ca issue 20, 03.24.2011

endure | excel | achieveMarch 24, 2011vol. 2. issue 20

FreecaliFornia

showtimeFolsom football gets Hollywood treatment. Pg. 10

shock hawks?Tamalpais softball won’t escape the radar. Pg. 31

wiN FRee LiFt tickets! Pg. 36

FuLL-couRtmadNess!Pacos, DLS Pull Upset. Pg. 16Pinewood Three-Peats. Pg. 20Hidden Dynasty. Pg. 21

Support Your Local Business • Say You Found Them In SportStars™ 3SportStars™March 24, 2011

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

Locker Room ................................. 6

Behind the Clipboard ................... 8

Wally’s World ................................. 9

SportStar of the Week ............... 13

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

Health Watch ............................... 19

Tee2Green .................................... 25

Extra Bases ................................... 30

Camps + Clinics .......................... 33

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

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

On the cOverSt. Mary’s-Stockton junior

guard Regina Camera. Photo by Jonathan hawthorne.

all access

travis pacos goes full-out in his new full-time hoops gig. Page 16

families find ways to stay fit by working together.

Page 22

tamalpais softball loses its dark horse

status. 1

pinewood-los altos hills girls notch third straight

norcal title. Page 20

matt gray brings the 2010 folsom football season to life on screen. Page 18

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

For five minutes of a painfully somber press conference, Hannah Huffman displayed the same poise she had for the

previous 90 minutes on the floor of the Power Balance Pavilion.

After scoring a game-high 30 points in a 68-57 loss to Berkeley in the California Inter-scholastic Division I regional final, the junior answered the media’s questions thoughtfully and with her head held high. And perhaps her most thoughtful response, was her last one — when she was asked what she thought about being part of the four intense, tightly-contested, and extremely fan-friendly games between her team and Berkeley this season.

“I think right now it’s hard to be excited about these games because it’s after a loss,” Huffman said. “Looking back on it, though, the four games with Berkeley were incredibly fun. High energy. A lot of great athletes going at it. Teams with heart going at it. It’s been a really fun four game series.

“Sure we would’ve like to have gotten the best of it at the end, but looking back on it, we’ll kind of appreciate the rivalry we created with Berkeley this year.”

The press conference ended no more than 30 seconds later, and as Huffman got up from her chair and prepared to walk out with the rest of her team, she could be heard saying to herself, “Did we really just lose?”

Losses like that are always going to carry a heavy sting for teams — especially when it’s on that size of stage. But watching the game unfold, from starting lineups through the fi-nal buzzer, it was clear that there was a higher degree of emotional buy-in for this game. From both sides.

Quick history lesson: The two teams first played this year on Dec. 29 with Carondelet beating Berkeley 54-52. On Jan. 15, Berke-ley defeated Carondelet 52-49. In the North Coast Section Division I championship on March 4, Berkeley came from behind in the fourth quarter and won 55-53.

Compound the facts that many of these players already have relationships with one another through AAU, and that a bid to the state championship game was on the line, and it all seemed like a recipe for the ultimate barnburner.

But it really wasn’t. It was good. Great performances. A lot of intensity. And even though Carondelet hung tough for three and a half quarters, it was tough to feel like Berke-ley ever lost a grip on the game.

And it made me wonder, if the emotional toll of preparing for a game like that — after the manner in which the three previous games had played out — had Carondelet behind the 8-ball to begin with.

“At the high school level there is so much emotional

investment,” sports psychologist Dr. Doug Gardner says. “And with emotions that high, it can be hard to maintain focus and intensity, especially when you factor in fatigue.”

We all know that there’s nothing worse than losing to your rival. And when you know and see that rival in other settings, that can make it even worse. So imagine losing to that rival twice by a combined five points, and knowing that you get them one more time for all the marbles.

Getting mentally prepared for a game like that is hard enough if you know noth-ing about your opponent.

“I definitely think preparing yourself mentally for those games is more important than the physical preparation,” Huffman said two days after the loss in the regional final. “That’s something we probably didn’t do as good a job as we would’ve liked, but I think it was important that we made the effort.”

Huffman maintained that despite the results in the previous two games, she and her teammates never had that ‘Here we go again’ feeling as Berkeley started to pull away toward the end of the game.

“Until the final seconds, I never thought there was a moment when we were done and done,” Huffman said. “There were just a couple moments here and there where the ball didn’t bounce our way, and then Berkeley made free throws at the end.”

Afterward, in a much happier press con-ference, Berkeley players admitted that they weren’t immune to the emotions, either.

“It goes beyond Berkeley High,” Chairese Culberson said. “We see them all the time in AAU. So it creates this ultra-rivalry. The rivalry between us and Carondelet is just two fantastic teams with a lot of fantastic players. We might seem like we don’t like each other on the court, but off the court we’re cool.”

Just a junior, Huffman may get another chance to get the best of Berkeley in her high school career, but it won’t be for a sec-tion or regional title. The Cougars, bumped up a division this season because they had won three straight Division II crowns, will return to Division II next year.

Huffman, as one might expect, would be ready to play Round 5 tomorrow.

“I certainly can speak for our team when I say we’d love to play that game over again.”

Berkeley would probably oblige, too. And that’s why one-year rivalries between top-tier pro-

grams like that don’t come around too often. ✪

March 24, 2011

Chace Bryson Editor

FIRST PITCH

Chace@ SportStarsMag.com

(925) 566-8503

Berkeley and Carondelet-Concord take emotional hoops to the fourth power

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 Kallam, Jim McCue, Eric Gilmore, Ray WolfePhotography Butch Noble, Bob Larson, Jonathan Hawthorne, Chris Austria

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This Vol. #2, March 2011 Whole No. 20 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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Support Your Local Business • Say You Found Them In SportStars™ SportStars™SportStars™ Upload photos and team stats! www.SportStarsMag.com 76 March 24, 2011March 24, 2011

“My coach calls me the Piranha. Be-

cause I’m hungry for boards. I just had to live up to that name.

Ever since he gave me that name, I was like ‘Oh, it’s time!’”Berkeley girls post player Chairese

Culberson after she grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds in the Yellow-jackets’ 68-57 defeat of Carondelet in the CIF Division I Northern regional

fi nal on March 19.

Major League Baseball’s Opening Day is still a week away. You still have time to throw a fantasy league together. And the best part of every fantasy league is the draft. Trust us. And now we have ways to make it even better!

1. Physical challenges. Bound and determined to make Hanley Ramirez your No. 1 overall pick (because, you fi gure, The Great Pujols is bound to have an off-year some year, and this might just be the year)? Fine. Put your forehead on this bat, spin around in a circle twice, then race up three fl ights of stairs balancing this raw egg on a plastic spoon and deposit it safely via a 10-foot drop into a bowl of lime jello. First one with an unbroken orb encapsulated in green gel gets the top pick (but we still think you should go with Albert. We’re just sayin’.)

2. Theme music. You know you want your own Trevor Hoffman-esque Hells Bells tunage blaring out of the sound system when it comes time for you to start the run on closers. Don’t try to tell us you don’t. (For the record, we’re going with Eminence Front, but we’re long-time Who fans. Pick your own theme song.)

3. Cheerleaders. A little uncertain about that 23rd-round backup middle infi elder you just added? What better way to feel good about your pick than to hear your own personal merry band of pom-pom-wielding, reverse-layout-executing, perpetually-exuberant pepsters cheering you on to certain victory?

4. Defense. Worried a guy is going to pull an in-your-face pick, taking the guy you were holding out for in the 19th round one pick ahead of your turn? Flick peanuts at his forehead. Cocoon him in silly-string. Give him a 20-ounce Mountain Dew shower. You know how hard it is to assess the relative merits of Mike Moustakas and David Freese when someone is bouncing Fritos off your bean and shouting the lyrics to I’m Shipping Up To Boston in your ear? Hard, man. Hard.

5. Make spelling count. Some pedant in your league thinks he has the inside-track on this year’s hot up-and-coming shortstop? Well, sure he can draft him, but he has to be able to rattle off T-S-U-Y-O-S-H-I N-I-S-H-I-O-K-A without peeking at his notes.

— Bill Kolb

How to spice up your fantasy baseball draft

together. And the best part of every fantasy league is the draft. Trust us. And now we have ways to make it even

cause I’m hungry for

live up to that name.

jackets’ 68-57 defeat of Carondelet in

When it comes to basketball in Northern California, it was a banner year for the North Coast Section. Seven of the 10 NorCal representatives at the CIF state basketball championships March 25-26 will represent the North Coast Section (Four boys teams — De La Salle-Concord, Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland, Salesian-Richmond and St. Joseph Notre Dame-Alameda; Three girls — Berkeley, Bishop O’Dowd and St. Mary’s-Berke-ley).

Amazingly, it’s not the most the NCS has ever sent in a single year. In 2000, the section had eight teams at the state fi nals — all fi ve boys teams (De La Salle, Newark Memorial-Newark, Foothill-Pleasanton, Tamalpais-Mill Valley and Hoopa), and three girls (Berkeley, Amador Valley-Pleasanton and Petaluma).

RANDOM ACTS OF FACTNESS

Toughest class

you’ve had in high school?

Chemistry

AP European

history

Algebra 2

Longest paper you’ve

written? Class? Grade?

Five pages, English,

C+

10 1/2 pages,

European history,

B

17 pages, English,

A

What’s your favorite candy

bar?

Hershey(white

chocolate)

Laffy Taffy

Snickers

Benny BattleDe La Salle

Benny Battle

Hailie EacklesPinewood

Hailie EacklesHailie Eackles

Final Four or Super Bowl?

Final Four

Super Bowl

Final Four

James MarvelCampolindo

James Marvel

RAPID FIRERAPID FIRE

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.

Last week in his column, our editor asked readers to sound off to a hypothetical question: Would you rather win a state championship and never play again, or lose the state fi nal and play in college without ever winning a title? Here’s one response:

I’m an athlete at Concord High and I play football and track. Personally, I think I would rather go to college because it opens up the door and I get to play on a bigger stage. I mean everybody wants that big victory, but the fact is nothing happens unless you put your game out there for everyone to see...

SportStars: We can certainly get behind that reasoning. It’s still tough to turn down that championship, though.

Join the conversation whenever you feel like it by emailing us at [email protected] or posting to

SHE SAID WHAT?!?

How many March

Madness brackets did you fill out?

0

58

Favorite sports movie?

He Got Game

Coach Carter

The Sandlot

Bob Larson


I need to get better before next basketball season. Should I go to a basketball trainer? They’re awfully expensive.

C.F., Richmond

Let’s start with the most fundamental of fundamentals: How do you determine who wins a basketball game?

And no, the answer is not the number of times the point guard goes between his legs on his way up the court, or how many fancy things he can do with the ball. Nor is the answer the team that can run the most wind sprints without getting tired. Or the girl who makes the most no-look passes in the league.

No, the winner in a bas-ketball game is the team that scores the most points, so by definition the most valuable players are those who can put the ball in the basket. (There’s also a tremendous value in be-ing able to prevent opponents from putting the ball in the basket, but the rarer skill is the ability to create, and convert, shots.)

First, let me say that there are many, many good trainers out there, and all of them will help you get better, in one way or another. Any time you spend working on your game is going to help, and doing so under the watchful eye of someone who knows a lot more than you is going to help even more. The question, though, as you mention, is whether it’s worth the cost.

In my opinion, too many trainers spend too much of their allotted time making kids run and sweat, and too much time working on ballhandling.

Hey, if you need a workout, go down to 24-Hour Fitness and get a trainer — or just have your dad sit in a chair and yell at you for 45 minutes to push harder. You don’t need to pay someone $50+/hour to break a sweat. If you’re not motivated enough to work out hard on your own, then that money you’re spending is pretty much wasted anyway.

So if it seems like the main thing a trainer tries to do is get you tired, and run you until

you’re too exhausted to hold your form on your jump shot, then you should think about whether you’re really working on basketball, or conditioning.

And as for ballhandling, a well-respected coach told me he did some research, and in a college game, only the point guard takes more than 100 dribbles a game. The post player might take ten — and as Texas coach Rick Barnes said in Sports Illustrated, one of the big problems in basketball is that players dribble too much.

And why? Because they spend so much time practicing dribbling that they want to show off their moves.

But think about it: How many times in a season do you really need to go behind your back in a game? Maybe at halfcourt in transition — but if you’re a forward, the odds are you’re never going to do that.

And how many times are you sitting down, or on your knees? And how often do you have two basketballs?

Of course ballhandling is important, and drills can help young players get comfortable with the ball. But a high school varsity player can very likely dribble well enough to get the

job done — what he or she needs to really work on, though, is scoring.

For example, can you go off the dribble going either way (right or left) and get off a one-two jumper, as well as a jumper where you push off both feet at the same time? Can you finish with either hand inside eight feet — from both sides of the basket? And perhaps most important of all, if a defender takes away your best offensive move, do you have a counter? And if she takes away the counter, do you have a counter to that?

This is the kind of work a basketball trainer should do. You should leave a session a better player, not just a kid who can dribble two balls while sweating profusely. You should understand your game better, and be more skilled with your footwork.

If possible, you should be a better de-fender, and understand defensive angles and rotations. ✪

March 24, 2011

Clay Kallam

Behind the Clipboard

Offseason improvement should go beyond

training and dribbling

Support Your Local Business • Say You Found Them In SportStars™ 9SportStars™

This is the story of one Little League at-bat.

It happened this month in a Northern California town during an opening-day jamboree featuring dozens of teams, hundreds of players and thousands of big-league dreams.

It could have been Fremont, Concord, Redding or Sacramento. It quite possibly happened in all four, or maybe a hundred other cities along the way.

On this day, in this town, the at-bat be-longed to Trevor.

Before we get into the batter’s box, a couple of facts about Trevor:

Trevor, 8, stands all of 4 feet, 4 inches. He’s the smallest player on his Minor League team. Not just barely the smallest; small-est by quite a bit. As in, if he stood on his tiptoes, he’d probably be looking the next-shortest kid right in the chin.

Think of the smallest kid you’ve ever seen on a baseball field, who also happens to be the happiest kid on the team, wearing emotions on his face with a brightness that reveals every inner thought from 100 feet away.

Got the image? We’ve all seen this kid. Yep. That’s Trevor.

You could spot his eagerness even while standing in right field, that lonely corner of the diamond where every smallest-player-on-the-team begins his baseball journey. His smile grew wider with each pitch, his legs gained spring with every swing and his arms swung freely in celebration with every out.

Finally, it was his turn to bat. The first at-bat of his Minor League career, against a pitcher three years older who stood 8 inches taller and was perched atop a mound that added another 6 inches to his frame.

From Trevor’s angle, it might as well have been Randy Johnson up there.

Somewhere between the dugout and the batter’s box, the enormity of the moment caught up with him. The smile slowly gave way to memories of a dozen practices’ worth of instructions. You could feel his thought process from 20 paces away.

He bravely stepped into the box, put his feet into the spot occupied by the previous hitter, checked his bat, lifted it above his shoulder and finally raised his head and stared down the pitcher, who rocked and fired. The ball flew right across the plate, shoulder high. Trevor turned and nervously looked at the umpire.

“Ball one!”So far, so good. The smile was back. He was playing base-

ball, he had the pitcher in a 1-0 hole. The next pitch came in right across the letters. Trevor hesitated, then cut loose. By the time his bat reached the plate, the ball was already in the catcher’s glove.

“Strike!”Trevor looked over at the dugout, mouth closed, a big,

major look of concern dominating the little minor-leaguer’s

face. The pitcher rocked and fired again.“Ball two!” Trevor seemed at ease again.

He was three pitches into his Minor League career, and ready to do some damage.

Pitch 4 came right down the pipe. The little lefty watched the ball, kept his head perfectly still, swung level and turned his hips at just the right instant. So perfectly, in fact, he fouled the pitch straight back into the screen. As they say in the big leagues, he was “right on it.”

(I know this because I watch 162 Giants games a year and every time a batter fouls a pitch back into the screen, about 12 times a night, Mike Krukow says “He was right on it!”)

Trevor suddenly seemed a lot taller than 4-4. He looked like a hitter up there. Every-one in the park noticed, especially Trevor’s coaches and teammates.

Maybe … a little too much. All of a sudden, the advice was flying out of the over-excited dugout with twice the velocity offered by the 11-year-old on the mound.

“Trevor! Choke up! Keep your head still! Watch the ball! Bend your knees! Get closer to the plate! Scoot back! Remember: swing level!”

It was an awful lot of advice to process all at once, and unfortunately for Trevor, every single sentence was met with an immediate and equal reaction.

He stepped back to the plate. He bent his knees. He choked up. Then he scooted back in the box, holding his head perfectly still the whole time. At the last second, he tried to move closer to the plate.

You know, just as he’d been told.Unfortunately, by the time he’d finished

adjusting to all of that brilliant advice, the ball was already most of the way to the plate. He swung and missed, hopelessly behind.

“Strike three!”There is no sadder, or more stirring, sight

in all of sports than watching the small-est 8-year-old on the field walk back to the dugout after striking out. The game ended shortly thereafter and Trevor quickly ended up in the backseat of his mom’s car, head down and dejected.

It was an instant reminder that baseball, like life, is ultimately a losing proposition — but as long as we’re on the field, we’ve got to keep swinging.

As impossible as it might have been for him to believe at the time, Trevor would learn there was another day. And another game. And that perfect swing, the one where he was “right on it,” would produce a different result — a base hit right over the mound and into center field. It would be a feel-ing he would never forget for as long as he played baseball.

And somewhere in the stands a 3-foot-11, 7-year-old kid would see it, and dream of the day he, too, could go out and play with the “big” kids. Probably next year, the second Sat-urday of March, in some Northern California town. Maybe even yours. ✪

March 24, 2011

Mike Wolcott

WALLY’SWORLD

MikeW@ SportStarsMag.com

(925) 566-8500Ext. 109

At the plate with Trevor, a Little League at-bat we’ve all seen before

SportStars™ Upload photos and team stats! www.SportStarsMag.com10 March 24, 2011

Before the 2010 high school football season, filmmaker Matt Gray had a vision for the Folsom Bulldogs and the team’s senior lead-ers. He was prepared to document every moment from summer

workouts to the final snap of the Bulldogs’ season—with in-depth com-mentary and all-access into the team both on and off the field.

The resulting story, which will be available to anxious players, parents, coaches, and others in April as a five-DVD set, went beyond Gray’s vi-sion. It became a storybook tale with an ending more fitting for a Holly-wood movie than a 15-episode documentary compiled in a home nearly 500 miles from Tinseltown.

“I felt that I was here for a reason,” Gray said of documenting the sea-son. “I lucked out with the ending (Division II Sac-Joaquin Section and California Interscholastic Federation state bowl titles), but I was confi-dent that the ending would be what happened.”

Gray’s confidence in the Folsom football team — and seniors like Dano Graves, Jordan Richards, Tyler Trosin, and Sam Lueken, in particular — was based on more than just local preseason predictions, which touted the Bulldogs as contenders. His knowledge base of Folsom’s talented senior class stretches back seven years when Gray first documented the 2003 playoff run of a Junior Bulldogs youth team.

“You could see the talent of these kids during the first full season that I covered their Pee Wee team,” Gray said. “Later, I knew they would be together at the high school level and I wanted to be a part of it.”

Gray also became part of the Junior Bulldogs’ family through covering that group of kids through the years.

“We liked the way the family unit functioned and wanted to use it as a blueprint to learn from these people how to run a family and be more like them,” Gray said of the relationship he and his wife, Andrea, forged with the Junior Bulldog parents.

Local filmmaker prepares to put the finishing touches on his 15-episode documentary of the 2010 Folsom High football team

By Jim mccue | Contributor

Support Your Local Business • Say You Found Them In SportStars™ SportStars™March 24, 2011 11

Sharon Richards, mother of Stanford-bound running back/defensive back Jordan Richards, welcomed Matt and Andrea in and marveled at the Grays’ commitment to the Ju-nior Bulldogs family.

“He’s always been there filming the boys, so he’s become like one of the parents,” Sharon Richards said. “He’s unbelievable in his talent and his dedication to this group of boys.”

◆ ◆ ◆ Gray has been dedicated to filmmaking

and videography since he started Gray Fam-ily Films in 2002, but his passion for visually documenting events and playing with cam-eras emerged in his teenage years.

When the father of a friend brought home a video camera more than 20 years ago, a 13-year-old Gray was intrigued and knew that he would want to use video and film to express his creativity. He took one video class in high school to fuel his early passion, but some more time would pass before he real-ized his talents and future work.

Gray documented the arrival and early months of this first son, Gibson, and enjoyed the process of editing and production. When someone else saw his work, Matt had his first video job — documenting the early years of other children. The business expanded to wedding videography, family films, and pho-to-to-video services. Andrea, with a graphic design background, assists with videography, graphics, and customer relations, while Matt spends most of his time shooting and editing.

That he ended up with a deep portfolio of sports videos and films is unique because Gray did not participate in organized sports as a child and did not pay attention to foot-ball until his 20s. But once he got started with that first job filming the Junior Bulldogs in 2003 — when the “regular” video Dad was not available — a fire was lit.

“I saw that the normal way people shot football games was by setting up a camera in the stands to follow the game action,” Gray said. “Immediately, I decided that I wanted to do things a little different and have always tried to get closer to the action.”

Gray got his first paid job to cover high school football in 2005 when he was com-pensated for following the Hiram Johnson West Campus varsity team. That same year, Gray covered Junior Bulldogs football and an AAU basketball season, which included tournaments in Oregon and Virginia. The sports jobs increased the company’s exposure for other work. While wedding videography yields more money to the business based on labor hours, Gray’s sports filmmaking, and Bulldogs: The Series in particular, is clearly a labor of love.

◆ ◆ ◆ Gray’s passion for capturing more than

just the game of football was developed with subsequent jobs covering the Junior Bulldogs, Folsom High School in 2008 and then Vista del Lago-Folsom in 2009. With the latter job, Gray began to explore creatively.

“(2009) was when I started to get more

creative with the concept of ‘episodes,’” Gray said, “And, frankly, the pay was good enough that I could make some upgrades to my equipment to the point where I wanted to be for (2010).”

When Vista del Lago missed the playoffs in 2009, Gray reconnected with the Bull-dogs and documented the team’s heartbreak-ing Division II section semifinal loss to Del Oro-Loomis. Folsom led 35-7 at halftime and eventually fell 43-42 when a last-second field goal attempt by Dillon Wessing was partially blocked and bounced off the crossbar.

Right then, among the heartbreak of the players he had covered for years, Gray made the decision to completely dedicate himself and his craft to create Bulldogs: The Series in 2010.

“I knew that doing episodes mixing game stories with a reality show look and feel was how I wanted to do high school football,” Gray said. “I wanted to take a more mature approach and thought it would be something that I could use on a resume tape to take to ESPN or somewhere.”

Gray notified the Folsom team and coaches of his plans and Bulldogs: The Series started to become a reality.

“He told us that he wanted to go full-out and we jumped on board,” senior quarterback Dano Graves said. “He was considered a part of the team already and we were real confi-dent in him and what he wanted to do.”

What he wanted to do was clearly beyond the ordinary football season coverage, so there was a learning curve, especially for head

coach Kris Richardson, who did not have the past familiarity from Gray’s Junior Bulldogs coverage.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect,” Richardson admitted, “but I previewed some episodes that he did for the Vista del Lago program in 2009. I saw how he put things together and I was blown away by the quality of the prod-uct.”

Gray started by sketching out story ideas on a Folsom schedule. He was always in-trigued by the relationships between fathers coaching their sons (David Graves and Tony Trosin are assistants on Richardson’s staff). Getting some glory for the offensive line also made the list.

Some stories were switched around based on emerging story lines, such as players deal-ing with injuries, but the concept was in place and the series kicks off with an assist from ESPN.

The national sports network featured Fol-som’s 2010 opener against Sacramento’s Grant High School on ESPN2 giving Bulldogs: The Series some early buzz. Grant dealt Folsom a 49-14 setback, but set the stage for what turned out to be a run of 14 perfect episodes capped by a state title win. When the cameras captured their last game footage, Gray’s work was just beginning.

◆ ◆ ◆ Gray went to work securing final commen-

tary from players and coaches, as well as foot-age of trophy and award presentations. For the full 15-episode DVD set, Gray is in the process of editing down more than 80 hours of raw footage, including 15 hours of com-mentary from the season. That doesn’t in-clude nearly 100 more hours of previous foot-age involving the Junior Bulldogs coverage.

Gray’s goal is to show what made Folsom’s outstanding 2010 season special beyond the highlights of the team’s high-powered offense and stout defense.

“The series is a little more personal,” Dano Graves said. “We would speak our feelings to Matt more than we would for the local me-dia. The series will help show people the story behind the story. When you get a behind-the-scenes look at the team, you see how close we are.”

“One part of me says it’s just football,” Sha-ron Richards adds, “but it’s part of my son’s story, these boys’ stories, and our families’ stories.”

Soon Gray will find himself at the end of his year-long process and expects that it will be more difficult to bring closure to this proj-ect than others he has taken on.

“I know that I will have to send my wife and kids out of the house when I edit (my fi-nal scene) because I have a hard time when I come to the end of a project,” Gray said. “In my mind, I will be done with high school football.

“After this season, and especially the (SJS title) win over Grant, I think it just can’t get any better.” ✪

Chris AustriaMatt Gray started Gray Family Films as a family films and wedding videography company. It wasn’t until he filled in for the regular team videographer of the 2003 Junior Bulldogs pee-wee team, that his passion for filming football blossomed.

SportStars™12 Upload photos and team stats! www.SportStarsMag.comMarch 24, 2011

Have you ever caught yourself wondering about the meaning of innocuous words and phrases of encour-agement given by fans, teammates and coaches?

Watch “Bull Durham” again, or simply listen closely to the types of encouragement and instruction offered to athletes the next time you are at games. After attending too many sporting events in my career, I am not surprised why young athletes tune out and ignore adults.

What does it mean to get a good pitch, or your pitch to hit? How can you just trust yourself and allow your talent to take over? Is someone really capable of forgetting a bad play, an error or a strikeout? What about my personal favorite:

Stop thinking and just play. Just have fun.Have fun? You try it sometimes. Try forgetting about the run-scoring double the center-

fielder took away your last at-bat. What about the borderline strike-three call you didn’t get, only to give up a big hit on the next pitch?

Is it really that easy to stay positive and stop thinking at the same time? Especially when you are mired in an 0-for-10 slump?

Despite the positive intentions, athletes often become more distracted and frustrated by words of encouragement and instruction in pressure situations. The hitter knows she

needs to get a hit before she steps into the batters box, the pitcher wants to get the out and the fielder wants to play error-free.

When mistakes are made, athletes are usually harder on themselves than anyone. Athletes don’t like to hear someone re-stating the obvious, telling them what they should have done and that they will be ok.

Fans, parents and coaches often forget or have not experienced the empty and hollow feeling of mak-ing a mistake in front of team-mates, coaches and those who want to see you succeed. Now add the aspect that half the fans at a game want to see you fail, and it makes for a very difficult mental balance for the average athlete.

Athletes are the first to under-stand the magnitude of their mis-take and want to do something to shift negative attention away from their gaffe.

In these circumstances, athletes tend to try harder to make up for a poor performance. The pitcher tries to blow a fastball by the hitter, only to get hit harder. The hitter tries to make up for three bad at-bats by placing more pressure on themselves to get a hit in their last. The unfortunate side of trying harder is often continued poor performance, as there is no correla-tion between trying harder and performing better.

Usually, when athletes try, they get tense. They tense mentally, in that they cannot input, process and analyze stra-tegic information into action. They tense physically, as their indecision prohibits their body from acting on decisions that were not made in an athletic and instinctive manner.

The most classic response to tension is to tell someone to relax. Once again, word choice becomes critical. What does relax really mean? How does one really relax in pressure situ-ations? Is relaxation really the correct goal?

While I cannot discount the importance of utilizing and practicing self-regulation skills, I believe it is incorrect to solely limit mental training to (1) relaxation and (2) not thinking as goals for achieving success.

My concern is when athletes need everything to be perfect for them to perform well. Once adversity strikes, many athletes do not possess the mental fortitude to make sense of their situation, define their reality, and make decisions and take actions, win or lose. Once consequences enter into the equation, athlete decision-making strategies change in predictable and avoidable ways. This mostly occurs because something was not perfect and now they are thinking out of emotion, not out of logic and rationality.

All of the positive thinking in the world will not guarantee athletic success. More importantly, spending time trying to be positive takes away the mental energy needed to be strategic and problem solve. Problem solving is a strength that most student-athletes possess in the classroom and it is important to bring this attribute onto the athletic field. ✪

Dr. Doug Gardner is a Sport Psychology Professional who spent six years as the Sport Psychology Consultant for the Boston Red Sox. He is the owner of the ThinkSport Consult-ing Services, which has locations in Northern and Southern California. Contact Dr. Gardner by email at [email protected].

Doug GardnerGet Mental

The power of words: When they help, and when they don’t


t

of theweek

Aaron gordonarchbishop mitty-san jose . basketball . sophomore

Aaron Gordon and the Archbishop Mitty Monarchs are one win from the CIF Div. II state championship. The lanky 6-7 sopho-more forward was a one-man wrecking crew in a CIF Div. II Northern regional semifinal win over Las Lomas-Walnut Creek on March 12. He paced Mitty with 20 points, 19 rebounds and six blocks in a 70-61 win. In the regional final against Woodcreek, Gor-don posted a double-double (10 points, 17 rebounds) to guide the Monarchs to a 67-44 victory on March 19.

sportstars: What’s it like playing at Power Balance Pavilion?

Ag: A lot different. You don’t know where the rims will bounce to ... the lights are bright. We try not to think about it. We’re a great shooting team.

sportstars: Your brother, Drew, made it to the state championship in 2008 but didn’t get to play (ankle injury). Has he said anything to you leading up to the big game?

Ag: The one thing he told me is ‘Don’t regret what you’re about to do. Leave it all on the floor.’

sportstars: Your team lost to Woodcreek last year, how does redemption feel?

Ag: It feels good but we weren’t looking past them. Our motto is: Play one game at a time.

sportstars: Your opponent in the state championship is No. 10 Summit-Fontana. They’ve pulled off several upsets to get here. What do you guys have to do to avoid the upset?

Ag: My mindset is we need to focus on us. If we play the way we do, we’ll win.

AArOn’s QuicK hitsWho will win it all (NCAA): UConncake or pie: CakeMost blocks in a game: 17, in sixth grade

brendan keaneThe Northern Colorado-bound big man posted 17 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots as he helped lead the St. Joseph Notre Dame-Alameda boys basketball team to a 61-43 win over University-San Francisco in the CIF Div. V Northern regional championship on March 19.

hannah huffman

The junior forward was nothing short of amazing during the CIF

Div. I Northern regional playoffs for Carondelet-Concord. She posted a career-high 34 points in a 77-66 semifinal win over St. Francis-Sacramento and followed it with a game-high 30 points in a 68-57 loss to Berkeley in the final.

honorable mention

pow

ered

by: nominate your

star at editor@

sportstarsmag.com

hailie eacklesWith 16 points, 18 rebounds, four steals and two blocks, the senior

forward led Pinewood-Los Altos Hills to a 41-36 CIF Div. V Northern region-al finals win over St. Joseph’s Notre Dame on March 19. Eackles and the Panthers play St. Bernard-Playa del Rey on March 26 for the state title.


The Sherman Divers of Lafayette took on some of the top competitors from all over the country at the US Junior Diving Champion-ships in Beaverton, Ore. on March 5-6.

“It was a successful trip for Sherman Divers,” said coach Steve Sherman. “We took five divers, two of which dived at the Regional level for the first time, gaining valu-

able experience.”Some of the standouts from Sherman

Swim included morgan matranga. One of the youngest in her age group, the Moraga native competed in the 14-15 Girls 3-meter springboard scoring 272 points and plac-ing 17th. On the 1-meter springboard, she racked up 223 points, finishing 21st.

Traveling with the team for the first time, brenna cetrone placed 13th with a score of

192.75 in the 12-13 Girls 3 Meter competi-tion. She narrowly missed medaling by one-tenth of a point. In the 1 Meter Springboard she finished with 174.45 and 14th place. She’s determined to work harder and earn a medal at the next competition.

Maren Kjell had her work cut out for her as she competed in arguably the toughest age group of the meet: 16-18. Going up against 60 girls, she finished a respectable 23rd in the 1 Meter Springboard with a score of 299.70.

On the boys side, erich brodbeck amassed 347.25 points in the 16-18 Boys 1 Meter Springboard picking up 11th place. He placed 12th in the 3 Meter competition with 336.25 points.

Asher Lichtig scored 336.10 points in the 16-18 Boys 1 Meter Springboard finishing in 11th place. He ended up 17th on the 3 Meter with 313.15 points.

“This was one of the largest regionals in the nation with over 400 of the best divers from nine states,” said Sherman. “It was won-derful to see our divers so pumped from the diving meet that they returned home eager to learn new dives!”

EBSA excelsEast Bay Sports Academy made some

noise at the Golden State Spirit Association (GSSA) Aloha in San Jose on March 19. Their Open International Level 5 team (ages 14 and older) placed first. The Senior Level 4.2 (ages 12-18) finished second, and their Minis (ages 4-8) placed third.

“We were not planning on starting an all-star cheer program this year,” said cheer director Stacy Samarin. “But so many people asked us to start a program that we couldn’t say no.”

The GSSA Aloha is one event in a circuit throughout 2011. The championship takes place in Hawaii. EBSA figures to be a formi-dable opponent to any competitor.

“This year has been such an amazing year for our athletes and our program,” says Sa-marin. “The love and support we have from the families has been overwhelming.”

These girls aren’t afraid of being in the spotlight as they shined at the GSSA Cham-pionships in Sacramento on Dec. 11. Their Junior squad (ages 8-14) finished third and the Open International Level 5 team took home the gold.

What can be attributed to the amount of success EBSA has already experienced? Sa-marin sums it up with the environment they create at their facility.

“We strive everyday to make sure EBSA is a place these athletes and families can call

home,” Samarin says. “And a place where they can achieve their athletic goals.”

While the success in competition is more than welcomed, Samarin admits trophies, medals and banners are not their sole pur-pose for competing.

“The place we receive at a competition doesn’t matter because we already won first place before we even stop onto the competi-tion floor,” explains Samarin. “And that’s a first place that is priceless.” ✪

Want your club team featured in the Scene? Email your results or news items to [email protected]

March 24, 2011

club scene

Lafayette’s Sherman Divers earn solid results at US Junior ChampionshipsBy eriK stOrdAhl | SportStars

Contributed photostOP: Brenna Cetrone performs a one and one-half inward somersault during

the U.S. Junior Championships in early March. bOttOm: The East Bay

Sports Academy’s Senior Level 4.2 cheer team took first at the

Golden State Spirit Association Aloha on March 19.


vArsity bOysOverall team scores

Jesse Bethel-Vallejo ...................................46Westmoor-Daly City ..................................44Alhambra-Martinez .....................................41

6400 relayMiramonte-Orinda ..............................19:36.5Sacred Heart-San Francisco .............19:53.7Alhambra ............................................20.17.0

Hurdles relayNewark Memorial-Newark ...................1:13.0Westmoor .............................................1:14.7Concord ................................................1:16.5

400m relayJesse Bethel ............................................44.1Deer Valley-Antioch .................................44.8Pinole Valley-Pinole .................................44.9

3200m relayMiramonte .............................................8:54.8Alhambra ..............................................9:04.6Sacred Heart ........................................9:07.3

Sprint medley relaySan Ramon-Danville ............................1:38.7Kennedy-Richmond .............................1:42.0Jesse Bethel .........................................1:43.1

Distance medley relaySanta Rosa .........................................11:44.1Alhambra ............................................12:04.0Sacred Heart ......................................12:10.6

800m relayJesse Bethel .........................................1:35.0Kennedy ................................................1:38.6Westmoor .............................................1:48.8

1600m relayJesse Bethel .........................................3:42.5Westmoor .............................................3:48.4Alhambra ..............................................4:00.9

High jumpJesse Bethel ..........................................10-06Newark Memorial ....................................9-08Westmoor ................................................4-10

shot putSanta Rosa ..........................................118-04Newark Memorial .............................114-04.5

discusSanta Rosa ..........................................308-05Westmoor ............................................239-03Alhambra .............................................225-08

vArsity girlsOverall team scores

Westmoor ...................................................62Santa Rosa .................................................50Mercy-San Francisico ............................... 33

Hurdle relayMercy ................................................ 1:20.3Westmoor .............................................1:20.9Santa Rosa ......................................1:21.5

400m relayKennedy ...................................................50.8Pinole Valley ............................................50.9St.Francis .................................................52.2

3200m relaySanta Rosa .........................................10:29.4Sacred Heart ......................................10:34.3Westmoor ...........................................11:08.4

Sprint medleySt.Francis-Mountian View ....................1:57.6Kennedy ................................................1:59.3Alhambra ..............................................2:01.8

Distance medleySanta Rosa .........................................13:44.5Sacred Heart ......................................13:52.6Westmoor ...........................................14:16.2

800m relayKennedy ................................................1;51.9Sacred Heart ........................................1:55.0Westmoor .............................................1:48.8

1600m relayWestmoor .............................................4:31.1Alhambra ..............................................4:42.1Mercy ....................................................4:52.3

High jumpSanta Rosa ............................................14-00Northgate-Walnut Creek .........................8-09Mercy .......................................................8-09

shot putFortuna ...................................................86-06Berean Christian-Walnut Creek .........76-04.5Santa Rosa .........................................72-10.5

discusFortuna .................................................244-11Santa Rosa ..........................................207-10Westmoor ............................................199-07

Running in the rainThe first year of the Martinez Relays under its new name, The Martinez/Tim Bruder Relays,

was a wet one. And yet, the copious amounts of rain wasn’t enough to deter the 20 or more schools who

showed up from competing for the coveted team titles. SportStars braved the weather, too. Here are a few photos from the event as well as the final varsity results.

Following are the Top 3 teams in each event:

Butch NobleAbOve: Members of the Miramonte-

Orinda, left, and Northgate-Walnut Creek relay teams attempt to avoid puddles as they break at the start.

right: A member of the Westmoor-Daly City team carries the baton into the homestretch. Westmoor took first place in the overall girls standings.


As the basketball popped loose in the backcourt, Travis Pa-cos knew the Castro Valley High defender was going to get it.

Pacos also knew that once that happened, none of his De La Salle teammates were going to be able to stop the Trojans player from scoring an uncontested layup at the other end of the floor.

And that’s when it appeared instinct took over. With two steps and a head first dive that took him parallel

to the Power Balance Pavilion floor, Pacos was able to grab at the arm of the Castro Valley player and draw a foul that stopped the fast break before it happened. If it looked like Pa-cos should’ve been wearing shoulder pads and a helmet on the play, that’s because the majority of his near four-year athletic career at De La Salle has been focused on the football field.

But that changed in late August when he made a very dif-ficult decision to hang up his cleats and devote his full-time focus to basketball.

“It was probably the toughest decision of my life so far,” Pacos said.

That decision may very well end up being the largest fac-tor in the Spartan basketball team’s return to the California Interscholastic Federation Division I state championship for the first time since 2006.

In a year that nobody expected it to. When the horn sounded on the CIF Division I Northern

regional championship on March 19, much of the 8,000 in attendance at the former Arco Arena were in a state of shock. Most notably the Castro Valley players, coaches and fans, all of whom were trying to make sense of how their season of destiny — the Trojans entered the game as heavy favorites, boasting a 30-1 record and a 60-42 win over the same De La Salle in the North Coast Section championship just two weeks before — had turned on a dime, in a span of six and a half minutes between the third and fourth quarters.

That span began when Castro Valley’s Juan Anderson scored to put the Trojans up 29-21 with 2:12 to go in the third. It ended with 3:42 to go in the game when Anderson scored again to bring an end to an 18-0 De La Salle run.

PivotalDecisionIn a school where football

is king, De La Salle senior Travis Pacos shed the pads to become an

unconventional hoops starBy chAce brysOn | Editor

Photos by Bob LarsonDe La Salle forward Travis Pacos, center,

has to revert to his football instincts to hold on to the ball as Castro Valley’s Chris Read, left, and Juan Anderson try to wrestle it away in their game

on March 19.


Pacos was everywhere during the six and a half minute Spartans onslaught. He scored 12 of his team-high 19 points during the run. He also had two his team-high three steals dur-ing the same stretch.

“Travis is unbelievable,” De La Salle coach Frank Allocco said after the game. “I say this week after week. He kind of embodies us as a team. He’s not the prettiest basketball player but he just gets it done. He makes big plays.”

But before he could make big plays, he had to make the big decision.

There was a time that Pacos looked to be on the fast track with the football team. He made the varsity team as a sophomore in the 2008 season, backing up starting quarterback Blake Wayne. As a junior in 2009 he was giv-en the first chance at the starting quarterback role, but was eventually replaced by up-and-coming sophomore Bart Houston.

Spartans defensive coordinator Terry Eidson saw potential for Pacos to help on the defensive side of the ball and immediately started working him out as a linebacker and strong safety. He saw some limited time in those roles as the Spartans rolled to a state title after a CIF Open Division bowl victory over Crenshaw-Los Angeles.

However, coming into 2010, his role with the football team still wasn’t clearly defined. But he wasn’t just going to turn his back on the program without finding out where he

stood first.“The way he went about it was really ma-

ture,” Eidson said of Pacos‘ decision to walk away. “He stuck through the summer work-outs and went through the first scrimmage to see where he was going to fit before making his decision. What I appreciated was that he really gave it an effort.”

His teammates appreciated it, too“He put the work into it and did everything

the rest of the guys did,” Eidson said. “When you do that, your teammates are going to re-spect you and the decisions you make.”

And even though his football coaches and teammates supported the move, it didn’t make it any easier.

“Just leaving the football community was tough. I loved it,” Pacos said. “I loved every-thing they did. It was tough, but they were very supportive, and it ended up working

out. Obviously it was totally worth it and I’m having a great basketball experience and I’m enjoying everything.”

And while the football team went on to win a second consecutive state title with an-other Open Division bowl victory, Pacos was in the gym with Allocco and the rest of the Spartans basketball team — working on the skills that would help turn yhe undersized 6-foot-2 forward into the team’s top scorer and emotional leader.

“He was giving up a state championship (with the football team), and I think he knew that,” Allocco said. “Travis is one of the nicest kids I’ve ever met. It sounds corny, but he em-bodies what our school is about. He’s about serving others.

“He looked at the situation and said I’m going to play some football but where will I contribute more? Where can I help my class-mates more? I’m going to play a lot on the basketball team. I might play some football, but I can be a key component on the basket-ball team. And it really did help us with him coming on full-time.”

Perhaps the biggest basket of the 18-0 run came in the final five seconds of the third quarter as Amadi Udenyi dribbled the length of the floor and dished to Pacos, who was able to convert a layup right as the horn sounded.

De La Salle still trailed 29-28, but the body language of Castro Valley as it walked back to the bench, told the story. There was a look of “Where did that come from?” across their faces.

And there was still 11 more unanswered points to come, 10 of them from Pacos.

“Travis just made a big time improvement from last year,” Udenyi said after the game. “He quit football and got dedicated to basket-ball, and now 19 points in the NorCal finals is incredible. He and I are always talk about (his ability to just get the ball in the basket). I just tell him ‘Get open, and I’ll find you. You’re going to get the ball’

Thirty minutes after the game had ended, Allocco stood in the tunnel as the Power Bal-ance Pavilion emptied and his team could be heard hooting and hollering from the dress-ing room.

The victory, and the manner in which the Spartans pulled it off, was still sinking in.

“The last two games have just been amaz-ing,” Allocco said, also referring to the Spar-tans’ 47-45 win over Sheldon-Sacramento in the regional semifinal — yet another come-from-behind effort. “I keep preparing speech-es to tell them how proud they should be of their season, and so on. But they just keep winning.”

Pacos emerges from the dressing room in a Michigan football t-shirt with the type of grin someone wears after pulling off a giant prank.

It was clear, nobody was having more fun than he was at this very moment.

“He’s always had a great attitude,” Eidson said. “That’s why everyone roots for the guy.” ✪

March 24, 2011

CIF State ChampionshipsHere are the 10 state finals matchups

being played out at Power Balance Pa-vilion in Sacramento on March 25-26.

Friday, March 25div v boys: St. Bernard-Playa del

Ray (26-8) vs. St. Joseph Notre Dame-Alameda (26-8), 1:30 p.m.

Div V girls: St. Bernard-Playa del Ray (24-14) vs. Pinewood-Los Altos Hills (27-5), 3:30 p.m

Div II girls: Rialto (33-3) vs. St. Mary’s-Stockton (28-2), 6 p.m.

div ii boys: Summit-Fontana (28-7) vs. Archbishop Mitty-San Jose (31-2), 8 p.m.

Saturday, March 26Div IV girls: Windward-Los Angeles

(28-4) vs. St. Mary’s-Berkeley (30-4), 9:30 a.m.

div iv boys: Windward-L.A. (26-8) vs. Salesian-Richmond (25-11), 11:15 a.m.

Div III girls: St. Joseph-Santa Maria (28-6) vs. Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland (25-6), 1 p.m.

div iii boys: Lutheran-La Verne (26-5) vs. Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland (25-6), 2:45 p.m.

Div I girls: Mater Dei-Santa Ana (33-1) vs. Berkeley (31-1), 6 p.m.

div i boys: Mater Dei-Santa Ana (31-3) vs. De La Salle-Concord (27-5), 8 p.m.

Spartans coach Frank Allocco described Pacos as “not exactly the prettiest basketball player, but he just gets it done.” The 6-foot-2 forward leads

De La Salle in scoring.


With its runaway victory over Modesto Christian, the St. Mary’s-Berkeley girls bas-ketball team made a definitive statement on its way to a second straight California Inter-scholastic Federation Division IV Northern regional championship.

The Panthers have the look of a budding dynasty. But as the rest of the Northern re-gional finals played out on March 19, it was the current and undisputed dynasties that flexed their muscles.

Berkeley won its 10th Division I regional title — a CIF record for boys or girls — and St. Mary’s-Stockton (Div. III) secured its ninth, and Pinewood (Div. V) grabbed its sixth. That particular trio have gone on to win 12 state championships – with St. Mary’s of Stockton and Pinewood both defending champions.

The written word, however, does not come close to telling the tale of how hard it is to ad-vance that far so often. For example, just look at this year’s NorCal title games, and except for St. Mary’s of Berkeley, every one was a struggle.

Sure, maybe Berkeley’s 68-57 win over Carondelet in the Division I final looked like an easy win, but despite the final margin, it was anything but routine. The Yellowjackets jumped out to an early lead, and thanks to a

12-2 run at the end of the second quarter, led 31-19 at the break.

When Brittany Boyd converted another drive with 6:19 left in the third, it was 37-23 Berkeley. But then Hannah Huffman caught fire for Carondelet, and quickly rattled off two baskets. After Rachel Howard scored for Berkeley, freshman Natalie Romeo hit a cou-ple free throws for Carondelet and unsung re-serve post Katherine Luther scored five points in 26 seconds to bring the Cougars within five.

When Boyd, who finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and three steals, picked up her fourth foul with 7:04 left in the game, Caron-delet’s energy level went up a notch, and when Luther scored on a drive, it was 52-49 with 4:02 to go.

But Chairese Culberson and Khristina Hunter made sure it got no closer, as they continued Berkeley’s domination of the boards (45-24) and despite Huffman’s 30 points, the Yellowjackets held on to beat the Cougars for the third time in four tries.

“That was a great high school game,” said Berkeley coach Cheryl Draper, who is very conscious of the ‘Jackets history. “We play for the legacy of the school – the 10 champion-ships are very important to us.”

Another game that was a lot closer than the score indicated was St. Mary’s of Stockton’s 56-

48 Division II win over Del Oro-Loomis. The Golden Eagles, in fact, carried a three-point lead into the fourth quarter. Even though St. Mary’s led for the last 6:44 of the game, it wasn’t until Ali Gibson scored five straight points midway through the fourth quarter that St. Mary’s had any breathing room.

But it wasn’t the leading scorers who were the difference in this one; rather, it was 6-foot-1 St. Mary’s center Kendall Kenyon, who finished with 20 rebounds and three

blocked shots. Kenyon’s offensive rebounds in the second half were crucial in denying Del Oro the chance to get Madeline Campbell (18 points) and Crystal Sewell (16) the ball.

As for St. Mary’s of Berkeley, well that was the easiest win of all, even if the Panthers have the shortest resume. They led Modesto Chris-tian 45-23 at the half, and wound up winning 70-42, the 17th straight win for St. Mary’s – and though two NorCal titles might not im-press Berkeley, it’s more than most. ✪

Meet the new boss, same as the old bossSeveral girls programs continue their proud championship legacies

Bob LarsonBerkeley’s Brittany Boyd, center, shares a victory yell with teammate Elisha Davis after the Yellowjackets wrapped up their 10th regional championship.

By clAy KAllAm | Contributor


What is Patellofemoral Stress Syn-drome (PFSS)?

PFSS is generalized pain around the patellofemoral joint, or the knee-cap, that is activity related. This is one of the most common overuse injuries for young athletes that we see in our sports medicine clinic. The stress at the patellofemoral joint occurs when the athlete places an excessive amount of force through the front thigh, or quadriceps, muscle.

When the force of the quadri-ceps is too high for the kneecap to absorb, the result is PFSS. This will present as front of the knee pain, most commonly, with running, jumping and during quick direction changes of sports. The kneecap pain can be triggered by walking up and down stairs, and become pain-ful with sitting (having the knee bent) for an extended time.

PFSS can occur from repeated bending and straightening of the knee, which can irritate the kneecap and surrounding struc-tures. It has four main causes.

Muscle Imbalances: The quadriceps mus-cle is working overtime because the gluteus (back hip) muscles are weak. This creates an imbalance where the workload is too high for the front thigh, and the back thigh is not supporting the movement demands during landing from a jump, or with propelling the leg in sprinting.

Faulty Technique: During the bend-ing phase, or landing phase, with running, jumping, or changing direction, the knee joint will excessively rotate, or cave, inward. This can happen because either the hip or the ankle is not providing the support for the knee. This caving in puts extra stress on the patellofemoral joint.

Tightness: Lack of flexibility in the quadriceps can compress the patellofemoral joint, as the patella sits at the very end of the quadriceps tendon.

Too much too soon: The training pro-

gram has been too much for the muscles to absorb. This can lead to fatigue due to lack of enough rest or recovery. Training programs that involve multiple teams, excessive jump-ing, or hill running place the patellofemoral

joint at risk for an overuse injury.

Initial treatment of PFSS is aimed at reducing pain and inflammation by apply-ing P.R.I.C.E. (protect, REST, ice, compression, elevation). Physical therapy is usually the treatment of choice for PFSS. The physical therapist will give you specific exercises to help with stretching of the muscles around the knee and to strengthen the hip, knee, and foot.

■ If there is a muscle imbal-ance issue: Strengthen the hip, hamstrings and calf before trying to do any squatting

exercises. ■ If there is a faulty technique: Look

in a mirror and make sure when you do a shallow squat that your knee does not cave inward.

■ If you are tight: Stretch the quadriceps muscle by pulling your heel towards you buttocks. Do this lying on your stomach to prevent any twisting of the knee or too much arching of the back.

■ Monitor your trainings for the week by writing a log what you do for how long. Limit any jumping or hill running until you can run without pain. Any pain you have is a signal to you that there is too much stress on that structure.

Michelle Cappello is a physical therapist for the staff of Sports Medicine For Young Athletes, a division of Children’s Hospital Oakland with a facility also located 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].

March 24, 2011

Michelle Cappello

Health Watch

PFSS: A fancy acronym for common form of knee pain


This wasn’t the first dance for the Pine-wood girls basketball program of Los Altos Hills.

The Panthers have claimed five California Interscholastic Federation Division V North-ern regional titles in the past seven years, and will attempt to win their fifth state champion-ship when they face St. Bernard-Playa del Rey at Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento on March 25.

But, the box score from Pinewood’s 41-36 victory over St. Joseph Notre Dame in the school’s latest NorCal title win had a very un-familiar look.

“When you look at the box score with 8-for-38 on 3-pointers and 7 of 14 on free throws, you can’t figure that it is a winning box score,” Pinewood coach Doc Scheppler said after the his team’s victory on March 19 at Folsom High. “It shows how well St. Joe’s defense was, and that we are happy to be moving on.”

The normally solid-shooting Panthers mis-fired most of the afternoon, struggling right out of the gate with a 2-for-17 effort from the field in the first quarter and trailed 8-7 at the first break. They would hit just 4 of 22 first-half 3-point tries.

“There were a lot of splats in the first half,” Scheppler said. “Their game plan was sweet and the defense they played was bothersome for us.”

To counter the poor shooting perfor-mance, Pinewood increased its defensive pressure and forced numerous turnovers to

open the second quarter with an 11-0 run to claim an 18-8 lead. Unfortunately, the cold shooting continued and St. Joseph scored 11 unanswered to go into halftime with a one-point lead.

In the second half, the Panthers turned to their experience.

Pinewood’s six seniors have been around for the school’s trips to the state final the past two years and have been on both the winning and losing side of the final game of the sea-son.

“Our experience is key,” Scheppler said. “These girls find a way to make big plays when they are needed.”

In the NorCal final, those big plays were not the usual bombardment of 3-pointers, but rather steals, rebounds, and game man-agement. Protecting a slim lead down the stretch, the Panthers protected the ball to run time off of the clock, got to the foul line, and, most importantly, grabbed key rebounds off of missed free throws.

Eackles corralled three of her career-high 18 rebounds in the final two minutes when her teammates could not put away the Pilots with free throws.

Eackles, who will play at the University of Pacific next year, is accustomed to filling the stat sheet on the scoring line. She aver-aged 23.5 points per game during the season and had poured in an average of 28 points per game in the four games leading up to the NorCal final. When notified that she had more rebounds (18) than points (16) in the NorCal final, Eackles was mildly surprised, but clearly satisfied that her effort helped the

team return to the state final.“I don’t remember the last time I (had

more rebounds than points),” Eackles said, “but I knew that I had to do something.”

Pinewood ‘s offense is built around 3-point shooting, and Scheppler is not about to change the game plan after one poor perfor-mance from long range. The Panthers boast five players who have connected on 33 or more shots from beyond the arc this season, led by Eackles’ 102. As a team the Panthers shot nearly 33 percent from beyond the arc before the NorCal final.

The team tied the state record for 3-point-ers made in a season with the eight triples made against St. Joseph, and will set a new mark with every long-range jumper made in the state final. The record (338 three-pointers made) is shared with Pinewood’s 2003 team, which was also coached by Scheppler.

Senior guard Miranda Seto, the team’s second-leading long-range shooter (with 62 3-pointers), was the lone offensive bright spot in the NorCal final, percentage-wise, hitting on half of her six attempts from distance. Af-ter the team’s sluggish start, Seto made three consecutive 3-pointers to start the second quarter, showing just how quick one hot hand can change the game for the Panthers.

“No one was making shots, so after I made

one, I just kept shooting,” Seto said of her hot streak.

Senior point guard Kelsey Morehead —who can shoot the 3-pointer just the same (36 made this season) — helped turn the tide against St. Joseph with her defensive effort in the full-court press.

“I know that I can give energy,” Morehead said. “I wasn’t playing well, so I wanted to do what I could to help us win.”

In the end, the Pilots finally wore down against the experienced Panthers. While the St. Joseph boy’s teams have won state titles and will compete for another this year, the girls’ team had never before reached a Nor-Cal final.

“We’ve never gone this far and the girls left it all out on the court today,” St. Joseph head coach Julianne Berry said. “This group has made their mark and put us on the map.”

The map now leads Pinewood to Sacra-mento where Scheppler is hoping to see a box score filled with made 3-pointers and point totals that the coach is more accustomed to seeing. Of course, Pinewood is not as con-cerned with the box score as it is with win-ning its fourth state championship.

After all, you hang banners on the gymna-sium wall, not box scores. ✪

SURVIVEADVANCE

AND

Its 3-point shooting ways failing it, Pinewood still found a way to win a third straight NorCal title

By Jim mccue | Contributor

Chris AustriaPinewood senior guard Miranda Seto, right, drives hard to the basket during the Panthers’ 41-36 Div. V Northern regional championship victory over St. Joseph

Notre Dame-Alameda. Seto finished with nine points and four rebounds.


Ten Northern California high school bas-ketball teams will trek to the state capital on March 25-26 to compete for the ultimate prize: a California Interscholastic Federation state championship.

But in the world of small school basketball — really small school basketball — pinnacle achievement was attained in various Division VI section championships in early March. And in the Northern Section, tucked just three miles south of the Oregon border, is the small farming community of Dorris — home to one of the more remarkable (really, really) small school girls basketball programs.

The numbers tell the story of incredible success over the past three years for the Butte Valley High School Lady Bulldogs basketball team: 64-5 overall record, 29-1 in the Ever-green League, 35-0 at home, three league ti-tles, and now back-to-back section titles after their 54-49 defeat of Redding Christian-Palo Cedro on March 4 .

Making the run even more impressive for the public school of 83 students, is that the three teams have consisted of substantially different personnel.

The 2008-09 team featured 3-point spe-cialists Sanna Jarvinen, a Finish exchange student, and homegrown Bethany Holguin as its primary offensive threats. The next season, Holguin and six-foot post player Kai Braren were the only returning starters on a squad which went 23-0.

The most recent version of the Lady Bull-dogs had just one returning starter, post play-er Kady Porterfield. With the graduation of its 3-point shooters, the team was forced to change its offensive strategy. Butte Valley av-eraged 91 three-point baskets per season the prior two years, but connected on just nine this season, relying almost exclusively on an inside and mid-range game.

Lady Bulldog coach Mike Cross gives his players the credit for being able to adapt.

“These teams have been willing to make changes. Each team has run a different of-

fense to fit the players we have. They also have been willing to listen about changes on defense. They believe in what we are doing and trying to accomplish,” said Cross.

The Bulldogs were led on the court and in the classroom this season by Porterfield. The school’s valedictorian, Porterfield averaged a Northern Section-best 22.9 points per game, up more than seven points from her average as a junior.

“The best part about winning it again this year was just proving everyone wrong,” Por-terfield said. “Not many believed we were going to be good after losing four starting se-niors. It meant a lot to me personally to win

again, and I think it really shows a lot about our team.”

While Cross credits his players for the team’s success, the players see him as the key.

“We have an amazing coach and I think that has played a huge role in our teams be-ing so successful,” said senior point guard Ni-cole Levesque, who averaged 8.7 points and 6.9 steals per game. “(He) constantly pushed us to do better and to keep working hard in practices the whole season.”

The coach and his players may have dif-ferent views of who should get the credit for the team’s success, but they all agree on the importance of the community’s support. As well as Dorris (pop. 886), Butte Valley High

School serves Macdoel (pop. 400) and the surrounding area. The stands are filled to ca-pacity or beyond nearly every home game, and a large contingent of Bulldog fans travel to away games.

Which is a task.The Evergreen League is ridiculously

spread out. It ranges west to east from Hap-py Camp to Surprise Valley High in Cedar-ville — a distance of 274 road miles. North to south, it spans nearly 70 miles from Dor-ris to Dunsmuir. The Lady Bulldogs longest league road trip is nearly five hours by bus. The shortest trip is 26 miles to Tulelake.

It’s no wonder that by the time they get in the gym, they’re ready to run. ✪

March 24, 2011

Ray WolfMembers of the Butte Valley-Dorris basketball team celebrate their second consecutive Northern Section Division VI

championship with coach Mike Cross. The Bulldogs have gone an astounding 64-5 over the past three seasons.

HiDDen DynastyButte Valley girls basketball excels in Division VI

anonymityBy rAy wOlF | Contributor


OK, let’s see a show of hands – how many of you joined a gym in January, fully intending to keep that long-awaited New Year’s resolution to stay in shape (OK, let’s be honest: “get” in shape), struggled through a few sessions and

then found it extremely convenient to just give up on the en-tire idea?

One, two, three, 500 … OK, lots of you. Just as we figured.The reasons are as varied as they are understandable. For

some, it’s a simple matter of “It’s just too hard.” For others, it’s too much of a time commitment. And several people we contacted for this article said it was a matter of not receiving the proper instruction.

“I got a great one-time training session, the trainer took me around and showed me how all the equip-ment worked, gave me a piece of paper to track my progress and after that, I was on my own,” said one per-son (their name changed to protect the guilty.)

“I’d forgotten how half the equip-ment worked the next time I tried to use it, I was embarrassed to ask any-one else and after a few tries, I just got frustrated and gave up.”

(Note to readers: The offending gym is NOT among those men-tioned in this article or anywhere in this magazine either editorially or as an advertiser, so relax. You’re in good hands here.)

OK, so lots of us know what it’s like to join a gym and fail. We also

couldn’t help but notice that in our few brief journeys into a gym, there were an awful lot of people who (a. seemed to know exactly what they were doing, (b. seemed to look aw-fully good doing it and (c. actually seemed to enjoy it.

What’s their secret? Well, in many cases, it’s a simple mat-ter of finding a gym that’s the right fit. But we found a bigger, more central strategy that seems to work just about every time it’s tried.

The secret is this: In gyms as in most areas of life, family matters.

SportStars recently contacted a number of health clubs and asked to be put in touch with members who, somehow, had managed to avoid the “March Sadness” that affects far too many people who had just joined in January. Right down the line, the gyms produced people who couldn’t lose the motivation – because if they did, there was another family mem-ber right there watching their back.

Here are a few examples of fam-ily members who help to keep each other motivated:

Mother-daughter connectionIn an age when many families are

having a hard time finding things to do together, much less anything constructive, Lisa Mello and her daughter, Megan Mello, of Lafayette are enjoying the best of both worlds.

Both belong to ClubSport Renais-sance of Walnut Creek, and “lack of

afamilyaffairStaying motivated at

the gym can be tough. But keeping a

treadmill pace next to your mom? Well ...

By miKe wOlcOtt | SportStars


motivation” is pretty much a foreign concept.“I have been working out since I was 18 or 19,” Lisa Mello

said. “I started including my daughter when she was 10 or 11. I would sneak her in a class in hopes they would let her stay and work out, which they usually did.

“When she doesn’t want to go to the gym the one thing I have always said, and still say, is that no one ever leaves the gym wishing they didn’t go. They always leave feeling great.”

Of course, it’s the getting-up-and-going to the gym that can be challenging. But, not in this case.

“Since I’m in high school and work it’s hard to make time for the gym. I’m always busy and I’m always tired,” Megan Mello said. “So when I have time to go I usually will want to stay on the couch.

“Since my mom and I are very close and love to joke with each other, if we are being lazy we’ll joke about how we look like we’ve put on some pounds, or we make competitions out of our workouts.”

Lisa Mello said it works both ways. “Megan really moti-vates me as well. We make gym dates and hold one another accountable. We constantly challenge each other, and do a lot of laughing and just have fun hanging out together.”

And, their gym of choice makes “getting off the couch” that much easier. Both said they find ClubSport “classy and clean” — but, it’s not all work and no relaxation.

“The best part is the hot tubs,” Megan Mello said.

A welcome change of paceIn Dublin, there’s another parent-child duo that does a

great job of keeping each other motivated. But this time, it’s a mother and her son.

And here’s another twist — in this family, one gym isn’t enough. It’s the extra boost they get from a workout at Ve-locity Sports Performance that helps to keep them motivated.

March 24, 2011

Butch NobleleFt: Gaby Van Gemeren, left, and her mom Lolly have been working out together at Fit 2 The Core in

Concord for a little more than a year. AbOve: Lisa Mello, left, and daughter Megan pass the medicine ball during their workout at ClubSport Renaissance in Walnut Creek


“The whole family has a membership at a regular gym,” said Laura Howard. “I go almost every morning for some cardio training. But it is nothing like the experience at Velocity — and nowhere near the same intensity of workout.”

So what’s different about Velocity? “The classes change ev-ery day so it is never boring,” Laura Howard said. “It is chal-lenging, but it is so gratifying to see improvement so quickly. The coaches are fantastic — they always make sure we are us-ing correct form and keep the workouts fun.”

Davis’ son, Jake, an eighth-grader at Harvest Park in Pleas-anton, was actually the one who led the family in Velocity’s direction. While playing Pleasanton flag football, he went to the club for a free trial and liked it so much, his family signed him up for additional sessions. When he stopped going dur-ing football season, his dad, Dan, took his place — and en-couraged Laura to join him.

“It looked so hard and I was used to only running and lift-ing light weights,” Laura Howard said. “Finally, I agreed to try, and loved it. When football season was over, Jake returned and we’ve all been going ever since.”

Since working out is a family affair, they all do a good job of making sure they live up to their end of the bargain. “Some-times I feel lazy and don’t want to work out after a long day at school,” Jake Howard said. “But my parents encourage me to work out and I’m usually glad I did when it’s over.”

The best medicineAs we’ve already seen, intra-family motivation is one way to

keep the workouts rolling. Our final featured family has found another pretty effective method: humor.

Go ahead and try to work out with Lolly Van Gemeren and her daughter, Gaby, at Clayton’s Fit 2 the Core; you’ll need help keeping up with their pace, and even if you manage to do that, you’ll need a lot of help trying to keep a straight face.

“I love working out with my mom because she is so funny and always able to make me laugh even when I feel like I can’t do any more squats,” said Gaby Van Gemeren.

Lolly Van Gemeren and Gaby, her daughter, started work-ing out together a little over a year as a gift from Lolly’s hus-band, who saw an ad saying “drop a dress size in 21 days,” Gaby recalled.

“Before that I mostly walked the dog as exercise,” Lolly said, recalling a time she’d struggled to stand from a kneel-ing position and ended up “clawing my way up a nearby rack of clothes. “I had an epiphany that I had come to a ‘Y’ in the road. In one direction I would continue and be heavier, more out of shape and less agile or I could go the other direction and save myself the misery of being overweight, out of shape and aging.”

Under the direction of Tim Rudd, both mother and daughter have found the training at Fit 2 the Core to be top-rate. Lilly said she’s quit gyms in the past because of a lack of proper train-ing and direction, but she’s not about to let that happen again.

“The reason for that is sheer terror,” she said. “I am terrified of going back to the way I was before.”

And Gaby isn’t about to lose a step to her mom.“I’m afraid that if I start skipping it will become a habit,” she

said. “After a while attending class was the habit and I think I would feel lazy if I didn’t go. I’d feel embarrassed to be the “lazy” family member.”

Besides, at this point, they’ve got a bit of bragging rights.“After we had been working out for nine months or so,

my husband and son came to a holiday workout,” Lolly said. “They had apparently assumed we were doing something re-ally easy and girlish, only to find they had to work to keep up. They appear to have a new respect for us.”

That’s what can happen when people make a resolution and stick to it — regardless of the motivation. And if it stays all in the family, so much the better. ✪

Butch NobleMegan Mello, right, takes a peek at her mom’s

production the elliptical machine. She admits that her and her mom will often make competitions out

of their workouts.


tee2green

We all have people in our lives that we go to when we need help or advice.

These people can be friends, family or co-workers. But in the First Tee Program we call these people our “Go-To Team”. We need our Go-To Team for many different situa-tions, whether they be everyday problems or long-lasting dilemmas. You can have a Go-To Team of one other person or a group of 10 or more! This team should be people that we are comfortable with and who feel comfort-able with you. With this trust and understand-ing, you and your Go-To Team will be able to get through everything.

No matter what conflict comes your way, the strength of your team will be able to get you the confidence you need to make decisions that are well planned and right. It is also nice to have more than one pair of eyes to see the situation — we know this is helpful on the golf course when we face a tough shot or putt, but it works the same way in life.

Sometimes we get so blinded by our own

thoughts and ideas that we miss important other factors. With a Go-To Team, we can see all the sides of a situation and make a decision based on that.

A Go-To Team is something that a person should always have and is one of the most important parts of the First Tee Program.

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

Need advice on the golf course, or in everday life? Build a Go-To Team

Junior Tour of California ResultsFollowing are the Top 10 finish-

ers from the championship flights of the Junior Tour of CA’s rain-short-ened Spring Series II Tournament at Sierra Meadows Country Club in Ahwahnee on March 19. Par was 72.

bOysPlayer Hometown ...............scoreT1 Andrej Bevins, Elk Grove .......69T1 Justin Marchiano, Carmel ......69

3 Aaron Bronis, Livermore ..........71T4 Christian Torres, Fresno ........72T4 Hayden Shieh, Fremont ........72T4 Chad Bell, Fresno ..................727 Bryson Dechambeau, Clovis ...73T8 Kenny Maroney, Livermore ...75T8 James Trevino, Fresno ..........75T10 Max. Chang, San Ramon ...76T10 Hunter Rappleye, Elk Grove ..76T10 Jonathan Lin, Fremont.........76T10 Gian Silvestri, Alamo ............76

girlsT1 Hannah Sodersten, Fresno ...75T1 Mabel Wong, Oakdale ...........75T1 Carly Childs, Alameda ...........754 Isasbella Bosetti, Napa ............77T5 Meghan Shain, Bakersfield ...80T5 Nancy Xu, Sunnyvale ............80T7 Alanna Loyd, Fresno ..............81T7 Casie Cathrea, Livermore .....819 Alicia Binneboese, Crml Vlly ....8210 Megan McGrew, Yolo .............86

Pinole Valley takes the CanyonBelow, the Pinole Valley boys

team takes a moment for an im-promptu team photo before its round at Franklin Canyon Golf Course in Hercules on March

22. The team from left to right is comprised of Travis Katsui, Kyle Etcheverry, Billy McGee (who is also featured practicing his putting stroke at left), Zachary Gilmore, Michael Vroom and

coach Dan O’Shea.

Contributed/Franklin Canyon GC


Several early-season boys golf tournaments take place during March, but few with pedigree of the De La Salle Invitational.

The tournament, which featured three of the Top 5 teams from the 2010 Califor-nia Interscholastic Federa-tion/Northern California Golf Association NorCal Golf Championships, took place at Diablo Country Club on March 14.

The host Spartans had two players shoot par or bet-ter and wound up defeating defending NorCal champion Foothill in a one-hole playoff for the team title. Both teams posted scores of 375 after 18 holes. De La Salle’s top individuals included Jonathan De Los Reyes (1-under 70) and Justin Pagila (71). Foothill was led by Roshan Chaekuri (70).

Santa Margarita would finish in third place with a score of 379 and Monte Vista-Danville (383) and Palma-Salinas (385) would round out the top five.

Individually, five players shot under below par (71) on the 6,573-yard Diablo Country Club course. Top medalist honors went to Andrei Bevins of Christian Brothers-Sacramento after he carded a 2-under 69. Bevins, who was a top 10 finisher at the 2010 NorCal championships and a top 20 finisher at the CIF state championships, closed his day one stroke ahead of four East Bay golfers who posted 1-under 70s.

— SportStars

March 24, 2011

tee2green

De La Salle narrowly escapes talented field in its own tournament

LeaderboardFollowing are the team scores and Top 25 individual

efforts from the De La Salle Invitational on March 14Team results: De La Salle 375*, Foothill-Pleasanton

375, Santa Margaritia 379, Monte Vista-Danville 383, Palma-Salinas 385, Robert Louis Stevenson-Pebble Beach 390, Dublin 391, Archbishop Mitty-San Jose 393, Christian Brothers-Sacramento 395, San Ramon Valley-Danville 397, Amador Valley-Pleasanton 400, Acalanes-Lafayette 401, Deer Valley 402, Marin Catholic-Kentfield 406, Justin-Siena-Napa 407, Serra-San Mateo 416, Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa 419, Chico 420, Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton 428, Moreau Catholic-Hayward 431, Athenian-Danville 470, Atwater 481, St. Patrick/St. Vincent-Vallejo 489, Sacred Heart Cathedral-San Francisco 494.Top 25 Individuals (par 71)Andrei Bevins (Christian Brotthers) .............................. 69Will Brueckner (Acalanes)............................................. 70Justin Shotwell (Amador Valley) ................................... 70Jonathan De Los Reyes (De La Salle) ......................... 70Roshan Chaekuri (Foothill) ........................................... 70Justin Pagila (DLS) ........................................................ 71Taylor Bromley (Dublin) ................................................. 72Drew Bender (Monte Vista) .......................................... 72Matt Pinizzotto (Palma) ................................................. 72Jay Burlison (Palma) ..................................................... 72Shotaro Ban (Mitty) ....................................................... 73Brandon Roberts (DLS) ................................................ 73Travis Rowney (Foot) .................................................... 73Drew Nelson (Stevenson) ............................................. 73Andrew Leavitt (Santa Margarita) ................................. 73Nate Le Blanc (Cardinal Newman) ............................... 74Tom McLendon (Justin-Siena) ...................................... 74Skyler Finnell (Stev.)...................................................... 74Beau Hossler (SM) ........................................................ 74James Ra (Mitty) ........................................................... 75Joe Furtado (Dub) ......................................................... 75Tanner Hughes (Foot) ................................................... 75R.J. Magat (MV) ............................................................ 75Kyle Bowser (MV) ......................................................... 75Troy Ditzler (SM) ........................................................... 75Tyler Collier (Chico) ...................................................... 76Dylan Fuller (CB) .......................................................... 76Ryan Thompson (DLS) ................................................ 76Cody Blick (SRV) .......................................................... 76Connor Blick (SRV) ...................................................... 76Jonny Metz (Deer Valley-Antioch) ............................... 77Nico Galletti (Foot) ........................................................ 77Kevin Knox (SHP) ........................................................ 77Taylor Manna (Chico) ................................................... 78

Will Brueckner, Acalanes


tee2green

On March 8th, Jerry Rice presented The First Tee of Oakland with a $10,000 donation to provide transportation for over 100 underserved and at-risk after-school students to travel to and from the golf course.

While it was fun for me to meet Jerry, my favorite NFL receiver, I was thrilled to accept his founda-tion’s generous contribution to our organization. Now, Jerry is also my favorite NFL giver!

The First Tee of Oakland — and all chapters of The First Tee — depends on the generosity of others. Gifts range from volunteer hours to financial contributions to in-kind donations. Givers range from individuals to corporations and foundations, including the PGA TOUR.

In fact, Jerry Rice’s 127 Foundation made the aforemen-tioned donation with funds it received from ticket sales to the 2010 Fresh Express Classic at TPC Stonebrae in Hayward. PGA TOUR tournaments give generously to local chapters of The First Tee.

Through the Tickets for Charity program, this Nationwide Tournament will provide 100 percent of ticket proceeds to go to the charity of choice such as The First Tee of Oakland, Contra-Costa, Tri-Valley or San Jose. This year’s tourna-ment runs April 17 through April 20. Join us for a wonderful weekend of professional golf in the East Bay. Visit www.freshexpressclassic.com to learn more about the tournament and to purchase tickets that benefit The First Tee.

Is it better to give than to receive? Jerry Rice might weigh both equally — at least when it comes to receiving a football — while volunteers with The First Tee believe it is better to give. Either way, those of us who run chapters of The First Tee know that our young people are bettered by receiving.

First Tee Files is a rotating column featuring the executive directors of four Bay Area chapters of The First Tee. April Ke-nyon is the director of The First Tee Oakland. Find out more on each chapter at: www.TheFirstTeeContraCosta.org, www.TheFirstTeeOakland.org, www.TheFirstTeeSanJose.org and www.TheFirstTeeTriValley.org.

Receiver shows his giving side

First Tee FilesApril Kenyon

Submitted PhotoJerry Rice, center, presents a check to First Tee.


They’ve been playing baseball at Sacred Heart Cathedral High School in San Fran-cisco for more than a century.

Major League Hall of Famers Harry Heil-man (1912 graduate) and Joe Cronin (1924) starred for the Irish as have more than 150 who went on to play collegiately.

At least 18 have signed professional contracts in the past 25 years, including cur-rent budding big leaguers Stefan Gartrell, a powerful 6-foot-2, 220-pound outfielder playing AAA in the White Sox organization, and 6-foot, 225-pound pitcher chris Petrini now in the Orioles organization.

Gartrell attended USF and Petrini played at Cal.

“Stefan was a powerful, do-everything kid who was gentle in nature,” Sacred Heart coach brian morgan said. “Chris was incred-ibly humble. We had to push him to realize just how good he was.”

The current Irish squad, with just eight seniors on a 21-man roster, will need that push also.

After graduating 10 seniors who saw considerable playing time, Sacred Heart Ca-thedral has a lot of new players — many who saw little time last year or who are up from a .500 junior varsity team.

Last year, the Irish went 18-12-1 and reached the Central Coast Section semifinals before losing to eventual champion Menlo 4-3.

It was the fifth time in Morgan’s 10 seasons that Sacred Heart Cathedral has reached CCS out of the powerful West Catholic Athletic League, considered the top league in Northern California if not the state.

“This team is definitely capable (of reach-ing CCS),” Morgan said.

“We have a lot of young and talented guys. They’re going to really have to lean on each other to get better. Our learning curve will be steep.”

Big sticksTo help with the team’s confidence, Mor-

gan scheduled a light early schedule and the Irish responded with six straight nonleague

victories.Unfortunately for the Irish, they opened

WCAL with a 4-0 loss to arch-rival St. Igna-tius on March 17.

Some St. Patrick’s Day it was for the Irish, who managed just two hits which didn’t help the cause of tough-luck loser and ace chris Miguel.

“We didn’t play that badly, we just couldn’t put together any hits,” Morgan said.

That hasn’t been a problem early this season.

Even after getting just two hits against St. Ignatius, the Irish are hitting .377 as a team led by senior middle infielder Dominic Defiesta (.591), who has five doubles among his 13 hits.

Miguel, a 5-9, 215-pound junior, has al-ready driven in a team-high 13 runs with five doubles and a home run. He’s hitting .414.

Senior outfielder and first baseman Pat-rick murphy (.389) is second with eight RBI while junior utility player Nick Nussabaum (.385), junior infielder manny serrano (.500), senior catcher Chandler Williams (.455) and junior outfielder tevin goodwin (.312) all have five hits or more.

“What I like about this group most is how they do their work,” Morgan said. “They don’t miss practice. They don’t miss weight training. They don’t miss games. They all get along and they want to be there to play every day.”

That’s not easy playing in the rugged WCAL, which features perennial national powers Archbishop Mitty-San Jose, St. Fran-cis-Mountain View and Serra-San Mateo. Valley Christian-San Jose and Bellarmine-San Jose have also been perennial Northern California powers.

It’s easy to get run over mentally by those squads, especially a young team like the Irish.

“You can lose two, three and four in a row and not even play that poorly,” Morgan said. “It’s a real challenge.”

Been around the blockWith Miguel on the mound, the Irish

shouldn’t have too many long losing streaks.In 19.2 innings, Miguel (3-1) has 20

strikeouts and eight walks while maintaining a 0.71 ERA.

“He’s very, very strong,” Morgan said. “He’s been on the team since he was a freshman so beyond the physical tools, he’s been around the block. That helps with confidence.”

The team’s second starter will likely be 5-11, 170-pound sophomore Mike Wallace (1-0, 3.39 ERA), though a army of other older players who are capable of taking that No. 2 spot, including senior Michael McDonalds and Eric Sellai and junior ryan Mussman.

Much like the rotation, the lineup is versa-tile and up in the air.

Morgan has a number of players who could start, depending on the pitcher and situation.

Murphy and Miguel will alternate at first base likely, and the team’s best all-around athletes Fuller and Defiesta will alternate at the middle infield spots, along with 6-1, 165-pound junior Gino Franco.

Wallace, Franco, Miguel and 5-9, 220-pound junior manny serrano can all play third base.

Patrick sheehan, Fuller and tevin goodwin all patrol the outfield, while Wil-liams and junior Joe cibotti will split time at catcher.

Though the Irish might take some lumps early in the WCAL season — St. Francis (No. 5) and Mitty (No. 15) are ranked nationally — by the second go-around of round-robin play, they should be more than competitive.

“It’s not who’s better in February,” Morgan said. “It’s who’s better in May.” ✪

March 24, 2011

extra bases

Sacred Heart Cathedral baseball team looks to grow up fastBy mitch stePhens | Contributor “This team is definitely capable (of reach-

ing CCS). We have a lot of young and tal-ented guys. They’re going to really have to lean on each other to get better. Our

learning curve will be steep.”Sacred Hearth coach Biran Morgan


extra bases

Tamalpais High’s days as a softball dark horse are over. The Hawks blew their cover last year when they made a stunning run all the way to the NCS Division III final before falling 3-0 to Bishop O’Dowd-Oakley despite Kim Scarsella’s no-hitter.

“It sets the bar really high,” said senior Olivia Trombadore, the Hawks’ starting shortstop and No. 2 pitcher. “We’re not the underdogs anymore. Everyone knows what we’re capable of. Everyone expects us to do really well.”

So far, so good. The Hawks won their first five games by

a combined score of 33-5, beating Casa Grande-Petaluma, Marin Catholic-Kentfield, Novato, San Marin-Novato and San Rafael. They’re 4-0 in the Marin County Athletic League.

“I told the girls now we kind of have a bulls eye on our back and are one of the top teams in the league,” Hawks coach mike Wills said. “Everybody knows that now.”

Last year a young Hawks team with just one senior surprised almost everyone — including themselves — by reaching the NCS final. They finished third in the MCAL at 13-5 and reached the championship game in the league playoffs, falling 3-0 to Redwood. Then at NCS, the Hawks barely survived their first-round game, beating Drake 3-2 in eight innings.

After that scare, Tamalpais got rolling. The Hawks beat Moreau Catholic 5-0 in the quar-terfinals as Scarsella struck out 13 and threw a two-hitter. Then in the semifinals, Scarsella fanned 16 and gave up just two hits in a 4-0 win over Analy.

“We definitely surprised a lot of people,” said Scarsella. “I think a lot of girls on our team were surprised. NCS shocked every-one.”

The Hawks nearly pulled off the ultimate shocker in the final against Bishop O’Dowd. They out-hit Bishop O’Dowd 5-0. And after walking the first three batters she faced, Scarsella struck out the next 10 en route to her first no-hitter at Tamalpais. The Hawks, though, self-destructed with four errors, al-lowing three unearned runs.

“She was so dominant last year, I didn’t practice enough on defense,” Wills said of Scarsella. “That was my fault, and it turned out biting us in the long run. … I’ve been working on defense every day (this season). And hitting. You name it, I’ve been doing it.”

Scarsella, Trombadore, senior third baseman Emily Banks and senior catcher stephanie lee — the Hawks’ team captains this year — played big roles in Tam’s suc-

cess last year.Scarsella went 16-8 with a 0.52 ERA as a

sophomore, striking out 234 and walking just 40. Scarsella also hit .362 with five doubles, six triples and 11 RBI. Trombadore went 4-2 with a 1.67 ERA, fanning 40 and walking eight, and started in center field when she wasn’t pitching.

Banks, who moved from shortstop to third base this season, hit a team-high .366 and led the Hawks with 34 total hits and 16 runs scored. Lee hit .302 with six doubles, one triple and one home run along with a team-best 18 RBI.

This year the Hawks added five talented freshmen to their roster, four of them starters: Aria Pogni, shayna lee, rebecca Fong and shannon lee.

“I think our team this year is actually better than last year,” Scarsella said. “I think we can definitely get as far as we did last year. Some of (the freshmen) are really, really good hitters and fielders. If anything, our team is really improved.”

The Hawks have been getting better since Wills, a former Tam baseball coach, took over the program two seasons ago. The Hawks went 11-7 in the MCAL in 2009, tying for fourth. They reached the MCAL champi-onship game, losing to Redwood, and won one game in the NCS playoffs. That set the stage for last season’s 20-10 campaign and run to the NCS final.

“He knew what he was doing,” Tromba-dore said of Wills. “He didn’t take any (guff) from anyone. We also gained all those freshmen who are current juniors. They were really significant additions. Mike definitely made a huge difference. Totally different environment.

“At the same time, he makes it fun. Since my sophomore year, we’ve had no issues with players. It’s been smooth sailing and everyone’s really close.”

The close-knit Hawks have been put-ting up some great numbers this season. Through five games, they’re hitting .308 as a team, with four players at .400 or better: shannon lee (.500), Fong (.471), stepha-nie lee (.400) and Banks (.400). Pogni, the No. 4 hitter, has a home run and four RBI to go with her .286 average.

Scarsella is 3-0 with a 0.33 ERA, 37 strikeouts and nine walks in 21 innings, while Trombadore is 2-0 with a 0.58 ERA, 16 strikeouts and four walks in 12 innings.

“We’re pretty strong,” Wills said. “We’re going to take our losses because we’re so young still. Next year when Kim’s a senior, we’re going to be really good. I think we’ll be pretty good this year, too.”

No one should be surprised. ✪

Junior pitcher Kim Scarsella carried

a 16-8 record and 0.52 ERA for Tamalpais last s eason — as a

sophomore. Her return to the mound in 2011 makes the

Hawks a very trendy pick to get back to the North Coast Section finals.

Contributed/Tamalpais softball

These Hawks won’t shock: Tamalpais softball is under the radar no moreBy eric gilmOre | Contributor


I get a lot of questions about speed train-ing for high school athletes and it seems that there is some confusion as to what

an actual speed and agility program really should consist of.

I think what comes to most people’s minds are ladder drills, cone drills, acceleration drills, speed treadmills, etc. But there is much more involved in developing speed and agility for your young athletes.

But first let me make it understood that everything I write about in this column is geared toward young athletes of age 14 and up. So, if you have young athletes that are between the ages 10-13, the focus and prescription of exercises will be different with respect to their stage of development.

Before I go into specifics of what a speed and agility program for your high school athletes should look like, let me quickly cover what the program focus should be for your 10-13 year olds.

The overall focus of development in this age group is exploration and technical understanding. The training program should emphasize the correct execution of general skills such as deceleration, acceleration, force production, as well as squats, olympic lifts and other specialized movements which are important to this phase of development. Teaching these consists of simple descrip-tions regarding the rationale behind the execution.

Program example:■ Self myofascial release: Foam roll■ Static stability/strength: 4-point arm/leg■ Dynamic range of motion: Lateral

monster walks■ Movement/reactive centered: Drop ball

sprints■ Dynamic tactical-diagonal foot work,

various skips■ Multi-planar directional: Obstacle

course■ Strength: OH squat technique, split

squat, crab walk table top■ Cool Down ROM: Hip circuits, leg

raise, static hip stretchBy implementing and respecting the

age and motor development of your young athletes with the above gen-eral physical preparation, your young athletes are optimally being prepared for the next stage of development leading into high school.

The focus of development in the 14+ stage moves from exploration to transformation. Form-based coaching becomes increasingly important as your athletes nervous and muscu-lature system mature. The uti-lization of movement patterns introduced and developed in the previous stage of develop-ment become increasingly important. Your young athlete

grows increasingly proficient as they become more and more familiar with functional movement patterns and aspects of numerous skills required for speed and agility.

An example of a 14+ speed and agility program:

■ Self-myofascial release: Foam roll■ Activation: Elbow push-ups, 1L glute

bridges■ Mobility: Ankle mobilization, leg

swings, 3-way lunge circuit ■ Lateral active warm-up: Lateral skip,

cross in front skip, cross behind skip, lateral shuffle, carioca, lateral crawl

■ Multi-directional foot contact rhythm: Ladder drills-shuffle and stick, hip switch, crossover and stick, scissors

■ Lateral acceleration/deceleration skills: Crossover with stick, etc.

■ Plyometrics: 1L medial lateral box hop with focus on landing skills

■ Strength: Clean to front squat, hip stretch, push-ups, squats, front planks, in-verted rows, shoulder circuit, side plank

■ Active Stretching: Forearm to instep + hamstring

As you can see that not only are many variables involved in improving your young athletes speed and agility at high school level, but it’s also important to understand that your younger athletes must properly develop the general skills with respect to their age and motor development for future athletic success.

Tim Rudd is an International Youth Condition-ing Association specialist in youth condition-ing (level 3), speed and agility (level 2), and nutrition specialist (level 1). You can contact him with questions or feed- back at [email protected].

March 24, 2011

Tim Rudd for IYCA Training Time

A look at basic speed and agility programs


camps + clinics bAsebAll/sOFtbAllthe Pitching centerWe develop baseball players to their full potential. The Pitching Center has grown to become the Total Player Center (TPC), a full-service baseball and softball training academy. Age- and skill-specific programs are available for students ages 8 – High School. Info: 925-416-1600, thepitchingcenter.comcAbernet bAsebAll clubThe Livermore-based club hosts The Pitching Center’s Spring Break Baseball Skills Camp 2011, April 5-7. Players ages 8-14. Lil’ Baseball also offered, March 2-May 14, for ages 3-7. 925-416-1600, www.thepitchingcenter.com.SportFormBased in Concord, SportForm provides Individual and team instruction in baseball, softball and lacrosse. Highly trained professionals provide accelerated and advanced skills clinics. Prepare to Preform! Info: 925-459-2880.City of Walnut CreekBaseball is Fun Beginner Camp. July 25-Aug. 4, 9 a.m.-noon, Mon.-Thur. at Tice Valley Park; Extended day/week available with Deluxe Sport Option. Ages 5-9. $35/$75. Registration: www.walnutcreeksportsleague.com, 925-952-4450.All American Softball2011 Softball Summer Day Camp at Alyce Norman Bryte Playfields. Girls of all ages welcome. Camp features a college Softball Q&A with our All-American staff. $250/athlete; $150/athlete when registering 6 or more at one time. Info: 916-374-1907, www.softballschool.com.bAsKetbAllCity of Walnut CreekBasketball is Fun Beginner Camp. July 11-21 at Tice Valley Park; extended day/week available with Deluxe Sport Option. Ages 5-12. $35/$65 per week. Registration and info: www.walnutcreeksportsleague.com, 925-952-4450.Saint Mary’s College campsSpend your June and July learning fundamentals or honing your skills at McKeon Pavilion. Plenty of options are available. Registration and info: 925-631-4386, [email protected]; www.smcgaels.com.Bladium Triple Threat Academy Alameda’s Bladium Sports & Fitness Club hosts multiple hoops camps for ages 6-12. Designed for players of ALL skill levels. Registration: [email protected], 510-814-4999; www.bladium.com.cheerCheerGyms.comCheergyms.com offers the best clinics in California! Customize your clinic to fit your needs from basic stunting techniques or working on twist cradles out of one leg stunts, we take your team to the next level! Info: 866-685-7615, www.CheerGyms.comEast Bay Sports AcademyRecreational and competitive athletes

benefit from training with the best, most committed coaches. Our 10,000 sq. foot facility is clean and bright with the newest equipment. Info: (925) 680-9999, www.EastBaySportsAcademy.com.enrichmentDianne Adair ProgramsDianne Adair offers a wide variety of enrichment programs for your child, during the school year and throughout summer. Activities include: Home work help, 4th & Up Club, art and crafts, science, sports, and games. Summer camps include weekly field trips. Info: www.dianneadair.org.E.Nopi and Palm AcademyPalm Academy’s “Summer Camp Spectacular” offers day camps with one-week or one-day programs to provide the flexibility for your busy schedule. Abrakadoodle Art Camps inspire kids to reach beyond and create art that is unique to them. Info: Palm Academy, Fremont, (510) 979-9794 or E.Nopi, Newark, (510)79ENOPI (36674)Fuze Fit For A KidFUZE is a privately-held, DOJ-certified youth-only health club and curricula modeled after the principles of the Positive Coaching Alliance. FUZE enhances athletic development, socialization and self-esteem with after-school programs, personal training, team-based programming, field trips, academic enrichment, activity-based camps and parties, and nutrition support services. Info: 888-FIT 4 A KID; www.fuzefit.comeQuestriAnKelly Maddox Riding AcademyDevelop new friendships with other horse-crazy kids. Weekly activities include learning horse colors, markings and breeds; arts and crafts; a farrier demonstration and human horse show; bareback riding and more! Info: 925-575-4818, www.KellyMaddoxTraining.com.Franklin Canyon StablesFranklin Canyon Stables in Martinez provides two covered arenas and easy access to trails. Beginning riders or experienced equestrians, we have a place for you. I provide instruction in horsemanship on the ground and in the saddle while having fun. Info: 925-228-1801; http://www.kimshorsetraining.com/franklin_canyon.htmlCastle Rock ArabiansActivities for tweens and teenagers, where we build team spirit through various team activities on horseback. Visit the ranch by appointment. Info: 925-933-3701, www.castlerockarabians.com FitnessFit 2 the core As a Youth Conditioning, Speed/Agility and Nutrition Specialist with the IYCA, Fit-2-The-Core Training Systems offers an innovative approach to getting young athletes back on the field post-rehabilitation, and continuing the process by progressing

their bodies to handle what they must endure on the field or court. Info: 925-639-0907.Walnut Creek Sports & FitnessWalnut Creek Sports & Fitness offers over 70 group classes per week. Members also enjoy our heated pool, sauna, spa, and steam-room. Massage, skincare and chiropractic services are available. Call us today for your free week pass! Info: 925-932-6400, www.wcsf.netFOOtbAllNorCal Football CampsLed by Marin Catholic High coach, Ken Peralta (San Francisco 49ers High School Coach of the Year,) Camps serve youth ages of 7- 14. We help each child reach his full potential as a football player and young person. Info: 650-245-3608 . www.norcalfootballcamps.comDiablo Football CampsContact and non-contact camps are available for players ages 6-14 during single weeks in both March and June. The camps take place at Freedom Basin in Oakley. Info and registration: www.diablofootball.com/camps.php; 925-625-2222, www.DiabloFootball.com49ers Three-Day Football CampThe NFL team’s headquarters in Santa Clara hosts this camp for both boys and girls from July 11-13. The contact camp is designed to improve beginning, intermediate, or advanced skill level. Info and registration: 408-562-4949, www.49ers.com/community/youth-football.html.gOlFDave DeLong Junior Golf CampThis camp is for advanced and beginning junior golfers. Camps are designed for golfers 7-15. Camps include a 4 to 1 ratio of students to teachers where safety is the top priority as well as player development and enjoyment. Boundary Oak Course, Walnut Creek. Info: 925-997-3683; www.delonggolf.comCoach Rick GolfLearn to play on the course, where it matters with Coach Rick! Golfers of all ages can sign up for clinics offered by Coach Rick starting now throughout summer. Info: (510) 917-6442 • www.ThePersonalGolfCoach.comthe First tee-contra costaThe First Tee Summer Camp is a youth development program for boys and girls 7-18. Participants learn about golf and life skills and values inherent to the game, rules and etiquette. Summer camps at Diablo Creek Golf Course in Concord. Info: www.thefirstteecontracosta.org; [email protected] or 925-686-6262 x0.The First Tee-OaklandThe First Tee of Oakland has delivered The First Tee Life Skills Experience to over 262 participants. Each receive a min. 12 hours of instruction over an 8-week

period. Instruction is at three Oakland courses: Metropolitan Golf Links, Lake Chabot GC and Montclair GC. Info: 510-352-2002; www.thefirstteeoakland.org.the First tee-san JoseThe First Tee of San Jose develops youth through the game of golf throughout Silicon Valley. Participants learn to appreciate diversity, resolve conflicts, build confidence and set goals. We welcome participants ranging from second to twelfth grade. Scholarships available. Info: 408-288-2973; www.thefirstteesanjose.org.The First Tee-Tri-ValleyThe First Tee of the Tri-Valley offers seasonal The First Tee Life Skills Experience Classes and Summer Camps for ages 7-17, held at the Pleasanton Golf Center on the Alameda County Fairgrounds. Summer classes begin on June 14. Junior Golf Summer Camps are held weekly. Info: 925.462.7201, www.TheFirstTeeTriValley.orgGrayson Woods Golf CampInstead of sleeping in, lounging around and channel surfing during spring break, improve your golf game at Grayson Woods. For golfers ages 6-14, you can sign up now at Grayson Woods for their Spring Break Junior Camp from April 4-7. From 9:00 am to noon every day, campers will learn the basics of putting, chipping, pitching and full swing. Come learn from Grayson Woods’ team of golf instructors and experts. Rules and etiquette are included. Cost is $240 per camper. Call the golf shop to reserve your spot: (925) 935-7277 or register online at www.golfgraysonwoods.comlAcrOsseAtherton lacrosseOur lacrosse camps are designed for boys and girls ages 5-14, who are beginner or intermediate players. Our group of coaches and staff are leaders in the lacrosse community. Info: 888-526-3330, www.AthertonLacrosse.com.SportFormBased in Concord, SportForm provides Individual and team instruction in baseball, softball and lacrosse. Highly trained professionals provide accelerated and advanced skills clinics. Prepare to Preform! Info: 925-459-2880.Vitality LacrosseVitality offers summer league programs in four Bay Area regions, all of which come together on July 30 for the Bay Area Summer League Championships on Treasure Island. Locations include: Marin County, Peninsula, East Bay and Petaluma. League runs six weeks starting June 20. Info: 888-501-4999, www.VitalityLacrosse.com.mArtiAl Artsunited stAtes KArAte systemsAdult and children’s programs, kick box fitness, mixed martial arts. Providing excellence in martial arts instruction and services for the entire family. 925-682-9517; www.usksmartialarts.com

mOtOrsPOrtsKeigwins@thetrack We conduct motorcycle schools and practice events (“track days”) at famous racetracks in the West for experienced motorcyclists looking to improve skills and build confidence. Riders provide their own motorcycles and protective gear. Keigwins@theTrack takes care of everything else. Info: www.keigwin.com or 650-949-5609.OutdOOr sPOrtsBear Valley MountainBear Valley has six camps with multiple sessions including: Soccer, Archery, Tennis, Climbing, Cycling and Day Camp. Summer Camps offer outdoor recr programs for the whole family; overnight resident skill camps and day camps, too. Day camp sessions overlap the skill camps, so each member of the family can select an activity or enjoy a day on the lakes or mountain bike trails. Age groups and activities vary by camp. For more information: www.bearvalley.comCamp Jones GulchCheck out our wide variety of Teen Adventure Camps for both boys and girls. Camp dates range from early July to Mid-August. Info: 650-747-1200, www.CampJonesGulch.org.City of Concord Skate and SwimConcord’s Skateboard Camp provides a great way to learn and improve skateboarding skills from sponsored and experienced instructors. Camps are great for all skill levels. Full day camp options combine half day skateboard camp with a half day of swimming and water games at the Concord Community Pool. Info www.concordreg.org or (925) 671-3404.University of SurfingInstructor Matt Cole offers lessons/camps in Pacifica. 650-359-1425, [email protected]; http://universityofsurfing.com/index.html.sOccerHeritage Soccer ClubA Pleasant Hill/Martinez based competitive soccer club welcomes players ages 8-18. Learn new skills and hone existing ones from top flight coaching staff with years of experience spanning the high school and college ranks. June is the third annual 6v6 Blowout Tournament. Info: www.heritagesc.com.World Cup Soccer CampsWith over 20 years of experience, Ruedi Graf runs one of the most respected soccer camps in the Bay Area. World Cup camps and skills clinics are offered to various ability levels on a wide variety of dates. Info: 408-354-4949, www.WorldCupSoccerCamps.com.SoccerInsight.net 2011 Summer CampAvailable to ages 5-12, the SoccerInsight.net camps are offered over two weeks in June and three weeks in August. The camps are held from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. @ Paul Goode Field, The Presidio in San Francisco. Info:415-595-3760, www.soccerinsight.net.swimming-divingWalnut Creek Swim ClubWCSC is a recreational team sponsored by the City of Walnut Creek celebrating it’s 50th anniversary. Led by the experience


camps + clinicsof coach Brad Hoy, the staff is the finest in the area. WCSC believes in finding the healthy balance between competition and family fun. Info: 925-766-5664Sherman Swim SchoolWe are a Lafayette swimming and diving school celebrating our 50th year. Our year-round schedule allows children and adults to learn, retain, and improve their swim skills with little interruption. Info: 925-283-2100, www.ShermanSwim.comCalifornia Sports CenterAmong the many camps offered by San Jose’s Cal Sports Center includes its Swim Summer Camps at Sunnyvale Swim Center on the campus of Fremont High. The camps are held from either 9 a.m.-noon, or 9 a.m.-4 p.m. for ages 6-14. Info: 408-732-2257, www.CalSportsCenter.comtennisSummer Tennis at Valley Vista ClubSport Valley Vista has successfully hosted summer tennis camps in Walnut Creek for more than 30 years, with expert instruction. Info: 925-934-4050, www.clubsports.comvOlleybAllU.S. Youth Volleyball LeagueThe USYVL hosts a series of Summer camps in several Northern and Southern California locations. We are the leader in developing and maintaining youth volleyball leagues for boys and girls ages 7-15. With an emphasis on positive reinforcement, we seek to build confidence and self-esteem in each child. Info: 1-888-988-7985 or www.USYVL.org.wrestlingCreighton WrestlingThe Crieghton School of Wrestling in Mountain View offers its 2011 youth and elite summer camps from June 20-July 9. Both camps take place at the JLS Middle School Wrestling Room

in Palo Alto. Guest clinicians include NCAA-champion wrestlers Tony Davis, Gerry Abas and Jordan Leen. Info: creightonschoolof [email protected]; http://CreightonSchoolofWrestling.comCommunity Youth CenterThe CYC in Concord offers three types of week-long wrestling camps. Elementary Camp for ages 5-10 runs July 5-8. All Corners Camp for ages 11-18 runs July 18-22, and Advanced Camp serves the same age group and runs Aug. 8-12. Camps are 9 a.m.-3 p.m. daily at the CYC. Info: 925-671-7070, Ext. 229, www.communityyouthcenter.com.multi-sPOrtCal Athletic CampsCal Camps are offered in a variety of sports for girls and boys 5-19, with week-long, half-day, full-day and overnight options, and several choices for adults. Most camps take place on campus in Berkeley from June through August. Camp sports include: baseball, basketball, rowing/crew, field hockey, football, golf, rugby, soccer, strength & conditioning, swimming, tennis, volleyball and water polo. Info [email protected] of concord skyhawks sportsSkyhawks Sports and the City of Concord have teamed up to provide safe, fun and skill-focused sports camps this summer for ages 4-12. Camps range from soccer to lacrosse to our popular multi-sport camp where kids sample three different sports (Soccer, Basketball, and Baseball) in one camp. Info: www.concordreg.org or (925) 671-3404.Renaissance ClubSportSpring and summer Sports camps are led by seasoned directors. Sports Day Camp is for children 5-12 and focuses on a different sport each day including: football, soccer, swimming, basketball, bocce,

kickball, racquetball and karate. Spring camp runs April 4 and April 25, summer camps June 13 thru Aug. 19. Info: 925-942-6344. www.clubsports.comcabernet indoor sportsGo indoors for spring training: The Chevy Experience Camp at Cabernet Indoor Sports, Livermore (U5 & U6) is a 1-day soccer academy administered by top professional athletes teaching in an environment that increases retention, promotes ability, and encourages laughter and enjoyment. Info: 925-455-8300, www.ziemer.comVelocity Sports CampsLooking for a location where you can not only improve your skills in a variety of sports, but do it in a team-specific environment? Look no further than Velocity Sports Performance of Dublin. Velocity’s Sports Specific Summer Camps provide campers with a fun-packed, enjoyable environment where they can increase their athleticism and develop a wider range of skills. Velocity Sports Performance is looking for boys and girls ages 8-14 who are dedicated to making themselves better as athletes. Their state-of-the-art facility, experienced staff, and proven Velocity program will enhance confidence and individual sport related skills. Velocity’s goal is to increase sport specific athletic ability through the fundamentals of speed, power, and agility. Camps are typically 4-5 days long and begin June 20, running through mid-August. They include soccer, basketball, football, baseball and softball. The price is $200 for non-members per week, $150 for Velocity members or $50 per session. Gatorade is provided to all campers at no additional cost. As the largest provider of sports performance training in the nation, Velocity Sports Performance offers training in a positive, safe and professional environment. With training systems designed by their founder, coach Loren Seagrave, and his team of expert coaches, Velocity offers programs that athletes can’t find anywhere else. Athletes in every sport, at all ages and skill levels, have the ability to improve speed, agility, mobility and flexibility and energy systems, while reducing the risk of sports-related injuries. For more information on the camps, call (925) 833-0100.


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❒ Diablo Rock Gym . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 ❒ Diablo Trophies & Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 ❒ Dianne Adair Enrichment Programs . . . . . . . . .18 ❒ eTeamSponsor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 ❒ e.nopi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 ❒ East Bay Sports Academy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 ❒ Excellence in Sport Performance . . . . . . . . . . . 12 ❒ Farmers Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 ❒ Fit 2 The Core . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 ❒ Franklin Canyon Stables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 ❒ Halo Headband . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 ❒ Heavenly Greens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 ❒ Heritage Soccer Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29, 34 ❒ Hometeam Sports Photography . . . . . . . . . . . .32 ❒ Jory’s Flowers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 ❒ Kaiser Permanente . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 ❒ Kelly Maddox Equestrian Training . . . . . . . . . .35 ❒ Kinders BBQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 ❒ McCovey’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 ❒ Mare Island Golf Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 ❒ NorCal Youth Football Camp . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 ❒ Northgate High School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

❒ Odwalla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 ❒ Peninsula Building Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 ❒ Rocco’s Pizza . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 ❒ Saint Mary’s Athletic Summer Camps . . . . . . . .34 ❒ Scandia Family Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 ❒ Shankmeister.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 ❒ Sky High Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 ❒ Smokin Okie’s BBQ Joint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 ❒ SoccerSavings.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 ❒ SP Gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 ❒ Sutter Delta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 ❒ TGW.com The Golf Warehouse . . . . . . . . . . . .25 ❒ The Pitching Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 ❒ USKS Martial Arts Concord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 ❒ USTA Northern California . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 ❒ Velocity Sport Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 ❒ Vitality Lacrosse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 ❒ Walnut Creek Soccer Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 ❒ Walnut Creek Sports & Fitness . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 ❒ Walnut Creek Sports Association . . . . . . . . . . .34 ❒ Wooden It Be Nice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

cAtegOries ❒ Sporting Goods ❒ Restaurants ❒ Golf ❒ Endurance/eXtreme/

Adventure ❒ Gyms/Fitness ❒ Sports Apparel ❒ Auto ❒ Home Improvement/

Garden ❒ Entertainment/

Attractions ❒ Health/Beauty/Gifts ❒ Insurance/Financial ❒ Fundraising ❒ Camps and Clinics ❒ MMA

Choose your favorite categories or Advertisers for special offers and killer deals, then mail or fax it to us! Or drop it off at the SportStars office!

fEBrUary swaG BaG

winnEr

The February SportStars Magazine SWAG BAG winner is: JAnA w. FrOm sAn rAmOn. You win a Pair of NorthStar at Tahoe

lift tickets plus, a $20 Gift Card to Scandia Family Fun Center along with a Free Hour pass at Sky High Sports, $20 in Golfsmith Golf & Tennis Gift

Cards, $10 Ace Hardware Gift Card, and a Halo Headband (the most advanced headband on the market). Congratulations!

enterto win! nEw prizEs

annoUncEd EvEry MontH!

TAGTEAM

• Cover Games• Get Published• Pass Out Mags At Your Events

email [email protected] for more info


impulse

Work out, get noticedAre you serious about taking your game to the next level? Then hit up Velocity Sports Performance in Dublin, Velocity can

help you step up your game. They’ll put you through the Combine 360. No longer is the combine just for NFL hopefuls; Velocity makes it apply to athletes of all sports. Get tested on your vision, nutrition, mental toughness and communication along with specific testing for your sport. This is the perfect vehicle to allow coaches and scouts at the college level to make better deci-sions on which athletes to recruit. If you’re not part of the Combine 360, you’re sure to be left out. Remember that they’re the only sports training facility in the area that’s 360 certified. If you’re thinking of joining Velocity, consider that their rates are about one-third cheaper than other fitness centers in the area. Sessions start as low as $10 per session and membership is $99 per month. Go to www.velocitysp.com to learn more.

iPad 2: The Next GenerationIt’s lighter, it’s smaller, it’s sleeker and yet ... it’s better. It’s

difficult to upstage one of the most creative products of our time but that’s exactly what the iPad 2 did. Now with FaceTime, two cameras and nine times the speed as its predecessor, Apple’s latest step feels more like one giant leap for tech nerds worldwide. Released on March 11, the iPad 2 can be yours for $499. A big cost to swallow, no doubt. But just think of it as mowing 500 lawns during spring break or washing your parents car every Saturday for the next five years. It’ll go by before you know it. Be sure to hit up apple.com for more info.

Heaven-sent headbandWorking out should be fun and effortless. The last thing

you want is sweat and sunscreen getting in your eyes and irritating your skin. Pick up a Halo Headband and your problems are over. Halo Headbands are designed to keep sweat out of your eyes whether you’re working out, run-ning or cycling. A worthy investment for just $12.95, these headbands will keep you focused on the task at hand. Also, stay tuned for Halo Headphones coming soon! Go to www.haloheadband.com to order yours now!

SportStars partners with McCovey’sWe’re proud to announce our partnership with McCovey’s

Restaurant in Walnut Creek. They get a kick out of honoring athletes just as much as we do, and that’s why we’re partnering with them to honor athletes four times throughout the year. Winners will be invited for a banquet for themselves and their families at No. 44’s downtown restaurant at the end of each season. Coaches, teammates and friends are encouraged to come out as well in support of these athletic rockstars. Also, if you’re looking for a place to watch the Giants season opener, we think McCovey’s is the primo, number uno choice. Former Giants pitching great Vida Blue will be the special guest at McCovey’s on March 31 as the G-Men begin their title defense.

Hook, Line and SportStars Get ready for the fishing season by hitting up the mega-

fishing superstore. The Bass Pro Shops location in Manteca is hosting the TMBC Boat Show 2011 and other events to help you get schooled on fishing. Experts Dan York, Kevin Brock and Jasson Oliver, amongst others, will be giving you tips on towing and organizing your boat, using the latest Hummingbird electronics and fishing locally. It’s fun for the whole family as even the little ones will enjoy making crafts. Other cool seminars include cooking outdoors and learn-ing how to hike Half Dome in one day. Events take place on March 26 and 27 along with every Wednesday in April. Visit www.basspro.com to learn more.

— Erik Stordahl

Calling all cheer coach applicantsNorthgate High School in Walnut Creek is looking for a

Cheerleader and Dance Advisor/Head Coach. So if you or anyone you know has what it takes to teach a squad how to stunt, dance and cheer, send your resume and qualifications to [email protected] or call (925) 938-0900 ext. 3511 with questions. For more info, hit up www.northgatebroncos.org .


AND 1Gemeny Givens of St. Joseph Notre

Dame-Alameda goes up strong in traffic and is fouled hard across the arm by University-San Francisco’s Will Carroll during the California Interscho-lastic Federation Division V Northern regional championship March 19 at Folsom High School.

Givens finished with eight points for the Pilots, who won the game 61-43, avenging a NorCal semifinal loss to the Red Devils a year ago. The junior guard was just a freshman in 2009 when St. Joseph last reached the CIF Div. V state championship. He played 58 seconds of that game, a 69-53 loss to Windward-Los Angeles.

Givens will join six Pilots seniors who hope to make good on one more chance at redemption when they play for the state title against St. Bernard-Playa del Ray on March 25.

PhOtO by chris AustriA

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.

photo finish

ca issue 20, 03.24.2011

Documents

game series

team stats

hannah huffman

high energy

tamalpais softball wont

folsom football season

somber press conference

fanfriendly games