th)135

Travis Arreguin, Healdsburg (CIF qualifi er), Chase Boontjer, Foothill-Palo Cedro (CIF qualifi er), Nate Vincent, Dublin (CIF quali-fi er), Adam Hendrickson, Healds-burg (7th), Austin Branum, Del Oro-Loomis (CIF qualifi er)

140Victor Pereira, Newark Memo-

rial (5th), Jesse Baldazo, Liberty (8th), Robin Callas, Nevada Union-Grass Valley (CIF qualifi er)145

Jim Wilson, McNair-Stockton (4th), Trent Noon, Oakdale (7th), Dillon Reid, Red Bluff (8th), Ian Messaros, Cupertino (CIF qualifi er), Stefan Weidemann, Gunn-San Jose (CIF qualifi er)152

Vincent Waldhauser, Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills (2nd), Jared Stine, Willows (CIF qualifi er), Brett Schuman, Orland (2009 CIF qualifi er)160

Will Laster, Ukiah (CIF quali-fi er), Scott Brasil, Mt. Pleasant-San Jose (CIF qualifi er)215

Gavin Andrews, Granite Bay (5th), Orry Elor, College Park (8th), Dylan Wynn, De La Salle (CIF qualifi er, right)275

Roman Ermolov, Terra Linda-San Rafael (CIF qualifi er), Ross Longnecker, Chico (CIF qualifi er), Adam Busch, Castro Valley (CIF qualifi er), Cody Linton, Winters (CIF qualifi er)171

Luke Sheridan, De La Salle (3rd, below on top), Logan Kellogg, San Lorenzo Valley-Felton (CIF qualifi er), Danny Chaid, Bellarmine-San Jose (CIF qualifi er)189

Nahshon Garrett, Chico (defending state champi-on, bottom left), Garrett Fortado, Oakdale (8th), Lee Corbin, Mission San Jose-Fremont (CIF qualifi er), Austin Solari, Liberty-Brentwood (CIF qualifi er), Artemio Flores, James Logan-Union City (CIF quali-fi er), Leif Dominguez, Gilroy (CIF qualifi er)103

Jonathan Hawthorne

Jonathan Hawthorne

Support Your Local Business • Say You Found Them In SportStars™ 21SportStars™January 13, 2010Support Your Local Business • Say You Found Them In SportStars™ SportStars™SportStars™ Upload photos and team stats! www.SportStarsMag.com 21January 13, 2011January 13, 201120

Nor Cal Wrestling previewIt’s been 23 years since a team from the North Coast Section has won a

California Interscholastic Federation wrestling championship. It is so long ago that Jason Verduzco, Pat Sweeney and Casey Rhyan led Antioch to their dominating 1988 state title at the Spanos Center in Stockton that one begins to wonder if it ever really happened, or if the Panthers’ brazen audacity was merely a fi gment of the imagination.

Worse still, it has been 19 years since a team from the section even cracked the top fi ve (College Park was fourth in 1993).

And though it’s been just four years since Sac-Joaquin Section power Vacaville managed to put a notch in the NorCal’s belt with a team title in 2007, the notion of the North rising up and somehow snatching a team title away from Southern, San Diego and Central section stalwarts like Calvary Chapel, Poway, Bakersfi eld and Clovis remains little more than laughable.

All of which is to say that if you’re waiting for some local or even Northern-half-of-the state squad to take home the heavy hardware from this year’s tournament at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfi eld, well, keep waiting.

Bakersfi eld and Selma, from the Central, are the runaway favorites for the team title this year, with Clovis (Central) and Calvary Chapel (Southern) ranked No. 4 and 5, respectively, by thecaliforniawrestler.com entering the season. Sure, scrappy Oakdale (Sac-Joaquin) slips into the rankings at No. 3. The point is, for NorCal kids, glory at The ‘Bank will come in individually wrapped portions.

That being said, there are a host of grapplers from the NCS and throughout Northern California who have legitimate shots at making deep runs come late March.

At right is a weight-by-weight list of northern wrestlers to keep an eye on in the coming months (with 2010 state placing and accolades in parentheses).

By BILL KOLB | Contributor

Key tournament dates and sites for the remainder of the season. Sites are high schools, unless otherwise noted.■ 1/14-15: Five Counties Tournament, Fountain Valley; Battle for the Belt, Temecula Valley-Temecula.■ 1/15: Clayton Valley Invitational, Clayton Valley-Concord■ 1/29: The Clash Wrestling Tourna-ment, College of Marin, Kentfi eld■ 2/4-5: Mission San Jose Invitational, Mission San Jose-Fremont ■ 2/5: Sac-Joaquin Section Duals Championships, Lincoln-Stockton■ 2/12: North Coast Section Duals Championships, Castro Valley (East

Bay), Maria Carillo-Santa Rosa (Red-wood Empire)■ 2/18-19: SJS Divisionals, various high school sites■ 2/25-26: Central Coast Section Championships, Independence-San Jose; Northern Section Champion-ships, Redding Civic Center; NCS Championships, Newark Memorial-Newark; SJS Masters Championships, Stockton Arena. ■ 2/26: San Francisco All-City Cham-pionships, Washington-SF■ 3/4-5: CIF State Championships, Rabobank Arena, Bakersfi eld

GET OUT TO THE MATS!

Joey Moita, De La Salle (4th), Martin Ramirez, Elk Grove (5th), Hermilio Esquivel, Orland (6th), Blake Borges, El Molino-Forestville (CIF qualifi er), Ty Stevenson, McKinleyville (CIF qualifi er), Andres Torres, Windsor (CIF qualifi er), Brian Sergi, College Park-Pleasant Hill (CIF qualifi er), Kaleb Obien, Independence-San Jose (CIF qualifi er)

112Nahshon Garrett, Chico (defending state cham-

pion), Garrett Fortado, Oakdale (8th), Lee Corbin, Mission San Jose-Fremont (CIF qualifi er), Austin Solari, Liberty-Brentwood (CIF qualifi er), Artemio Flores, James Logan-Union City (CIF qualifi er), Leif Dominguez, Gilroy (CIF qualifi er)119

Willie Fox, Gilroy (returning National champion) Cody Tow, Union Mine-El Dorado (3-time state medallist), Jorge Barajas, St. Francis (CIF qualifi er), Aaron Pen Krueger, Albany (CIF qualifi er), Efren Rodriguez, Chico (CIF qualifi er125

Shane Tate, Oakdale (3rd 2010, 5th 2009), Alex Abono, De La Salle (CIF qualifi er), Zach Wiley, Freedom (CIF qualifi er), Anthony Linares, Oak Grove (CIF qualifi er)130

David Ferry, Oakdale (defend-ing state champ), Nick Cano, St. Francis-Mountain View (3rd) Blake Kastl, Gilroy (6th), Andrew Perez, Pitman-Turlock (8th)135

Travis Arreguin, Healdsburg (CIF qualifi er), Chase Boontjer, Foothill-Palo Cedro (CIF qualifi er), Nate Vincent, Dublin (CIF quali-fi er), Adam Hendrickson, Healds-burg (7th), Austin Branum, Del Oro-Loomis (CIF qualifi er)

140Victor Pereira, Newark Memo-

rial (5th), Jesse Baldazo, Liberty (8th), Robin Callas, Nevada Union-Grass Valley (CIF qualifi er)145

Jim Wilson, McNair-Stockton (4th), Trent Noon, Oakdale (7th), Dillon Reid, Red Bluff (8th), Ian Messaros, Cupertino (CIF qualifi er), Stefan Weidemann, Gunn-San Jose (CIF qualifi er)152

Vincent Waldhauser, Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills (2nd), Jared Stine, Willows (CIF qualifi er), Brett Schuman, Orland (2009 CIF qualifi er)160

Will Laster, Ukiah (CIF quali-fi er), Scott Brasil, Mt. Pleasant-San Jose (CIF qualifi er)215

Gavin Andrews, Granite Bay (5th), Orry Elor, College Park (8th), Dylan Wynn, De La Salle (CIF qualifi er, right)275

Roman Ermolov, Terra Linda-San Rafael (CIF qualifi er), Ross Longnecker, Chico (CIF qualifi er), Adam Busch, Castro Valley (CIF qualifi er), Cody Linton, Winters (CIF qualifi er)171

Luke Sheridan, De La Salle (3rd, below on top), Logan Kellogg, San Lorenzo Valley-Felton (CIF qualifi er), Danny Chaid, Bellarmine-San Jose (CIF qualifi er)189

Nahshon Garrett, Chico (defending state champi-on, bottom left), Garrett Fortado, Oakdale (8th), Lee Corbin, Mission San Jose-Fremont (CIF qualifi er), Austin Solari, Liberty-Brentwood (CIF qualifi er), Artemio Flores, James Logan-Union City (CIF quali-fi er), Leif Dominguez, Gilroy (CIF qualifi er)103

Jonathan Hawthorne

Jonathan Hawthorne


As the Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland boys basketball team spent its last week of December competing in the National Division of the prestigious Torrey Pines Holiday Classic, the Dragons learned something about themselves.

They were who they thought they were.

This idea isn’t born from cockiness by the defending Cali-fornia Interscholastic Federation Division III Northern regional champions, but rather confidence. And returning home with wins in three of four games — their only loss coming by six points to the state’s No.1-ranked team Long Beach Poly in the championship game — has only made that confidence swell.

“We knew the kind of team we were going into (the tourna-ment),” Dragons coach doug vierra said . “So it was nice to go there and see us execute.”

Fueled by its junior tandem of Brandon Ashley and richard longrus Jr., Bishop O’Dowd opened with a 76-50 win over Franklin-Seattle, and then reached the semifinals by grinding out a 61-54 win over Centennial-Corona. Vierra pointed to Longrus’ defense as a big key to victory against Centennial — which entered the game ranked among the state’s Top 10 teams.

“(Longrus) guarded a guy who scored 35 points the night before and held him to two,” Vierra said. “I don’t think enough people realize just how difficult that is.”

Defensively, the entire team came up big in a 57-54 win over St. Edward-Lakewood (Ohio). Because St. Edward

relied heavily on the 3-point shot, the Dragons were forced to change their base defense.

Essentially implementing a new scheme over a meeting and walk-through, Bishop O’Dowd managed to make it work.

“That was the hardest game to prepare for. Even harder than Long Beach Poly,” Vierra said. “Poly is more talented, but they didn’t cause scheme issues for us like St. Edward. That was a real rewarding win.”

Long Beach Poly prevailed in the championship game 48-42, but the Dragons still came home feeling awfully good about things.

Bishop O’Dowd returned to roll through its first three Hay-ward Area Athletic League games, and remains CalHiSports.com’s top-ranked Northern California team in the state.

So, as it turns out, the Dragons are also who the rest of California thought they were.

“The kids like the high ranking more than I do,” Vierra said. “I’m not super-comfortable with a high early-season ranking because all you can do is stay the same or go down, but the kids like it and that’s the main thing.”

However, the on-court tests are far from over for Ashley, Longrus and company. To be fair, they aren’t even guaran-teed to win the HAAL. Castro Valley, another state-ranked team boasting a trio of Division-1 recruits, will get a pair of shots at the Dragons. The first one comes on Jan. 26 at Chabot College.

And even before that, Bishop O’Dowd faces Sacramento at the Martin Luther King Classic showcase on Jan. 17 at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley — a rematch of last year’s Div. III Northern regional championship. Bishop O’Dowd won that game 57-50, but Sacramento star Josiah turner is back and

January 13, 2011

in the paint

inside look: bishop o’dowd

Successful trip south has Dragons building resume, confidence

By CHACE brysON | Editor

Bob LarsonBrandon Ashley (23) drives to the basket in a league game against Mt. Eden-Hayward. The 6-8 junior is a

major reason the Dragons have compiled an 11-2 record over the first six weeks of the season.


has Sacramento eager for revenge.Vierra knows it will take more than Ashley

and Longrus to get back to the state final this season, which is why he’s encouraged by how much the supporting cast has con-tributed to this point. Among those whose play he mentioned were t.J. King, Kendall Jackson, Anders Haas, T.J. Daniels and Brenden Royal. “We’re deep,” the coach said. “We have eight or nine guys who are all contributing. ... We’re happy right now, but we know we can still improve.”

Mlk ClassicThe 14th annual playing of De La Salle’s

marquee one-day event, might feature its best lineup yet. Five boys games are on the docket for the Jan. 17 showcase at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley. Seven of the 10 teams are ranked among SportStars’ NorCal Top 15. Here’s a quick glance at each matchup. For ticket information, go to www.dlshs.org.

■ Monte Vista-Danville vs. San Leandro, 10:15 a.m.: San Leandro finished the first week of January with a record of 7-4, and played SportStars’ No. 1 Mitty-San Jose to just a nine-point loss on Dec. 11. Monte Vista hasn’t faired quite as well, but typically plays some of its best basketball at this event.

■ St. Mary’s-Berkeley vs. No. 11 Newark Memorial-Newark, 1:45 p.m.: The Panthers of St. Mary’s are in a transition year after reaching the Division IV state final last season, but still had nine wins by Jan. 8. Newark Memorial reached the Div. I state final a year ago, and recently knocked off SportStars’ No. 7 Granite Bay 64-62.

■ No. 3 Castro Valley vs. No. 4 Sale-sian-Richmond, 3:30 p.m.: This may turn out to be the game of the day. Castro Valley’s trio of Roderick Bobbitt, Juan Anderson and Chris read have the Trojans in high gear. Meanwhile, Salesian has a decent chance to enter the matchup with an unblem-ished mark of 15-0.

■ No. 5 Sacramento vs. No. 2 Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland, 5:15 p.m.: This is a rematch of last season’s Div. III NorCal

championship, which Bishop O’Dowd won 57-50. Sacramento is led by Josiah turner, who committed to the Univ. of Arizona in September. Meanwhile the tall tandem of Brandon Ashley (6-8) and richard lon-grus Jr. (6-6) has Bishop O’Dowed poised for another state run.

■ No. 15 Sheldon-Sacramento vs. No. 6 De La Salle, 7 p.m.: The host Spartans closed out the first week of January by hand-ing SportStars’ No. 10 San Ramon Valley-Danville its first loss of the season, 53-42. De La Salle’s trademark pressure defense will focus on stopping Sheldon’s Darius Nelson, the younger brother of former Duke star and brief Golden State Warriors guard, demar-cus Nelson. ✪

January 13, 2011

in the paint

no. California Boys Top 15Records are through Jan. 8. Teams from the Central Section are not considered.Rank, Team ............................record1. Archbishop Mitty-San Jose .....11-12. Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland ........11-23. Castro Valley ............................12-14. Salesian-Richmond .................12-05. Sacramento ................................9-36. De La Salle-Concord ...............10-27. Granite Bay ..............................15-28. Jesuit-Carmichael ....................11-59. Oakland ......................................8-510. San Ramon Valley-Danville ..13-111. Newark Memorial-Newark ......9-512. Berkeley ...................................9-313. Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills ....15-014. Analy-Sebastopol...................12-315. Sheldon-Sacramento ..............9-6

It’s hard to slip under the radar when you play for a state championship, but St. Mary’s of Berkeley (or is it Albany?) has done just that.

Overshadowed by Berkeley High’s talent and eligibility drama (first brittany boyd, now Khristina Hunter), Bishop O’Dowd’s run of elite players and Piedmont’s tradition (you might remember the Paris twins), the Panthers have just steadily chugged along in Division IV, improving every year in Nate Fripp’s six years in charge.

Last year, they went 31-4 and went to Ba-kersfield to play a veteran Harvard-Westlake team for the California title, eventually losing 58-44.

“People say you have to lose in order to win,” says Fripp, “but I’d rather just win.”

He does concede, though, that it’s a process.

“When we lost to Modesto Christian in

St. Mary’s Panthers lurk in the albany, er, Berkeley shadows

girls basketball

Bob LarsonCody Sims and St. Mary’s are 10-3

despite a grueling schedule.


the NorCal finals (in 2009), it was a learning experience.”

Fripp also tries to teach his team during the season, and this year has already played SportStars’ No. 1 Carondelet-Concord, No. 3 Berkeley, No. 4 Presentation-San Jose, No. 9 Mitty-San Jose and No. 15 Bishop O’Dowd plus solid programs such as Branson-Ross, Moreau Catholic-Hayward, St. Ignatius-San Francisco, Hanford and The Bishop’s School-San Diego.

As if that weren’t enough, Fripp has two more major challenges ahead: No. 2 St. Mary’s-Stockton on MLK Day at Haas Pavilion and No. 11, and defending Division V state champion, Pinewood-Los Altos Hills at the Campolindo Shootout Jan. 22.

At 9-3 right now, with a win over league rival Piedmont already in the bank, the Pan-thers seem on track for another deep run into postseason, but Fripp isn’t taking anything for granted.

“It’s still a work in progress,” he says, though he concedes he has a lot of weapons. “It’s my most talented team, but I won’t say it’s my best team.”

To be Fripp’s best team most likely means getting close to last year’s 31 wins, and cap-ping the season with a state championship — which means we won’t know for sure where this year’s group stands until the Div. IV title game March 27. But given Fripp’s six-year record, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see St. Mary’s celebrating at Arco Arena.

◆ ◆ ◆And speaking of big games in the next two

weeks, the Martin Luther King Day events and the Campolindo Shootout offer plenty of intriguing matchups. The fourth annual Common Good Classic mixes boys and girls (which sometimes works against the girls’ games, as fans tend to leave when the boys do) on Saturday, Jan. 15 and Monday, Jan. 17. Saturday’s highlight will be No. 8 Sacra-mento vs. St. Francis-Sacramento at 6 p.m., and at 6 p.m. Monday, Del Oro-Loomis will try to knock off No. 3 Berkeley. The Campolindo Shootout, now in its 13th season (though it has been held at Acalanes as well), has a trio of big games after four appetizers during the day. No. 6 Dougherty Valley will play No. 9 Mitty at 5 p.m. in a potential preview of a Div. II NorCal playoff; No. 3 Berkeley will take on No. 15 Bishop O’Dowd at 6:30 p.m.; and No. 5 St. Mary’s of Albany (or is it Berkeley?) will go against No. 11 Pinewood at 8 p.m.

◆ ◆ ◆OK, so where is St. Mary’s exactly?

Supposedly, the campus is actually partly in Berkeley and partly in Albany, and so can be claimed by either city. For whatever reason, most of the time people say the school is in Berkeley, but the mailing address is Albany. Maybe the school should take a page out of the California university system’s book and just become St. Mary’s-East Bay …

◆ ◆ ◆The first candidate for upset of the year

is St. Francis of Mountain View knocking off Mitty 51-48. Not only was it a surprise that the Lancers, who have lost to Gunn-San Jose, Lowell-San Francisco and Albany by an average margin of 10 points each, beat the Monarchs, they did so in San Jose. Ashley Hill, a great player at Novato and a college stalwart at Santa Clara, coaxed a tremendous effort out of her undersized team against the WCAL powerhouse (only one player taller than 5-9), though Mitty was without 6-4 senior post Vanessa Leo.

◆ ◆ ◆Despite an unimpressive 7-6 record, and

a couple of 30-point losses, Bishop O’Dowd is still in the top 15 – which leads to the obvious question: Why are the Dragons still hanging around? When it comes to rank-ings, we always look at the losses first, and O’Dowd’s are, well, impressive. The Dragons got thumped by Pennsylvania’s Mt. Lebanon at the Nike TOC in Phoenix, and also lost to Memphis Central and SoCal power Santa Monica there. Other defeats have come at the hands of Mitty, Long Beach Poly and St. Mary’s of Albany (or is it Berkeley?) – and O’Dowd looks poised to resume its domi-nance of the Hayward Area Athletic League, and North Coast Section Division III, despite all those defeats. The talent is there, no question, and presumably that very difficult preseason schedule will pay off in February and March.

— Clay Kallam

January 13, 2011

in the paint

no. California girls Top 15Records are through Jan. 8. Teams from the Central Section are not considered.Rank, Team ............................record1. Carondelet ................................11-22. St. Mary’s-Stockton ..................5-23. Berkeley ....................................9-14. St. Mary’s-Berkeley ..................10-35. Dougherty Valley-San Ramon .13-26. Lincoln-Stockton .......................11-07. St. Ignatius-San Francisco ......12-28. Sacramento ..............................10-39. Archbishop Mitty-San Jose ......8-410. Presentation-San Jose ..........10-311. Deer Valley-Antioch ................6-512. Pinewood-Los Altos Hills .......10-313. Eastside Coll. Prep-Palo Alto ..8-614. Vanden-Travis AFB ................12-415. Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland .......7-6


Many times, when coach or trainers implement a warm-

up before a practice, workout or game, it usually consists of stretching, some jumping jacks and then jogging. Even those who do implement more effec-tive strategies, such as activa-tion and mobility, still miss the big picture by not understand-ing or focusing on the quality or reasoning of the exercises performed in the warm-up.

When it comes to an effec-tive warm-up, it must focus on developing single strength, dynamic flexibility, getting more propriocep-tive input throughout the joints of the body, all while…

■ Raising core temperature and blood flow.■ Elongating the muscles actively.■ Activation of proprioceptors (sen-

sors that provide information about joint angle, muscle length, and tension, which is integrated to give information about the position of the limb in space), stabilizers (local muscles that help to stabilize a joint) and the Central Nervous System (composed of the brain and spinal cord, serving as the main “processing center” that controls all the workings of your body).

■ Engraining proper motor patterns. In other words, the exercises in the warm-up will look like strength exercises or move-ment patterns seen in sport or training, which in fact they are.

The key to the most effective warm-up exercises is activation of one muscle while simultaneously elongating another. So there has to be a focus on quality, or the effective-ness of the exercises will be a non-factor in injury prevention, single-leg strength and mobility.

If the exercises in the warm-up are performed with poor quality, coaches and trainers will engrain faulty movement patterns in their athletes, result-ing in a more injury-prone young athletes.

The exercises in the warm-up must be done with a really specific purpose of targeting muscles to strengthen, while stretching an opposing muscle. When this is done correctly your young athletes will turn on and strengthen muscles and proprioceptors that help sup-port stability in the knees, lower

back as well as mobility in the ankles, hips and upper back.

Sport is multidirectional and young athletes need to have proper mobility and strength. The exercises in the warm-up should also be performed in the following three planes of movement.

Saggital plane: This is front to back, think walking or running forward and you’re in this plane.

Frontal plane: This is side to side move-ment, think of any kind of lateral movement such as shuffling.

Transverse plane: This is referred to as the rotational plane, opening the hips to a 90 degree angle. Think of an athlete who has to open up their hips to react to an opponent that is running by them.

An effective dynamic warm-up will result in a more injury resistant young athlete as well as a stronger, faster and more powerful performance during a game, practice.

Tim Rudd is an IYCA specialist in youth conditioning (level 3), speed and agility (level 2), and nutrition specialist (level 1). You can contact him with questions or feedback at [email protected].

January 13, 2011

Tim Rudd for IyCa Training Time

Precision and detail is the key to an effective active warm-up

Submitted photoThe gluteus and hip-flexor exercise is an example of a proper warm up element.


It is that time of the year where players need to start think-ing about their upcoming season of high school golf. Most local high schools will be under way with tryouts in about a month. Often times, getting back into the swing of things will take some time and effort before players are truly ready to compete.

The first thing player’s need to do to is to get out and prac-tice soon. Many times, waiting too long can put you behind the eight ball from the get-go.

If you work with a pro, that’s usually a starting point. The pro can help prepare a golfer much quicker than if they try and go at it alone. If you can begin the process by chipping and putting first before attempting to get your swing back on track, your scoring will come back sooner than if you do this in reverse.

Time is not on your side if you are pressing to get your game back in a hurry. I believe taking a break is necessary to recharge your batteries, gain perspective, set new goals and then approach the season fresh with a positive attitude. Now the season is still a few months away, but not if you are going through tryouts. Your season depends on you making the team, so tryouts are like a tournament and should be viewed as such.

Once you begin with the short game, then try to regain some feel for your swing and perhaps get out onto the course to see how things really are. Assess your game and decide what needs the most attention and then begin the process of tackling the weak link to your scoring first.

For example, if your round of nine holes includes too many putts, then begin to work on that area first. The most impor-tant thing is to get out there and go to work.

The course is wet, the air is cold, but a determined player will fair far better then someone who might prefer the couch in early January.

January 13, 2011

tee2green

Dave De long

notes from the pros

High school golfers: Break’s over. Start honing your game


Junior golf: Structure or no structure? You’ve heard me write about the quality of junior events

and their impact on a junior players development before, but I never mentioned why.

I believe junior events should be administered as profes-sionally as any amateur or professional sporting event. While the billion dollar stadiums may not be there, the small details you add bring a unique feel to your events, and an aura of continuity.

The whole purpose of my article today revolves around this word: structure. Youth development of the past would have us believe that structure is the key to sustaining posi-tive academic and athletic results with a child. However with education movements, which advocate that it is the limitless imagination of children that should guide their desires and passion, this throws all organized sport out the window.

Now, when we focus this on golf, it is pretty clear when someone is going to enjoy this game or not. Should we just make programs available to those players who feel should enjoy the game? I believe a properly well-managed junior golf program is an essential piece to the development of a child and their ability to negotiate life after the program. These programs are what give a player the spark for the game.

When you decide to take your son or daughter to a junior program, make sure the program has a focused goal. Imagi-nation without purpose is just random thoughts in time. Make sure the program has a way to give your child a scoreboard

for progress. Whether it’s through competition or daily contests, the program must give a player a chance to see how good they are and where they can improve.

Your first red flag should be if the program has the players jumping around and playing tag or duck-duck-goose. While I am sure someone could argue the merits of duck-duck-goose and it’s impact on the golf swing, it is not the key to progressing your son or daughter more.

Now, if a program has a level system and allows the play-ers to determine what part of their game they need to work on, then you might have a structure that is inclusive.

Before you start your child in competitive events, make sure they are coming from a carefully structured program thy allows the players to still make some choices. This will guarantee their passion for the game and also ensure their lifelong participation.

Notes From The Pros is a regular feature compiled by Gary Xavier (former sports administrator of the Northern California PGA Junior Golf program) and Dave DeLong (PGA profes-sional and director of instruction at Boundary Oak GC). Con-tact them at the following addresses: [email protected] or [email protected].

January 13, 2011

gary Xavier

tee2green

The First Tee makes sure that you don’t use only the ‘what’ they teach in the golf program, but also in everyday life. One of the concepts they stress this with is STAR. STAR stands for Stop, Think, Anticipate, Respond.

On the golf course, this can be used to get ready for your next shot or hole, but it has many more applications in the everyday life. Whether to end an argument or to make a deci-sion, it can come in handy. I use this technique when I have to choose between two decisions. But by following STAR, a decision can come into view easier.

STOP: Take yourself away from the situation, make sure you are not caught up in the moment.

THINK: Make sure you look at each decision equally and understand what each entails.

ANTICIPATE: What will happen if you make one decision over the other? Will there be consequences, either good or bad?

RESPOND: Make the right choice based on what you

have come to realize in the earlier steps. The decision you make will be well thought out and you will feel better because you had taken the time to think about it.

STAR is extremely helpful to have by your side, as are many other First Tee concepts. The more you use them, the more you will see the benefits of them.

Eddie Estrada is a senior at De La Salle High. He has been a member of The First Tee Contra Costa for six years. Contact him at [email protected].

first tee, firsthand

Eddie Estrada

Follow STaR for all your tough choices, not just golf

Following are the Top 10 boys and girls points leaders for the 2010-11 NCGA season, as of Jan. 7. For up-to-date rankings, visit www.ncga.org/juniors.

bOysRank Player (hometown) ........................Points1 Jonathan Garrick (Atherton) ................... 100T2 Eric Ash (Loomis) ...................................... 75T2 Thomas Crowther (Sacramento) ............. 754 Shotaro Ban (San Jose) ........................... 62

T5 Nicolo Galletti (Clayton) ............................ 60T5 Kraig McLeod (Pebble Beach) ................. 607 Patrick Grimes (Palo Alto)......................... 538 Tharusyan Pillay (San Jose) .................... 509 Tim Byrne (San Carlos) ............................ 4510 Roshan Chekuri (Pleasanton) .................. 40

girlsRank Player (hometown) ........................Points1 Grace Na (Alameda) ............................... 9002 Hannah Suh (San Jose) ......................... 430

3 Briana Mao (Folsom) .............................. 3554 Paige Lee (Folsom) ................................ 2455 Betty Chen (Castro Valley) ..................... 2006 Casie Cathrea (Livermore) ..................... 1907 Ashley Noda (Roseville) ......................... 1258 Tiffany Lim (San Jose) ............................ 1009 Shawnee Martinez (Modesto) .................. 80T10 Alicia Binneboese (Carmel Valley) ........... 75T10 Annie Bowlsby (Monterey) ....................... 75T10 Michelle Xie (Palo Alto) ............................. 75

ncga junior rankings

SportStars™ Upload photos and team stats! www.SportStarsMag.com28 January 13, 2011

Sue Phillips was asked how her Archbishop Mit-ty girls basketball team – the San Jose school once again ranked among the best in the state – lost a 48-45 West Catholic Athletic League opener to visiting and lightly-regarded St. Francis on Jan. 5.

Phillips, a math teacher by day, raised her eye-brows, ruffled out the old stat sheet and gave a clear and scientific deduction that Sherlock Holmes him-self would have been proud.

“I believe that the numbers tell the story,” she said, which loosely translated into ‘Elementary, my dear Watson.’ “Offensive efficiency: 45 points in 87 pos-sessions. We average a ratio of 75 percent.

“We had 21 more possessions than our opponent and had 13 offensive rebounds, however we com-mitted 29 turnovers. We average 12.

“We shot 36 percent from the floor. We average 43 percent.

“We shot 45 percent from the line. We average 70 percent.

“The numbers indicate poor execution offensive-ly, poor decisions in passing, poor shot selection, lack of focus at the free throw line.”

Another Watson – the team’s heart and soul,

aDDSit all

upSue Phillips’ day job is math teacher. Once the

bell rings, she’s dedicated herself to making a state power of the Archbishop

Mitty girls basketballBy mitCH stEPHENs | Contributor

Dennis LeeIn 17 years of leading the Mitty girls program, Sue Phillips has taken the Monarchs to eight state finals, winning four.


5-foot-7 senior point guard and fourth-year letterperson Ash-ley Watson – put it in less mathematical terms.

“We underestimated them and didn’t want it enough,” she said. “But we’ll learn from our mistakes. Will get back on track.”

Being on track is the Mitty way. It’s Phillips’ way, right down to a meticulous point-by-point, four-minute-segment-by-four-minute segment of a 2 hour and 28-minute practice schedule, or agenda as it were.

“She pays attention to every detail,” said Mitty Athletic Di-rector Will Scharrenberg, who before becoming the AD six years ago was in the girls basketball program under Phillips for 11 seasons. “Every one of those agendas is typed up, ready to go. Has been ever since she got here.”

That was in 1992, and since that time, minus a season she spent as an assistant at Cal, Phillips has won 513 games with only 86 defeats, a cool little winning percent of 87 percent, including eight Northern California and four state titles.

She’s done it all in just 17-plus seasons, meaning Phillips has led the Monarchs to just below 30 wins a season, a stag-gering total.

That makes Mitty – over the last two decades – perhaps the winningest program in the state, if not the country.

Other programs have slipped at times, but like Phillips’ ap-proach and mathematical equations, the Monarchs have been a straight line at the top bar of the girls basketball graph chart.

Evidently those precise agendas work.“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail,” Phillips said, recit-

ing a John Wooden axiom.

JaCkPoTAnd preparation, she said, leads to confidence, something

Phillips nor the Monarchs have ever lacked.Mitty approaches every obstacle, every foe, with a definite

fearless quality.“Confidences comes from knowing that you have done ev-

erything in your power that entitles you to succeed,” Phillips said, reciting yet another coaching legend, Pat Summit.

She’s implemented Summit’s defensive system with Dean Smith’s offensive schemes to build a dynasty at a school that probably boasts the most successful girls sports program in the country.

The volleyball team has won seven state titles and was un-defeated national champion in 2009.

The softball program has won six Central Coast Section titles this decade and was nationally ranked three of those seasons.

The Mitty girls are also considered CCS powers in virtually all sports across the board, which no doubt pleases Phillips, who was inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame for her accomplishments as a three-sport athlete (volleyball, bas-ketball and softball).

She was encouraged by her parents to participate in all team sports and did, including swimming, bowling, soccer, gym-nastics and golf.

“Through team sports I was impacted greatly by several coaches and teammates,” she said. “It’s driven me to pay it for-ward.”

The Monarchs have hit the jackpot, Scharrenberg said.Forget all the winning and championships. There is so

much more Phillips has brought to 5000 Mitty Way in San Jose.

“I have three young daughters and I hope someday they will be good enough to play for her,” Scharrenberg said. “She’s such a tremendous role model.

“First of all she’s a teacher. She’s a great math teacher and she can just flat out teach. She’s all about helping out young athletes and doing it with class and respect.”

Dennis LeeAshley Watson, shown here pulling up for a jumper in last year’s CIF Division II Northern regional final

against Carondelet-Concord, is the unquestioned leader of Monarchs this year. Phillips desribed her as a “scoring and play-making point guard, and our defensive catalyst.”

“(sue Phillips) pays attention to every detail. every one of those agendas is typed up, ready to go.

Has been ever since she got here.”Mitty Athletic Director Will Scharrenbergn

Support Your Local Business • Say You Found Them In SportStars™ SportStars™

HaVIng a BlaSTBeneath the Type-A personality and rules and regulation, is

someone deeply warm, passionate and funny, said her pupils and peers.

“What I love playing for Mitty is being so competitive and having fun at the same time,” Watson said.

Said Scharrenberg: “My 11 years in the program was an absolute blast. I think everyone in the program will tell you the same thing. I think that’s why you see such continuity and so many former players coming back to coach and play in alumni games.”

Joe Guerra, a long time boys coach, joined Phillips eight years ago and they are joined by Rometra Craig, daughter of former 49ers’ great Roger Craig and star player for the 1999 Mitty squad that went 31-0.

That team won the school’s second state crown and only Division I championship, and Phillips won StudentSports Magazine’s national Coach of the Year.

“Very special year,” she said. “We’ve had many special sea-sons. I’ll continue to coach as long as I remain passionate for learning and teaching the game.”

Despite the upset loss to St. Francis that dropped the Mon-archs to 7-4, the 2010-11 season has tremendous upside thanks to a young, balanced bunch.

The Monarchs lost seven seniors off last year’s 26-6 squad that lost in the NorCal finals to Carondelet-Concord, but return two key cogs in Vanessa Leo, a 6-foot-4 post who is headed to Santa Clara and Watson.

The duo make up half of the team’s four seniors, while four sophomores and talented freshman Kelli Hayes (6-0) com-prise most of the squad.

“What’s exciting about this group is to see how quickly they’ve stepped up to the varsity challenge,” Guerra said about an hour before the loss to St. Francis. “We’re seeing them more focused for longer periods of time, which is a great sign.”

So is the balance.Eight players have scored in double digits more than once

this season.“That probably makes it difficult to scout against us,” he

said.Without Leo, out with a knee injury, Mitty didn’t make up

the slack against St. Francis. She was due back the next week, but still disconcerting to Phillips at this point is consistency.

The Monarchs probably had their best game of the year, a 71-48 victory at defending state Division V champion Pine-wood-Los Altos Hills, two days before the St. Francis loss.

They also showed well in wins over St. Francis-Sacramento (78-53), Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland (55-47) and even a 55-52 loss to national power Memphis Central (Tenn.).

But losses to St. Mary’s-Berkeley (54-49) and St. Francis sandwich between the Pinewood loss assures Phillips there’s lots of work to be done.

BEIng RElEnTlESS“The potential of this group is limitless,” she said. “But po-

tential and performance are two different things. This group has the potential to press and score like the teams we had in

the 90s. Conditioning and a consistent, relentless mentality are key.”

Here are comments from Phillips and Guerra on the cur-rent Monarchs.

Leo: “She’s a commanding presence in the paint on both sides of the ball,” Phillips said.

Watson: “She’s a scoring and play-making point guard, and our defensive catalyst.,” Phillips said.

Said Guerra: “She’s our leading scorer and unquestionably our leader.”

Hayes: “She’s an extremely athletic and elusive scorer.”Said Guerra: “She’s pretty spectacular. She might be the best

freshman we’ve ever had. And we had Danielle Robinson.”Amanda Lovely (6-1, junior): “She’s an athletic guard with

great rebounding ability and a noteworthy mid-range game,” Phillips said.

Said Guerra: “She’s going to get multiple college offers.”Vanessa Garner (5-6 sophomore): “She is very quick point

guard, who can attack the basket and find seams to score,” Phillips said.

Emily Dinger (5-9 sophomore): “She’s a combo guard that possesses a solid perimeter shot,” Phillips said.

Desirae Sanchez (5-7 senior, 48 percent 3-point shooter): “She’s a proven scorer with range beyond the arc. She also has crafty moves inside the paint.”

Courtney Lisowski (6-0 junior): “She’s a seasoned post player with a solid high post game,” Phillips said.

Kalyn Simon (5-9 sophomore): “She’s extremely quick and added a mid-range jumper to round out her game,” Phillips said.

Margaret Sun (5-7 junior): “She added a physical presence inside by banging with the posts and taking charges,” Phillips said.

D’Andree Galipeau (5-10 sophomore): “She is a force on the glass (both sides of the ball),” Phillips said. ✪

January 13, 2011 31

Mitty Power■ lEAguE titlEs: 23■ CENtrAl COAst sECtiON titlEs: 22■ NOrtHErN CAliFOrNiA titlEs: 8 – 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008■ stAtE titlEs: 4 – 1995, 1999, 2007, 2008

Dennis LeeVanessa Leo provides a commanding presence in the post for the Monarchs, although a knee injury has

kept her sidelined for much of the early season. The 6-foot-4 senior is committed to Santa Clara.


FALL2010A LOOK BACK

From August through December, the athletes of the fall treated all of us to several memorable moments. Our photographers were there for quite a few of them. We searched the archives for a some

of the images we liked, but just hadn’t had a chance to print yet. Enjoy our one � nal look at the images of Fall 2010.

FAR LEFT: Sunset fades to moonrise on an early-September night in Concord as Ama-dor Valley-Pleasanton quarterback Patrick Gibbons hands off to his running back. BOT-TOM: Vincent Marquez (61) of St. Mary’s-Stockton looks to protect quarterback Mitch Walding from a bull-rushing Dylan Wynn (67) of De La Salle-Concord. MIDDLE LEFT: The Campolindo-Moraga girls cross country huddles in celebration with coach Chuck Woolridge moments after winning the CIF Division III state championship. MIDDLE

RIGHT: Clayton Valley-Concord golfer Domenic Mazza made history as the youngest person to qualify for the RE/MAX World Long Drive Championships and fi nishing sec-

ond. TOP RIGHT: Rancho Cotate-Rohnert Park quarterback Poueu Peleti-Gore hovers over center in the North Coast Section Division II fi nal against Concord. ABOVE LEFT: Foothill-Pleasanton runners Nicole Torquato (#1138) and Hannah Bieszczat (1108) take a turn at the Ed Sias Invitational in Martinez. ABOVE RIGHT: The Campolindo-Moraga

volleyball team enjoys the moments after winning the CIF Div. III state title.

Photos by: Bob Larson, Butch Noble, Spencer Allen and Dave DeLong


twenty-four7Looking for a good all-in-one opportunity to learn about

sports medicine and good health practices? Check out the Valleycare Sports Medicine Health Fair in Livermore on Sat-urday, Jan. 22 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Among the topics:

■ Shoulder and elbow injuries in youth baseball■ What to have in a first aid kit■ The latest information on concussions■ Exercise session■ Pilates and yoga demos■ Integrating fitness and nutrition into your life■ Chair massages, body fat analysis, giveaways, raffle

prizes and more.The event will be held at Lifestyle Rx, located at 1119 E.

Stanley Boulevard, Livermore. For more information, contact Trish Da Silva, 925-454-6347.

— SportStars

Livermore health fair to hit on many topics

bAsEbAllThrough Jan. 15: Antioch — Antioch Little League’s Spring 2011 Season Registration. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Jan. 15. At Golf N Games. 925-431-8478, www.antiochlittleleague.com.Through Jan 15: Concord — Junior Optimist Baseball/Softball League registration. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Jan. 15 @ the JOBL complex. Ages 4-18. 925-827-1088, www.eteamz.com/jobl.Jan. 16: Concord — Clayton Valley Little League Online Registration Closes. All day event. Visit www.cvll.org.Jan. 22: Concord — Clayton Valley Little League 8-9-Year-

Old Tryouts. 9 a.m.-3 p.m. @ Clayton Valley High School. Visit www.cvll.org.Jan. 23: Concord — Clayton Valley Little League 10-Year-Old Tryouts. 9 a.m.-3 p.m. @ Clayton Valley High School. Visit www.cvll.org.Jan. 29: Concord — Clayton Valley Little League 11- and 12-Year-Old Tryouts. 9 a.m.-3 p.m. @ Clayton Valley High School. Visit www.cvll.org.Feb. 5: Concord — Clayton Valley Little League Make-up tryouts. 9 a.m.-3 p.m. @ Clayton Valley High School. Visit www.cvll.org.Feb. 7: Concord — Clayton

Valley Little League Draft. 5-9 p.m. @ TBD. Visit www.cvll.org.Feb. 22: Concord — Clayton Valley Little League Parent Night Majors Baseball & Peanuts. 6-7 p.m. @ TBD. Visit www.cvll.org.BOWLINGJan. 21, Feb. 18, March 11: Concord — Special Recreation Disco Bowl. Ages 16+ at Clayton Valley Bowl. Info: 10 a.m.-noon and 1-3 p.m. weekdays, 925-671-3404, www.cityofconcord.org. Registration: www.concordreg.org; by fax or at drop-off sites.Jan. 22: brentwood — 11th Annual Harvest Park Hurricane’s Crab Feed. 6 p.m. no host cocktails; 7 p.m. dinner, @ the Veteran’s Hall. All proceeds to benefit the Harvest Park Hurricanes Youth Program. 925-516-1221, http://harvestparkbowl.com.CHEErOngoing: Walnut Creek — WCYF Marauders Cheer. Open for registration in various divisions. Art Thoms, [email protected], 925-786-0721; www.wcyfmarauders.com.COmmuNity EvENtJan. 18: Walnut Creek — SF Marathon Training Program registration. 6-8:30 p.m. @ Sports Basement. SF Marathon staff will be available to answer training questions. Direct questions to [email protected]. 925-941-6100, www.sportsbasement.com.Jan. 22: Livermore — ValleyCare Sports Medicine Health Fair. 9 a.m.-1 p.m. @ LifeStyleRX. Free. 925-454-

6342, www.valleycare.com.Jan. 25: Walnut Creek — Bear Valley & Sports Basement Rail Jam. 5:30-8:30 p.m. @ Sports Basement. 925-941-6100, www.sportsbasement.com.CyCliNgThrough Dec. 26: Walnut Creek — Mountain Bike Group Ride. Meet at 8 a.m. Sundays at Sports Basement. 925-941-6100, www.sportsbasement.com.EQuEstriANJan. 17: Walnut Creek — Martin Luther King Holiday Camp. Riding lessons 9 a.m.-3 p.m. 925-937-7661, [email protected]; www.castlerockarabian.com.Ongoing: martinez — Horse Vaulting Program. Gymnastics on Horseback at Franklin Canyon Stables. Reservations: Kim, 925-876-8269; www.kimshorsetraining.com.Ongong: Walnut Creek — learn to ride! Group lessons at discounted prices available. 925-937-7661, [email protected]; www.castlerockarabian.com.FitNEssThrough Feb. 7: Walnut Creek — Body Sculpting Boot Camp series. 6-7 p.m. Mondays @ Sports Basement. 925-941-6100, Toni at [email protected]; www.sportsbasement.com.Jan. 12: Walnut Creek — sports Nutrition tips with Hammer’s Steve Born. 6:30-8:15 p.m. @ Sports Basement. Direct questions to [email protected]. 925-941-6100, www.sportsbasement.com.Feb. 16, March 16 or April 13: Concord — CPR Skills for


Adults, Children and Infants. 13+. Info: 10 a.m.-noon and 1-3 p.m. weekdays, 925-671-3404, www.cityofconcord.org. Registration: www.concordreg.org; by fax or at drop-off sites.Ongoing:Concord — sports Performance. At East Bay Sports Academy. For ages 10+. Schedules and fees: 925-680-9999, [email protected]; www.eastbaysportsacademy.com.Pleasant Hill — Tae Kwon Do, Fitness Kickboxing, Kickboxing, Yoga, Birthday Parties. Ongoing at Fitness Innovations & Tae Kwon Do in County Square Shopping Center. 925-685-8338, [email protected]; www.choosefit.net.Walnut Creek — Youth training program. Ongoing at Forma. 925-262-1339, www.formagym.com.Concord — AIRobics. Classes at Sky High Sports. First come, first served. 925-682-5867, http://CON.jumpskyhigh.com.Martinez — Sports, Fitness & recreation. Ongoing for ages 6-18 @ Boys & Girls Clubs of the Diablo Valley. 925-370-6838, www.bgcdv.org.brentwood — treading trends lvl 1-3. 9-10 a.m. Tues., at In-Shape Health Club. Fees and registration: 925-602-5600, www.inshapeclubs.com.Antioch — Public Skating. For

all ages at Paradise Skate. 925-779-0204, www.paradiseskate.com.Concord — Group Cycling LVL 1-3, Mix It Up LVL 2-3, both at In-Shape Health Club. Fees and registration: 925-602-5600, www.inshapeclubs.com.FOOtbAllOngoing: Walnut Creek — WCYF Marauders. Open for

registration in the Midget division. Art Thoms, [email protected], 925-786-0721; www.wcyfmarauders.com.Jan. 28-30: Oakley — Runnin’ Deep Flag Football. At Freedom Basin. Ages 6-16; 5 on 5, 7 on 7. Contact Coach Mike Weisenberg, 925-625-2222, [email protected]; www.DiabloFootball.com.

January 13, 2011

twenty-four7

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The coaches spoke, and Sean Connors listened.Connors, an assistant coach for the Diablo Valley College

football team, was constantly hearing colleagues harp about how they wished a quality coaches conference could be held locally. So Connors and Concord High defensive coordinator, Randy Coddington, decided to put in a bid to host and direct a Nike Coach of the Year Clinic in the Bay Area.

They got the bid, and last March, they brought a premier coaches clinic back to Northern California for the first time since 1986.

“We felt that no matter how much work it was going to be it was going to be worth it,” Connors said. “We just felt there was something lacking for coaches here.”

The first conference was a big success, drawing high school coaches from 14 different states.

“It was the largest of any Nike coaches clinic in the country, and the largest first-year clinic in the history of the Nike clin-ics,” Connors said. “That just speaks to how important foot-ball is to high school coaches in this region of the country.”

Now Connors and Coddington are getting ready to do it all over again, hosting the 2011 Nike Coach of the Year Football Clinic at the Concord Hilton from February 17-19.

Among the high-profile coaches expected to speak at the event are Ohio State’s Jim Tressel, TCU’s Gary Patterson, Fres-no State’s Pat Hill, San Diego State’s Brady Hoke and Washing-ton’s Steve Sarkisian.

Also part of the program will be acknowledging as many as eight of the 10 coaches who took their high school teams to the California Interscholastic Federation state championship bowl games in 2010.

“It’s been a lot or work, but we’ve been able to connect with a lot of high school coaches up and down California,” Con-nors said. “Giving them an opportunity to learn from the best minds in the game has really made it worth it. We’re excited.”

For more information on the clinic, visit http://www.nike-coyfootball.com/Northern-California.aspx

High-profile football coaches clinic returns to the East Bay

By CHACE brysON | Editor

Steve Sarkisian Jim Tressel


impulse Find out what’s next

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Big-o goes norCalAttention, everyone, we have an announcement to make. Give us a second to find the

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and Big-O is no exception. Their passion for teen sports in the community is matched only by their drive to servicing customers with the best deals around. Hit up our website: www.SportStarsMag.com and look for the Big-O Tires banner ad on our homepage.

The “Best Dad Ever” iPhone appDads: Now you have no excuse to miss your kid’s big

game. Let My Future Star Baseball do the work for you. All you have to do is input the time of your youngster’s game then you’ll get virtual reminders from this snazzy iPhone app leading up to the big event. Piece of cake. If you still forget about the game after all those reminders, a big hammer will come out and smack you upside the head. Okay, that last part’s probably not true. My Future Star Baseball has other cool features like stat tracking, note taking and social media connection so you can brag and post highlights of the game directly to Facebook and Twitter. Available as an app on the iPhone for just $0.99, download the My Future Star Baseball app today and pick up that Father of the Year trophy while you’re at it. For more info, check out www.sportfuturestars.com — Erik Stordahl


photo finish

Jose Tapia, fifth from right, is hounded in celebration by his Hayward High teammates after scoring on a second-half penalty kick that put the Farmers up 3-0 during their Hayward Area Athletic League match on Jan. 4. Hayward won the

match 3-1, handing visiting San Lorenzo its first loss of the season. It was Tapia’s lone goal of the contest. PHOTO BY BOB LARSON ([email protected])

Want to submit your pic for Photo Finish? Send it to us at [email protected] must be 300 dpi and at least 10 inches wide in the jpeg format.

Please identify every person in the photo and include your contact information.

CA Issue 15, 01.13.2011

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Transcript of CA Issue 15, 01.13.2011