Friday, August 18, 2017
LJ FH: Tryouts
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| Nikki Collins (far right) is among the familiar faces returning to La Jolla's field hockey team under new head coach Amanda Warford. (Photos by Ed Piper) |
By Ed Piper
New head coach Amanda Warford had her La Jolla High field hockey players running intervals: a sprint the length of the football field in 20 seconds or less, then a jog back, before repeating the route three more times. She and junior varsity coach Bethany Keller Flaherty were trying to get the girls to complete the 100-yard run--not quite a full-speed sprint--in an allotted time. Warford acknowledged that's because they want a certain speed among their athletes.
"The running is for conditioning, and for tryouts," said Warford, who took over the helm of the La Jolla program recently, after former coach Lisa Griffiths moved with her husband to Phoenix, where he took a new job position. "We spent last week doing a skills week." That gave the girls a chance to review and hone up on their stick skills. Then, week number two is more serious, to assess players' skill levels and begin forming rosters into varsity and junior varsity.
Several of the freshman girls know Warford from club field hockey, a welcome development in La Jolla. A feeder program is the only way that Viking school teams are going to improve and compete with the "have's" of CIF like Serra and Scripps Ranch.
Warford has also served recently as an umpire officiating high school games.
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| New head coach Warford patrols the practice field, timing her players in conditioning--first the varsity, then the junior varsity prospects. |
LJ Cheer: Captains
By Ed Piper
Cindee Russell, beginning her third full year as cheer coach at La Jolla High, was amazed. "Football teams don't do two-a-day's anymore?"
The subject was the Viking cheer squad's workout schedule leading up to next week's opening football game (Fri., Aug. 25). Russell is running cheer practice from 8 to 11 a.m., then 2 to 5 p.m. some days during the week.
Informed that high school and college football teams no longer organize "Hell Weeks" with practice morning and afternoon--due to health concerns, with annually one or more highly publicized deaths each preseason of high school or collegiate players who drop dead during or after practice--the cheer advisor was incredulous. She couldn't believe it.
But her spirited porristas resumed their morning paces, with Russell calling them out from a shaded spot behind the new equipment storage building at the northwest corner of the Edwards Field complex.
Veteran Julia Munson, a senior, is the new head team captain. Meanwhile, juniors Sydney Ochoa and Hailey Ramos--Ramos the catcher on the Viking CIF-champion softball team last spring--serving as co-captains. All have put in long hours and long years working on Russell's cheer squads of the last three years. They have earned their positions.
Russell, a glutton for punishment, continues to juggle the duties of cheer coach at La Jolla High, wife, mother, and full-time student. She resumed her studies full-time a year ago, and her schedule is hectic. She is a hard person to reach, when she is snowed in by assignments and her other responsibilities.
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
Imperial Valley emphasis a good one
By Ed Piper
Having visited the steamy (104 degrees) Imperial Valley over the weekend (Aug. 13), I looked up some of the high school sports activity in the area, and came upon a news report of an awards assembly at one of the Valley high schools.
In recognizing top athletes for both girls and boys, one of the presenters explained that the school doesn't try to pick the top performer in a sport or sports. The emphasis is on identifying student athletes who are "well-rounded": good students, good citizens, and active in the community.
I thought this was a great emphasis. What this does is motivate other student athletes coming up to shoot for the well-rounded pedigree--not just be super athletes on the field.
In this day and age of personal coaches and highlight videos, it's good to see that good people are being rewarded for their hard work. Our society needs more young people--our future leaders--who strive to embody the positive values of service and citizenship.
Too many times in the Golden Triangle area do I find folks fixed on entrepreneurship to make money. That isn't going to get us there. The problem, too, is that our young people are watching, and what we grown-ups do, they're going to aspire to do.
Who are going to be the next generation's teachers, professional caregivers, even pastors, priests, and rabbis? We need those professions filled out. They helped build our country to be the greatest country in the history of the world.
We need to safeguard it, so that we don't become one-dimensional money-makers, focused only on performance or results.
The positive side of sports is that they can help young people form lasting friendships as they learn to work together with others against opposition. Young people can learn skills that make up their particular sport or sports. There is an inherent value in that. It doesn't always have to lead to an athletic scholarship or a track to the pros.
Having visited the steamy (104 degrees) Imperial Valley over the weekend (Aug. 13), I looked up some of the high school sports activity in the area, and came upon a news report of an awards assembly at one of the Valley high schools.
In recognizing top athletes for both girls and boys, one of the presenters explained that the school doesn't try to pick the top performer in a sport or sports. The emphasis is on identifying student athletes who are "well-rounded": good students, good citizens, and active in the community.
I thought this was a great emphasis. What this does is motivate other student athletes coming up to shoot for the well-rounded pedigree--not just be super athletes on the field.
In this day and age of personal coaches and highlight videos, it's good to see that good people are being rewarded for their hard work. Our society needs more young people--our future leaders--who strive to embody the positive values of service and citizenship.
Too many times in the Golden Triangle area do I find folks fixed on entrepreneurship to make money. That isn't going to get us there. The problem, too, is that our young people are watching, and what we grown-ups do, they're going to aspire to do.
Who are going to be the next generation's teachers, professional caregivers, even pastors, priests, and rabbis? We need those professions filled out. They helped build our country to be the greatest country in the history of the world.
We need to safeguard it, so that we don't become one-dimensional money-makers, focused only on performance or results.
The positive side of sports is that they can help young people form lasting friendships as they learn to work together with others against opposition. Young people can learn skills that make up their particular sport or sports. There is an inherent value in that. It doesn't always have to lead to an athletic scholarship or a track to the pros.
Prep FB: Numbers
By Ed Piper
I happened to see the local high school football previews right when they were posted online last night (Aug. 15), and two things stood out:
One was the number of first-year coaches in the City, Eastern, and Central leagues. I have stated it here before: One of the most important factors influencing the success and stability of a sports program is the continuity that comes from having the same coach return each year for several years.
Second, I noticed that some teams are struggling as far as how many players have gone out for the team.
Both items are taking place in today's football reality, which includes parents' and young people's concerns over head injury due to the vast publicity that has come in the wake of professional players' suicides the last couple of years. In the San Diego area, former Charger great Junior Seau's suicide got big headlines and went viral. In the aftermath, it was revealed that he had increasingly struggled with headaches, depression, and other problems that going out and surfing in his native Oceanside couldn't pacify.
One team, Coronado, has only 25 players on the varsity. Keep in mind Coronado is a wealthy enclave, with excellent sports facilities and residents who are pretty gung-ho about athletic activity. Yet the Islander program struggles to have enough players to fill its varsity roster. Two platoons with 11 positions each means many players will have to fill spots on both the offense and defense, which is increasingly becoming more and more common on local teams.
If five student athletes are ill or injured, that means only about 20 kids will be battling against opposing teams that may have 50 or more players on their rosters. The numbers just don't add up for a fun, competitive game sometimes.
An item that I also noted was Crawford's construction of an on-campus stadium. For the past three years, it was reported, the Colts have not been able to play a home game. The new facility is supposed to be completed next month. Now, here you have a sport that is embattled by health concerns, and is struggling for mere numbers of students going out for their school's teams. Yet, on the other side, you have a school and its district investing thousands of dollars in a stadium which, for a great part, is intended for football use. It doesn't totally make sense to me.
I happened to see the local high school football previews right when they were posted online last night (Aug. 15), and two things stood out:
One was the number of first-year coaches in the City, Eastern, and Central leagues. I have stated it here before: One of the most important factors influencing the success and stability of a sports program is the continuity that comes from having the same coach return each year for several years.
Second, I noticed that some teams are struggling as far as how many players have gone out for the team.
Both items are taking place in today's football reality, which includes parents' and young people's concerns over head injury due to the vast publicity that has come in the wake of professional players' suicides the last couple of years. In the San Diego area, former Charger great Junior Seau's suicide got big headlines and went viral. In the aftermath, it was revealed that he had increasingly struggled with headaches, depression, and other problems that going out and surfing in his native Oceanside couldn't pacify.
One team, Coronado, has only 25 players on the varsity. Keep in mind Coronado is a wealthy enclave, with excellent sports facilities and residents who are pretty gung-ho about athletic activity. Yet the Islander program struggles to have enough players to fill its varsity roster. Two platoons with 11 positions each means many players will have to fill spots on both the offense and defense, which is increasingly becoming more and more common on local teams.
If five student athletes are ill or injured, that means only about 20 kids will be battling against opposing teams that may have 50 or more players on their rosters. The numbers just don't add up for a fun, competitive game sometimes.
An item that I also noted was Crawford's construction of an on-campus stadium. For the past three years, it was reported, the Colts have not been able to play a home game. The new facility is supposed to be completed next month. Now, here you have a sport that is embattled by health concerns, and is struggling for mere numbers of students going out for their school's teams. Yet, on the other side, you have a school and its district investing thousands of dollars in a stadium which, for a great part, is intended for football use. It doesn't totally make sense to me.
Saturday, August 12, 2017
LJ FB: Intrasquad Game and Alumni Game
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| Sola Hope (3) takes pass... |
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| ...then turns upfield for yardage. (Photos by Ed Piper)
By Ed Piper
Receiver Gabe Solis made two highlight-reel catches for touchdowns, as he has much of the summer, as La Jolla High enjoyed fun-and-games in the annual Red and Black Intrasquad Game, before more serious business coming in six days in a scrimmage against Mission Bay--with the 2017 season opener looming only 13 days away.
"You've got to get your bodies ready, especially for two-way players. That was only two quarters," new head coach Tyler Roach told his players after the morning-long event, topped by an Alumni Game with former star Collin Rugg playing quarterback. Roach said he liked their effort, and pointed them ahead to their kickoff less than two weeks distant.
Michael Wells, the "Jeff" as the taller one to Solis' "Mutt" in the Mutt-and-Jeff receiving corps, also had some fine grabs during the informal contest, though real referees worked the event--actually as a training to get ready for the season themselves.
Trevor Scully, the Viking quarterback who connected with Solis on the station-to-station scores, commented during the scrimmage that "Yes", he felt good, and added: "We're going to get a few more scores."
Actually, time ran out, as the family event was scheduled to allow for a quick two quarters, after the brand-new freshman team and the junior varsity played for short spells, beginning at 9:30 a.m. on the Edwards Field turf.
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Friday, August 11, 2017
Celebrity Lenz
By Ed Piper
It's pretty funny, but with my post a week or so ago about Otto Lenz, an up-and-coming basketball player at La Jolla High, people started clicking on it and the number of hits at this point is 66, pretty high for my blog.
An earlier post, a couple of years ago, about Lea O'Haire, a La Jolla High cheerleader, went viral (comparatively). Within days--I think students see a post, then text or message their friends about it--there were tens, 50, I don't remember how many hits Lea's feature article went to. I don't know, was she some kind of cult figure? (I'm joking.)
With Lenz, I'm not sure why the article became so popular. I'll have to ask his teammates. I made some clever remarks, like "the man, the myth, the legend" under my photo of him. But that many more hits than my other entries? I don't know why.
Isn't that true with our world of social media today: why people do some of the things they do? I say this all with a smile on my face. Have a good day.
UPDATE: After writing this post originally, I looked up how many clicks Lea's feature got: 358. That's all a cheerleader thing. Because two other cheerleaders I also wrote short interview features on got over a hundred hits each. So, that's it--cheerleaders are very social.
It's pretty funny, but with my post a week or so ago about Otto Lenz, an up-and-coming basketball player at La Jolla High, people started clicking on it and the number of hits at this point is 66, pretty high for my blog.
An earlier post, a couple of years ago, about Lea O'Haire, a La Jolla High cheerleader, went viral (comparatively). Within days--I think students see a post, then text or message their friends about it--there were tens, 50, I don't remember how many hits Lea's feature article went to. I don't know, was she some kind of cult figure? (I'm joking.)
With Lenz, I'm not sure why the article became so popular. I'll have to ask his teammates. I made some clever remarks, like "the man, the myth, the legend" under my photo of him. But that many more hits than my other entries? I don't know why.
Isn't that true with our world of social media today: why people do some of the things they do? I say this all with a smile on my face. Have a good day.
UPDATE: After writing this post originally, I looked up how many clicks Lea's feature got: 358. That's all a cheerleader thing. Because two other cheerleaders I also wrote short interview features on got over a hundred hits each. So, that's it--cheerleaders are very social.
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