CIF & LJ: What a swing

By Ed Piper

It's been quite a swing for me the last two weeks, as La Jolla teams and individuals have participated in CIF competition and/or end-of-the-season play.

Beginning Mon., May 8, and continuing through Wed., May 17 of this week, I attended at least 11 separate sports activities, many of those playoff-related.

I vowed, once the CIF portion of the season approached, that I would travel to as many events as time would allow, considering that I was substitute-teaching (I'm a retired teacher) four days each week and occupied until 2:30 or 3 p.m. those weekdays.

I threw in two of the three days Coach Tyler Roach's players moved through spring football drills this week, week one of four in the spring program. There will be a Spring Game Sat., June 2, on the Edwards Stadium field, with family and friends watching, then everyone breaking bread in what is becoming the annual barbecue lunch for all attending.

Offseason football will culminate in La Jolla's 7-on-7 event at Edwards Sat., June 30, with 11 teams joining the Vikings in the day's passing league tournament. "I kept to Division 2, 3, and 4 teams. I want all the teams to have competition," said Roach while overseeing workouts Wednesday. "I have several East County teams, one North County team. All areas. They're all good coaches. I wanted good coaches."

Back to CIF, Coach Darice Carnaje's boys tennis team actually kicked off the two-week period with the Division 1 championship over Coronado, who went in as the favorite, at Balboa Tennis Club by Morley Field back on Mon., May 8.

I went back this week for the individual championships. Trying to find out when another match involving Viking players would occur, after arriving in early afternoon for the competition that began at 1 p.m., I was talking with Carnaje, who is always helpful with info and in guiding me in the right direction.

"That's the way tennis is," she smiled when I found out Matthew Moses and Carson Kellogg's doubles match Tues., May 16, started whenever the second round began. "It could be an hour from now, it could be in 15 minutes." It was the latter.