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room: We’ve been good all year, right? No? Mostly? Well, we still want things. We want sports things.

Go Sports Team!

Fence: 37 The Tryouts, sign-ups, fund-raisers and more!

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BESTYEAREVER As it’s our final issue of 2014, we feel the need to reflect. This is truly an original idea. We’re quite certain we’re the only publication that indulges in year-end lists to commemorate all the good things of the previous 12 months. We’re not? Well, good luck finding a bunch of other lists on the best things surrounding high school sports in 2014. Take that! ›› The Year of Folsom — Public schools, take solace. The Bulldogs, as well as Campolindo-Moraga in the Bay Area, have proven you can build and sustain success throughout your athletic program without having the so-called advantages of private schools. In 2014, the boys basketball team went 32-3 and reached the CIF Division II state championship, the wrestling team produced a state champ in Nick Fiegener, Austin Carter had a monster track and field season and the football team reached the CIF Div. I State Bowl game with a pristine 15-0 mark. Did we mention the team’s quarterback set a national record? It was kind of a good year. ›› East Bay Football Rises Up — For the first time in the eightyear history of the CIF Bowl Games, three East Bay teams will travel south. De La Salle-Concord goes for its eighth year and plays in the Open bowl, Campolindo makes its second trip to the Div. III game and Clayton Valley Charter-Concord makes its maiden voyage to Carson in Div. II. All three play on Dec. 20 and the games will be broadcast in the Bay Area. Who’s having a viewing party? We’ll bring nachos! ›› Johanna Grauer (right) Finishes On Top — The Bay Area has produced some of the country’s most dominant softball pitchers, and Grauer’s four years at Amador Valley-Pleasanton is noteworthy. After missing a chance at a mythical national title in 2012, Grauer helped the Dons bring one home as a senior. She went 27-0 with an 0.51 ERA, 290 strikeouts and allowed just 60 hits in 191.1 innings. She also carried a .429 batting average with 20 RBI. Amador Valley finished undefeated and No. 1 in the MaxPreps.com final national rankings. ›› Nate Moore Makes History at State Track Meet — It’s unlikely the Bay Area, or the entire state even, will see a jumping talent like Moore again anytime soon. The 2014 Castro Valley graduate became the first boy to win back-to-back state titles in both the long jump and triple jump. Ever. His winning jumps at the state were top national marks of the season in both events. ›› Pleasant Grove Girls Hoops Sports the Glass Sneakers — Our favorite Cinderella story was the CIF Div. I NorCal Championship run by Pleasant Grove girls basketball. Led by Aaliyah Pena, the Eagles — who didn’t win their league and lost in the Sac-Joaquin Section semifinals — traveled 606 miles to win three straight road games by a combined six points. Then they knocked off perennial state power Berkeley 51-42 in the regional championship before falling short in the state final.

There were obviously plenty more worthy stories to mention. We didn’t even get to Monte Vista-Danville girls soccer finishing as mythical national champs, the East Bay’s three McDonald’s All-American girls basketball players or Central Catholic-Modesto football reaching a third straight CIF Bowl Game.

Got a favorite of your own, let us know. Until then, Happy Holidays from SportStars. ✪

join our team PHONE 925.566.8500 FAX 925.566.8507 Editorial Editor@SportStarsOnline.com Editor Chace Bryson • Chace@SportStarsOnline.com Staff Writer Jim McCue • JimMcCue16@gmail.com Contributors Bill Kolb, Matt Smith, Clay Kallam, Ben Enos, Dave Kiefer, Liz Elliott, Tim Rudd, Trevor Horn Copy Editor Bill Kruissink Photography Bob Larson, Jonathan Hawthorne, James K. Leash, Norbert von der Groeben, Phillip Walton, Doug Guler, Dean Coppola, Berry Evans, III Marketing/Events Ryan Arter Editorial Intern Mike Young Creative Department Art@SportStarsOnline.com Production Manager Mike DeCicco • MikeD@SportStarsOnline.com Publisher/President Mike Calamusa • Mike@SportStarsOnline.com Advertising Sales@SportStarsOnline.com, 925.566.8500 Account Executives Camps & Clinics: Ryan Arter • Camps@SportStarsOnline.com Alameda County: Berry Evans • Berry@foto-pros.com Central Valley, World Events: Anthony Grigsby • Area Director anthony.grigsby@worldeventssports.com Darin Wissner • dwissner@wordeventssports.com Reader Resources/Administration Subscription, Calendar, Credit Services Angela Paradise • Info@SportStarsOnline.com Distribution/Delivery Phillip Walton • Mags@SportStarsOnline.com Information technology John Bonilla CFO Sharon Calamusa • Sharon@SportStarsOnline.com community SportStars™ Magazine A division of Caliente! Communications, LLC 5356 Clayton Rd., Ste. 222 • Concord, CA 94521 • info@SportStarsOnline.com www.SportStarsOnline.com

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charles

hillary

Salesian-Richmond - Senior - Football The agile running back closed out a stellar postseason by rushing for 125 yards and the eventual game-winning touchdown in a 14-7 win over St. Helena in the North Coast Section Div. V championship on Dec. 5. The win clinched Salesian’s second straight NCS title and third in four seasons. In three playoff games, Hillary rushed for 443 yards and six TDs. His biggest game came in the semifinals when he rushed for 207 yards three scores as the Pride defeated St. Vincent-Petaluma.

IN HIS OWN WORDS: “It feels great to win back-to-back championships. I just want to share the moment with my teammates because we knew it would be hard, but we came in here and got the W. Just like we worked for.”

honorable mention Adam Remotto: The Campolindo senior fullback and receiver had five postseason TDs through Dec. 13, including a pair of TD catches in a 3514 CIF NorCal Div. III bowl win over Sutter.

Amani McCrary: The Deer Valley senior guard delivered a 14-point, 6-rebound and 6assists effort to lead the Wolverines past host Amador Valley in the ABC Tourney final on Dec. 13.

Amanda Daily: The Monte Vista senior guard drained three 3-pointers and totaled a team-best 17 points in a semifinal victory in the Walnut Creek Classic on Dec. 12. The Mustangs won the tournament.

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Rapid Fire

Yoonhee Kim Dougherty Valley Golf

Sam Whitney Folsom Football

Plans for your holiday break See swing coach, spend time w/ family

Trending What’s hot this week in the world of stuff that’s hot Ronnie Wood performed with members of One Direction on X Factor UK. For you One Direction fans, Wood is a member of the Rolling Stones. For you Stones fans, One Direction is, like, much hotter than Mick and Keith.

A bridge in Toledo, Ohio remained stuck in the up position as officials scrambled to get it lowered. Hopefully it doesn’t get lowered until the Duke boys use it to get back across the county line.

The San Francisco 49ers were ellminated from the playoffs. When reached for comment, area 49ers fans said ‘WARRRRRRRRRIORRRRRSSSS!’

Celebrate my state title ring

favorite drink on a cold day Hot chocolate

Warm milk with honey

if you could ask santa for anything, what would it be

End world hunger

TV

new year's resolution Improve in To gain 20 pounds golf, academics favorite moment of 2014 as a sports fan Giants winning the World Series

Rams beating the 49ers

Police in Vienna, N.Y., arrested a suspect after DNA from his beard led to his arrest. Finally, tangible means to thin out the hipster herd.

Frozen director Jennifer Lee has apologized to parents for hearing nothing but ‘Let It Go’ for the last year. Ok, that’s settled. You’re up next, Robin Thicke.

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count 'em

top five items on our bay area sports wishlist It’s the holiday season. With whoop-de-do, and hickorydock, and all that. And in this time of giving, we want to tell you: We have needs. They are pressing. They are urgent. They can only be satisfied by a fat man with a fuzzy hat and a strange method of locomotion. Or possibly a really strong first-year-player draft. Here are the top 5 things we’d like shoved in our grossly oversized footwear.

1. Anonymity — For the Golden State Warriors.

Maybe nobody will notice and they can keep this thing rolling right into May. Hey. It’s a WISH list.

2. Names — For the Oakland Athletics. We’re always gonna root for the name on the front of the ol’ kelly green and gold jersey. But it sure would be cool to recognize some names on the back, too. Billy? In ye we trust. But throw us a frickin’ bone here.

3. Mercy — For the San Francisco 49ers. Sweet Christmas Crackers, let it be over.

4. All the other things — For the Oakland Raiders. It might be easier to list the needs the Silver and Black DON’T have. Quarterback: check. Linebackers: check. Uhhh. Yeah. We’re done. Maybe start with a general manager who speaks in multi-word sentences, and see where the evening takes us.

5. Nothing — For the San Francisco Giants. Seriously? Three rings in five years, and you guys have the stones to write a list? Get out of here with that nonsense.

— Jolly Old Bill Kringle

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Number of passing yards this season from Terra Nova-Pacifica quarterback Anthony Gordon, a Central Coast Section record.

Gordon also finished with 49 TDs (also a CCS record). He passed for 353 yards and 3 TDs to lead the Tigers to the CCS Div. IV finals win over Monte Vista ChristianWatsonville. It was Terra Nova’s fourth CCS title.

say what?

“Growing up, I really fought the idea. I didn’t want to play quarterback at all. I just didn’t want to be like my brothers, for whatever reason. ... I had some success the first game last year against Heritage and ever since then it was just kind of what I was going to do. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”

— Campolindo quarterback Jack Stephens, left, who is the third of three brothers to have started under center for the Cougars. On Dec. 20, he’ll try to do what his brother Brett wasn’t quite able to do — win the CIF Div. III State Bowl championship.

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Bowl Business CIF looks at another makeover for its championship football games

If a proposal passes next month, CIF bowls will no longer exclude any section champion. There will just be a lot more divisions and some of them just might not be that exciting.

Two of the best football teams this season that did not get chosen to play in a CIF Northern California regional bowl game were Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton and Aptos.

Since Sacred Heart Prep won the CIF Central Coast Section Open Division, becoming the first private school from outside of the West Catholic Athletic League to do that, the Gators may not have been that disappointed with not being able to face powerhouse Folsom in the NorCal Division I bowl game.

For Aptos, however, which was involved in a very tough call that also involved Campolindo-Moraga and Sutter for the NorCal Div. III bowl game, there was more bitterness.

There just wasn’t anyplace else for the Mariners to go after they topped St. Ignatius-San Francisco for a second straight CCS Div. III title.

Next year, if a new plan passes next month at the CIF Federated Council meeting, every team that wins a section football title will be playing in a bowl game. The concept is simply to expand the number of divisions to 11 with an open division remaining for the two very best teams plus a small schools open division (enrollments below 1,200).

Some believe that the new system will create a watered down series of champions. This is definitely true if you recall that just last year Folsom and De La Salle-Concord actually played in a NorCal Open Division bowl game, and that starting next year such a matchup still isn’t happening while possible matchups such as Mission-San Francisco traveling to play a rural smallschool opponent such as Winters or Bear River-Grass Valley will be on the CIF bowl game schedule.

Still, even if one accepts it’s a watered-down approach, when the CIF section commissioners next meet for football bowl game selections next December, it will be to seed the teams and just decide who’s playing whom in each division. That will be far more enjoyable for them then conducting a vote that effectively ends the season for many teams.

Looking at a mock selection of teams that the CIF did earlier this year and using this year’s section champions, here is a look at what games this year’s teams from Northern California might have been playing in: OPEN DIVISON: De La Salle-Concord vs. Centennial-Corona — The Spartans still would have received the Open Division bid from the North in the new system.

OPEN DIVISION (Small): Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton vs. Central Catholic-Modesto — Just a hunch, but we think the Gators would rather have had another matchup with a bigger school such as Clayton Valley or Grant.

1AA: Folsom vs. Grant-Sacramento — The NorCal game under the new format would have been the same as this year.

1A: Edison-Fresno vs. Clayton Valley-Concord — In the new plan, the CIF Central Section Division I, Division III and Division V champions also would be in the north.

2AA: Oakdale vs. Campolindo-Moraga — Since Campolindo was clearly ahead of EnterpriseRedding in the rankings, it would be next in line from the north to play Oakdale.

2A: Enterprise-Redding vs. St. Francis-Mountain View — We don’t know how the CCS may restructure its own playoffs for next season so we just used the five champions from this season

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Phillip Walton

Teams like Salesian-Richmond, which missed the cut for a bowl game this year after winning its second straight North Coast Section Div. V title, would’ve been automatically included in the new bowl system proposal. for our mock selections.

3AA: Sutter vs. Aptos — This is about the point in the proposed format in which the available SoCal teams begin to have an edge in terms of enrollment, competitive strength of playoff division and other factors.

3A: Hanford vs. McClymonds-Oakland — Forfeits or not, Mack would have gotten a game in this format and also would have been picked for a higher game than Capital Christian since both teams would still be playing.

4AA: Salesian-Richmond vs. San Benito-Hollister — Yes, it would be strange to see a CCS D1 winner going up against the NCS D5 champ but these divisions under the new plan will be determined by competitive equity and not enrollment.

4A: Capital Christian-Sacramento vs. Terra Nova-Pacifica — Again, there will be matchups in these bowls for state titles between schools that are quite large enrollment-wise vs. those that are quite small.

5AA: Winters vs. Justin-Siena-Napa — A Justin-Siena matchup vs. Terra Nova probably is more accurate looking at rankings, but Winters vs. Justin-Siena makes more sense because the two schools aren’t that far apart on the map.

5A: Mission-San Francisco vs. Bear River-Lake of the Pines — It is true that the San Francisco champion would probably not be competitive in most years until it got down to some of the smaller schools.

6AA: Corcoran vs. Maxwell/Stone Ridge Christian — It looks like there would be at least one play-in game in the north involving small schools that will end their section playoffs one week before the rest of the state. ✪ Mark Tennis is the co-founder of Cal-Hi Sports, and publisher of CalHiSports.com. Contact him at markjtennis@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter, @CalHiSports.

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California football Rankings Receiver Cole Thompson for No. 3 Folsom.

James K. Leash photo

Previous ranking in parentheses; through games of Nov. 15 1. (1) — De La Salle-Concord 13-0 Spartans moved to No. 1 after last year’s CIF Open Div. winner St. John Bosco, was upset by Centennial-Corona.

2. (2) — Centennial-Corona 12-2 Huskies ahead of Folsom because they avenged one loss, other was by one point to national No. 1 Bishop Gorman-Las Vegas.

3. (3) — Folsom 15-0 Could be the state’s best team this season, but since there’s no more Open Div. regional games, we’ll never know.

4. (4) — St. John Bosco-Bellflower 10-1 Loss to Centennial snapped 28-game win streak against California opponents.

5. (5) — Oceanside 14-0 Won its first San Diego Section Open Div. title, then beat EdisonFresno in SoCal D1 regional game.

6. (7) ▲ Long Beach Poly 11-2 After Grant lost big to Folsom, several CIFSS Pac-5 teams moved up, led by the Jackrabbits.

7. (8) ▲ Bishop Amat-La Puente 9-4 Left with what-if after a 2-point conversion fail led to a one-point playoff loss to Centennial.

8. (9) ▲ JSerra-San Juan Capistrano 10-2 One loss was to Amat in the CIFSS playoffs; other was to St. John Bosco by 3 points.

9. (10) ▲ Mater Dei-Santa Ana 9-3 Loss to Centennial knocked Monarchs out of CIFSS Pac-5 playoffs, but they beat Huskies earlier in season.

10. (11) ▲ Serra-Gardnea 8-3 Cavs lost 68-64 in OT to Centennial in the playoffs; keep moving up rankings as Centennial advances.

11. (15) ▲ Clayton Valley Charter-Concord 15-0 After win over Oakdale, Eagles got a rankings bump since 16-0 CIF D2 state champions is possibility.

12. (13) ▲ Mission Viejo 12-2 Missed out on CIF D1 SoCal bowl bid with early season losses to two Cental Section schools.

13. (14) ▲ Crespi-Encino 9-2 Look for the Celts to be a perennial team to watch in SoCal under coach Troy Thomas.

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14. (6) ▼ Grant-Sacramento 14-1 Wide margin of loss to Folsom precipitated drop behind so many SoCal squads.

15. (16) ▲ Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton 13-0 Gators might have given Folsom better game, but same reasons Grant was chosen apply; thus Pacers still ranked higher.

16. (17) ▲ El Capitan-Lakeside 14-0 Vaqueros have been D3 team to beat in SoCal (and perhaps state) since knocking off Helix-La Mesa on Nov. 7 17. (12) ▼ Edison-Fresno 12-2 Lost CIF regional bowl, but winning school’s first large school section title in 39 years was huge step.

18. (15) ▼ Westlake-Westlake Village 8-3 Warriors lost twice to Mater Dei with one of those losses by just one points.

19. (19) — Santa Margarita-Rancho Santa Margarita 6-5 With plenty of top underclass stars for the Eagles, watch out for them next season.

20. (25) ▲ Redlands East Valley-Redlands 14-1 Only loss was to St. Bonaventure (CIFSS Pac 5 team); beat a 13-0 team in section final.

21. (23) ▲ Campolindo-Moraga 15-0 Playing El Capitan in CIF D3 bowl game helps get the Cougars higher in the rankings.

22. (24) ▲ Helix-La Mesa 10-3 This is team that lost to Oceanside in CIF San Diego Section Open Division final.

23. (20) ▲ Alemany-Mission Hills 7-3 Ranked due to win over Eastside Catholic (Wash.), which ended Bellevue’s 67-game win streak.

24. (19) ▼ St. Mary’s-Stockton 12-2 Rams were one play and one bad referee’s call from perhaps being 14-0 SJS D2 champ.

25. (NR) ▲ Cathedral Catholic-San Diego 10-2 Dons beat Helix the first time but lost in playoffs; only other loss was to Folsom.

Dropped out: Previous No. 12 Liberty-Bakersfield.

For the FINAL state football rankings, be sure to check CalHiSports.com the week following the CIF State Bowl games.

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Senior Moment Coaches put a lot of stock in their seniors, but it’s not personal ‚ they have good reasons

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All my coach does is talk about seniors. “The seniors have to step up,” “The seniors are the key to the team,” and he says things like that over and over and over. I’ve heard other coaches say the same things. I’m a sophomore, and I’m sick of hearing about seniors.

J.D., Lafayette

O

K, it is annoying, I’ll give you that. But there are a lot of reasons coaches love seniors, and why coaches say things like that constantly. First, though, let’s look at the other end of the spectrum.

One of the annoying things I do is ask my freshmen players, “What’s the best thing about freshmen?” If they know me at all, they’re not expecting me to say something like “Their enthusiasm is so wonderful,” or “I love to see them jumping around the gym and giggling like 10-year-olds” — and they’re right. My answer is simple: “The best thing about freshmen is that next year they’ll be sophomores.”

Why am I so mean? Well, we don’t have room to go into that, so we’ll settle for why I like sophomores more than freshmen. The obvious answer is easy: They’re more mature. And juniors are more mature than sophomores, and so on. The more mature a player is, the more she can deal with the ups and downs of a long basketball season. She’s less likely to get her feelings hurt by something unintentional, she’s less likely to suddenly have problems with schoolwork and she has a better feel for the reality of high school sports (not to mention life in general).

December 18, 2014

But another factor is experience, and my feeling about experience is this: It doesn’t mean a thing until you have it. If a high school basketball player has played 50 varsity games, he’s way ahead of someone who’s played 15 — but there’s no way the player with just 15 games can understand that because he hasn’t played 50 games yet.

Experience comes into play not just in terms of what happens on the court, but in being familiar with the other gyms in the league, with how to handle a two-hour bus ride, with the best way to keep up on homework, with how to set the inevitable high school drama aside when it’s time to play. The list could go on, but what a sophomore simply cannot see is how much all this matters — though when he’s a senior he’ll understand a bit better.

Finally, most seniors play with a sense of urgency because for most of them, this is the last time they’ll ever play the sport in an organized fashion with fans and media coverage (however minimal) and adults paying serious attention. This focus translates, most of the time, into an intensity that a sophomore or junior simply can’t comprehend, because at 15 or 16, it seems like high school will never end. But seniors fill out college applications and the reality slowly starts sinking in that this whole high school thing — sports and all — is going to end sooner rather than later.

So yes, coaches do like seniors more than sophomores, and yes, it’s not fair. But to quote more common coachspeak, “Who says life is fair?” ✪

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Chloe Hansel punctuated a dominant junior year by becoming her school’s first cross county state champ

W

hen Chloe Hansel wants something, she takes it.

Before the beginning of Hansel’s junior year, the Las Lomas High runner told her coach “I want to win state.”

On Nov. 22, Hansel won the NCS Division III girls cross country championship in Hayward. A week later, she outpaced some of the state’s top runners, including conference rival Toni Finnane of Campolindo high school – by less than a second — to be crowned as the top athlete in Division III. Her title captured, Hansel could be excused for catching her breath and enjoying the spotlight. The first state cross country champion in her school’s history had earned the right to be content, to sit back and wait for track season to begin. Instead, Hansel doubled down on her success, challenging herself to improve and grow.

“I want to be higher [than 5th overall] in California. I want to set the NCS course record.”

Coach Cynthia Green, a staple at Las Lomas for the past decade, isn’t surprised by Hansel’s success — nor her winning attitude.

“Chloe is great,” Green said. “She’s a very hard worker, very unassuming. She doesn’t take a lot of the spotlight…

She’s very humble around campus.”

Despite her nose-to-the-grindstone mindset, Hansel appreciates the attention.

“I’m known on campus a little bit,” she says with a smile.

But Hansel’s fame isn’t confined to the halls of Las Lomas — or even the hills and valleys of California. Along with Davis’ Fiona O’Keeffe, Hansel was one of only two Northern California runners selected for the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon.

Hansel finished 51st at the race in Oregon (out of 200 runners selected from across the country), something she wasn’t too happy about.

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“It was an amazing experience, [but] I didn’t finish as well as I’d hoped. It was my first time racing against people that good, but next year I want to finish in the top 20,” she says.

Hansel attributes much of her success to the supportive environment Las Lomas provides.

“Cynthia is such an amazing coach,” says Hansel. “She’s always there when you need her, and she knows when to push you harder and when to let you just run. We always talk about setting goals and then sharing them, achieving things together.”

Green agrees, noting that cross country is largely viewed as an individual sport, which she argues.

“Even though you’re running individually, it’s not individual. It’s a very, very mental sport. You can be a great runner, but you have to have that mental aspect as well.”

Hansel knows how important it is to have her team behind her.

“At NCS, right when the race started, my team all whispered ‘Go Chloe’,” she recalls. “I do think cross country is definitely a team sport. Coach Green encourages us to use hand gestures and unspoken communication when we’re out on the track.”

Hansel is also a decorated track-and-field athlete as well, having set school records in the mile and the 3200 meters.

“I want to go to state for track,” she says. “I want to run a sub-4:50 mile, and take 20 to 30 seconds off my 2-mile time.”

Hansel is determined to become the best runner she can be, and she trains accordingly. Rather than sign with a club team, as is the fashion for many high school athletes, she’s true to her roots. Las Lomas’ team participates in (and puts on) multiple camps each summer, including track and cross country invitationals.

“This summer, I upped my mileage,” says Hansel. “We also go to altitude training, where the air is really thin. [During the summer] I try to build myself from the base up, body and conditioning-wise.

During the season is when I worry about my times.”

Hansel doesn’t run a certain distance every day or every week,

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though. She bases her running schedule and speed on the times of her previous meets. It usually averages out to around 35 miles per week.

Running is always on Hansel’s mind, even outside of practice and competition. She’s an avid reader, and cites Chris Lear’s “Running With the Buffaloes,” a journalistic chronology of the University of Colorado’s 1998 cross country season, as a recent favorite. She attributes her love of running to her brother, five years her senior.

“I started track in second grade because of him,” Hansel remembers. “It wasn’t even competitive yet but I loved the atmosphere. I guess I was good. [My brother] always told me that I would be a great runner ... He’s super driven, and I guess that’s just how I am too.”

Even though Hansel might seem like a confident cross-country robot sent from the future, she’s still just a girl in high school. She complains lightheartedly about the team photographer who “…always manages to take your picture right at the worst time during races.”

“I really like watching Dance Moms,” she confesses with a laugh.

“It’s kind of embarrassing but I’m just really into cooking shows, too. Top Chef, that kind of thing.”

During her photoshoot (“I’ve never done this before,” she admited nervously), Hansel attracts the attention of some younger runners off-camera. They rush into the frame, eager to join the state champ in front of the camera. Hansel is all smiles, not worrying about losing her spotlight. She just enjoys spending time with her teammates.

“We have a really big team at Las Lomas,” says Green. “Bigger than most of our division rivals. Everyone feels welcomed on our team, and we have a wide range of athletes.”

When asked what she expects out of her runners, Green pauses.

“It depends on your philosophy [as a coach]. I want well-grounded kids. I encourage them to be on the team, but if they want to do other things I encourage that as well.”

Lucky for Green, all Hansel wants to do is run. ✪

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time to get your JAM ON! PLATINUM DIVISION

The marquee division of this year’s West Coast Jamboree will have one of the strongest fields in the 15-year history of the tournament. At press time, two of the teams are nationally-ranked in the MaxPreps.com Xcellent 25 compiled by Tournament Co-Director Clay Kallam, and all six of the California teams are ranked in the Cal-Hi Sports Pre-Season Top 35, done with the assistance of Tournament Co-Director Harold Abend.

Leading the bunch, and on opposite sides of the bracket, are the Xcellent 25 Top 10- and Cal-Hi Sports Top 5-ranked duo of St. Mary’s-Stockton and Chaminade-West Hills. On the top half of the bracket is a St. Mary’s team coming from the Nike TOC and its nationally-ranked competition. Prior to the TOC, the Rams won the Iolani Classic in Hawaii and beat Hawaii’s top team Kona, 68-59 in the championship game. Sharpshooting junior Kat Tudor was the Iolani MVP with fellow junior Mi’Cole Cayton and 6-foot-2 freshman sensation Aquira DeCosta named All-Tournament.

On the bottom half of the bracket, defending CIF Div. II state champion Chaminade took down preseason Cal-Hi Sports No. 1- and 2013 Jamboree Platinum Division-champion Mater DeiSanta Ana and other state-ranked teams before falling to defending CIF Open Division champion Long Beach Poly. Chaminade comes into the Jamboree on two weeks-plus rest after a stretch in which they played eight games in 11 days, culminating in the Poly loss. The Eagles are led by two of the top juniors in the state, 6-foot Valerie Higgins and 6-2 transfer Leaonna “Neah” Odom.

Another Cal-Hi Sports Top 10 team in the field — with five starters moving on to the next level — is St. Ignatius-S.F. The

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Wildcats feature the front line duo of 6-2 Columbia-bound forward Josie Little and 6-1 Saint Mary’s-bound Sydney Raggio. Two out of state teams that could make some noise are 2013 Oregon Large School state runner-up South Medford and Upper Room Christian-Dix Hills (N.Y.) team making the trip west from Long Island. The New York girls have an international flair to the team and will come into the Jamboree having already played 13 games.

The remaining three teams all hail from NorCal. Previous state

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champs and perennial Bay Area powers Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland and Sacred Heart Cathedral-S.F. have had some bumps in the road to start out the season but both have the potential to play with anyone in the field. O’Dowd opens with Chaminade while SHC opens with South Medford. McClatchy-Sacramento represents the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section in the field and the section’s top-ranked team in the pre-season opens with St. Ignatius.

— CalHiSports.com

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We take an inside look at the three most elite divisions as the 15th Annual West Coast Jamboree gets under way on December 27 DIAMOND DIVISION

The Diamond bracket features three teams that played in the CIF Open Division tournament last year with St. Mary’s-Berkeley, Carondelet-Concord and Sacramento. St. Mary’s lost two McDonald’s All-Americans with Gabby Green and Mikayla Cowling, but returns Cal-signee Ma’Ane Mosley and sophomore guard Carolyn Gill. The Panthers lost to Miramonte-Orinda in the finals of the Marin Catholic Ladycat Classic earlier this month.

Carondelet graduated talented players in Natalie Romeo and Mackenize Cast, but boasts a balanced team under first-year coach Elgin Leslie. With nine freshmen and sophomoresw, two seniors to watch are Loyola Marymount-signee Marcella Hughes and senior Katie Rathbun. The Cougars began their season by rolling to the Dorothy Speck Tournament title at Davis High.

Sacramento lost a slew of Div. I signees and now turns to junior guard Aliceah Hernandez. Sophomore Courtesy Clark is also a player to watch for coach Michele Massari, who has helped build the Dragons into one of the top programs in the Sacramento area and a power in Northern California. All three programs have made multiple appearances in the Platinum Division of the West Coast Jamboree.

Other Northern California entrants are Vanden-Fairfield, Berkeley and Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa. Vanden brings plenty of perimeter talent, led by Pepperdine-signee Kayla Blair, junior Kiana Moore and sophomore Julia Blackshell-Fair are among the top non-seniors in the region. The Vikings have won at least 25 games in six of the last seven years. Berkeley is a Northern California mainstay and will lean heavily on 5-foot-5

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point guard Jaiamoni Welch-Coleman, who is headed to Weber State next year. The Yellowjackets won the Dougherty Valley Winter Classic to start 2014-2015. Cardinal Newman is in its fourth year as a co-ed school, but the girls program is ready to enter the conversation of top programs in the Bay Area. The Cardinals return eight of 10 players from last year’s 24-win team.

Rounding out the field is Bishop Manogue-Reno (Nev.) and Brea-Olinda from SoCal. At press time, Bishop Manogue was 3-0

and makes a stop at Del Oro’s tournament before reaching the West Coast Jamboree. The team is led by Cal Poly-bound Breezi Holt, who is averaging 22 points and seven steals per game.

Sophomore Malia Holt is at 10 points. Brea-Olinda is off to a 4-0 start under legendary head coach Jeff Sink. The Wildcats have just three seniors on this year’s roster that includes six freshmen.

Bishop Manogue and Brea-Olinda meet up to start bracket play.

— NorCalPreps.com

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time to get your JAM ON! GOLD DIVISION

Defending Northern California Open Division champion Salesian-Richmond is one of four Bay Area teams in the bracket.

The Pride lost McDonald’s All-American Mariya Moore, who is now at Louisville. However, the team earned a major preseason win over McClatchy-Sacramento earlier this month. The Pride are led by senior point guard Kian McNair. Juniors JulieAnne Martin, Minyon Moore and Jordan Hobson help round out the new core for coach Stephen Pezzola.

Clayton Valley Charter-Concord is paced by Lehighsignee Hailey Pascoe, who was averaging 33 points and eight rebounds through the team’s first three games. The Ugly Eagles have won 46 games the past two years. Deer Valley-Antioch is the defending North Coast Section Div. I champions and have a solid core returning. Players to watch for the Wolverines are guards Jordan Morales and Armani McCray, as well as post Brandy Williams. Joining Deer Valley from the Bay Valley Athletic League is Heritage-Brentwood. The Patriots are trying to bounce back from a 15-12 season and a first-round loss in the NCS playoffs.

From the Sac-Joaquin Section is Brookside ChristianStockton and Lincoln-Stockton. Brookside Christian became a small school state power under Que Ngo, but Pico Wilburn takes over the helm this year. Wilburn was head coach for back-toback state championships at Oakland Tech. He has talent at his disposal with Washington-bound junior Aarion McDonald running the show. McDonald sat out last year for the Knights due to

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transfer rules. Florida Atlantic signee Ra’Kyra Gabriel is a strong inside presence and senior Ariana Vaughn provides shooting.

The Knights were the NorCal Div. V runner-ups last year. Lincoln is getting good early contributions from underclassmen Zahria Hendrix, Lianna Tillman and Celeste Almendarez. Also, senior Breanna Grisby can fill a number of roles for the Trojans.

At press time, South-Torrance is off to a 5-0 start. The

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Spartans have won at least 20 games two of the last three years and boast a balanced roster with six seniors on the 11-player roster. The final team in this bracket is Prairie of Washington.

Head coach Brett Johnson is in his second year at Prairie as he tries to get the Falcons back to the elite status achieved under Al Aldridge. In his first year, the Falcons went 21-5.

—NorCalPreps.com

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UGLY PERF

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FECTION Clayton Valley Charter put it all together en route to a 15-0 record and the program’s first trip to the CIF State Bowl games

T

he waiting was the hardest part.

Senior linebacker and running back Jax Carter led the Clayton Valley Charter football team on the dark and twisty walk behind the stadium.

He carried the flag and took it all in. He could hear the clack of his teammates’ cleats on the pavement behind him and the cheers of Eagles fans who had turned around from the top row of the bleachers to cheer the team on. He could see his breath in front of him.

Carter took a final right and led his team underneath a covered pathway which led to the mouth of an inflatable Eagle’s head. The team filled in behind him.

And they waited.

For more than 10 minutes, the Ugly Eagles, as they are affectionately known, were held hostage as technical problems prevented their entrance song from playing over the public address system. The players stirred, and fidgeted. The clock ticked closer to zero, closer to what would be the start of the California Interscholastic Federation Division II Northern Regional bowl game.

One of the cheerleaders lined up just outside the tunnel was asked sarcastically, “This never happens to you guys, right?”

“Oh, no. Never,” she quipped.

Then the beat dropped. The speaker tower next to the tunnel shuddered. The home crowd erupted and a few seconds later Clayton Valley sprinted on to its home black turf for the last time in 2014.

The hardest part was over.

Riding its dominant shotgun double-wing running attack led by dynamic

Clayton Valley Charter’s Miles Harrison (left) bursts through the line for a touchdown while the Ugly Eagles finally burst through and take the field (above).

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tailback Miles Harrison, and a defense which has saved its best football for December, the Eagles pounded out a 28-7 win over Oakdale. In doing so, the Concord school punched its ticket to the big dance — the CIF Div. II Bowl Championship on Dec. 20 against Redlands East Valley-Redlands.

“We finally accomplished what we’ve been dreaming of since the beginning of the season,” said Harrison, who finished the night with 233 yards and three touchdowns on 33 carries. “It actually happened. It’s crazy.”

It was indeed a dream that began at the beginning of the season. For some of the seniors, it was born earlier than that.

For the full roster, though, the goal of reaching the state bowl games was solidified in the preseason with wristbands that read “Carson to Carson.” Clayton Valley’s season-opening opponent was Carson Valley (NV.) at The Honor Bowl showcase event at Del Oro High in Loomis. The CIF Bowl games occur at the Stub Hub Center in Carson.

“This is our destiny,” Clayton Valley coach Tim Murphy told the team in his pregame address inside the team’s weight room. ‘It’s been on our wrist for four months. We are one game away. Making a wristband that says ‘Carson to Carson’ is almost stupid if you think about it. But you guys have worn the wristband and you’ve earned every bit of where you’re at right now.”

The waiting ended for Murphy too that night. He was the coach of Clovis East during the first year of the CIF Bowl games when there were no regional play-in bowls. That year he saw his 11-1 Central Section championship team passed over when the committee of CIF commissioners voted on the Div. I Bowl representative for the South. The committee chose Canyon-Canyon Country, which would upset De La SalleConcord 27-13.

Six years later, in his first year at Clayton Valley, Murphy led

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Clayton Valley Charter head coach Tim Murphy (above) gets the Eagles ready to take the field.

Jax Carter (right) enjoyed Clayton Valley’s night. the 2012 Eagles to the school’s first ever North Coast Section title. That was the first year of regional bowl games and Clayton Valley got an invite to play none other than Oakdale at a neutral site in Stockton. That night, the Mustangs prevailed 27-24.

“To finally know that you’ve made it (to the state games), and there’s no vote and there’s no anything and you’re just go-

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ing, is a great feeling,” the coach said afterward.

The Eagles captured their first NorCal bowl title with an unblemished 15-0 record and an offense that has produced 785 points (52.3 per game). Defense and special teams have added three more TDs for a total of 803 points on the season.

Six different backs have surpassed 500 yards rushing in the Eagles offense, but Harrison is unquestionably both the catalyst and workhorse. In 13 games, the 5-foot-11, 200-pound back has rushed 200 times for 2,380 yards and 29 TDs. “Half the time I don’t get to see what he does because I’m blocking for him,” Carter said of Harrison. “But it always feels good when you’re blocking for someone and you see a flash of white or black or gray go by and then you hear the fans going crazy.”

Clayton Valley’s success can’t only be attributed to Harrison. The team has called on junior quarterback Nate Kiesel to throw the ball just 95 times in 15 games, but he’s completed 61 with 19 touchdowns and just one interception. Senior receiver Justin Zapanta has caught 12 passes for 413 yards and a ridiculous yards-per-catch average of 34.4.

What has seemingly set this Eagles team apart from its predecessors, though, is a defense that grows stingier by the week.

Oakdale had just eight possessions in the NorCal bowl match.

Five of those possessions either ended in turnovers on downs or interceptions. At the conclusion of the game, Clayton Valley’s defense had allowed just 16 points over its last 12 quarters of play.

“One guy misses a tackle and it doesn’t matter,” Carter said.

“Two or three more guys are going to come up right behind him. It’s gang tackling and pursuit to the ball. Eleven hats to the ball, that’s our motto.”

Carter was a part of the 2012 team which came up three points shy of reaching the state’s biggest high school football

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stage. He also remembers his freshman year when something like these last three years seemed like the kinds of success he and his friends could only dream up in their back yards.

“If you’d have told me when I was a freshman, before Coach Murphy arrived, that when I was a senior I was going to play in a state championship, I would’ve friggin’ punched you in the face and called you a liar,” Carter said demonstratively.

Murphy, who believed the 2012 team let down after its emotional NCS championship victory the week before, isn’t concerned about a similar scenario with this team now that it’s charted new ground for the program.

“I think it’s going to be a bright-eyed situation when they first step in the stadium,” the coach said.

“But I think this group can handle it. I just hope they can handle the team that they line up across.”

In its preparation, the team will also have to brush off any noise surrounding reports of Clayton Valley’s athletics program being placed on probation toward the end of October after errors made by the football program led to infractions surrounding transfers. More than likely, this will only bring a tight-knit group of players closer together.

“We’re all like brothers,” Harrison said. “Way more than previous teams. We play our hardest and we play for each other.”

And their wait is over.

Carter may have said it best.

“It’s got to come to an end eventually, but we get to end it on our terms.” ✪

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December 18, 2014

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Campo’s Max Flower, right, and Tyler Petite.

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Campo guts it out Down 14-0 late in the first quarter to a rested and robust Sutter squad, the Campolindo High football team from Moraga had every reason to panic, point fingers or just plum let down.

It had taken every ounce of energy to win 14 straight games and reach the CIF Northern California Division III regional bowl game at Acalanes-Lafayette.

Coach Kevin Macy, a wise and timeless 19year coaching veteran at the school (35 coaching years overall), said the Cougars didn’t need athletic tape to heal the many aches, pains and pulls, “we needed duct tape,” he said.

Senior quarterback Jack Stephens began the game 2-for-6 for three yards and an interception. “Ugly,” he said after the game.

But then he fired a crossing rout to Max Flower and the big-play 6-foot-4, 205-pound receiver turned it into a 25-yard gain. After a penalty, Stephens dropped back and found Flower again and the Cal baseball-commit was off to the races before getting caught at the 3-yard line.

When Stephens found Adam Remotto in the right corner of the end zone three plays later, the Cougars were on their way.

Stephens would complete two more TD passes over the next five minutes. Fadelli and Conner McNally added rushing TDs in the second half and Campolindo pulled off a sterling 35-14 victory to vault it into a second state bowl game in four years. The Cougars return to Stub Hub Center in Carson on Dec. 20 to face El

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Capitan-Lakeside (14-0).

The Cougars had 438 total yards against a defense that had allowed 62 points all season. The Campolindo defense, led by two interceptions by Tiger Garcia, shut out an offense (that had piled up 642 points) for the final three quarters.

Flower particularly gutted it up and seemed to inspire Campolindo’s comeback. Macy tabbed him as doubtful for the game with a left shoulder injury and he was visibly hurting, twice gingerly going to the sideline. Though he didn’t score, he led all receivers with six catches for 153 yards.

“It’s just time to suck it up,” he said. “We’re one win away from winning a state title.”

With Sutter doing a good job shutting down the run, Stephens had to have a big game. He evaded pressure several times and found receivers with superb touch.

Stephens’ 18-yard TD pass over the middle to Remotto tied the game with 7:52 left in the half. On Campolindo’s first play of its next possession, Stephens lofted a beautiful spiral to speedy Caleb Whalen for a 76-yard touchdown.

“That’s our favorite play,” Whalen said. “Jack put it right there. I just had to catch it and run.”

Garcia, a 6-3, 160-pound senior, seemed to be everywhere on defense. McNally, also questionable with a groin injury, was superb at cornerback. Four-star tight end Tyler Petite, who committed to USC last week, caused all sorts of trouble from his defensive end spot.

— SportStars staff

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W

hat makes a De La Salle running back different?

The most analytical observer will expect a long-winded and complicated answer. Surely, there must be some secret ingredient or technique that has allowed the Spartans’ veer offense to flourish over the better part of three decades. It can’t be simple, because no one principle could possibly explain such dominance from one particular group of athletes at one specific position.

But the reality is actually that simple. It all boils down to five words that might as well be emblazoned on the backs of any player to ever line up in a De La Salle backfield.

Make the first man miss.

Count current Spartans Antoine Custer and Drew Hernandez among those who have taken that message to heart. They know exactly what they’re supposed to do when the ball lands in their hands. Make that first man miss, run through arm tackles, and never stop when given an opportunity to gain the extra yard.

In a more figurative sense, Custer and Hernandez found out last year how it feels when they don’t make the first man miss. It’s a feeling they’re not too interested in experiencing again.

The two-headed monster that is the De La Salle backfield experienced last year’s California Interscholastic Federation Open Division bowl game loss to St. John Bosco-Bellflower in different ways. Custer suffered an ankle injury on the opening kickoff, never to return.

Hernandez plodded his way to 53 yards on 11 carries, but never found the big play burst

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DOUBLE THE FUN

with 1,632 yards and 27 touchdowns. De La Salle has that might have helped turn the tide in the 20-14 defeat. thrown just 128 times, which is the least passing attempts One year later, Custer and Hernandez are ready to return to the Entering the CIF Open Division bowl game on Dec. 20, from a Spartans team since the 128 in 2005. scene of that disappointment, and a new challenger stands in their the De La Salle duo of Antoine Custer & Drew HernanAlready, those numbers put both running backs in imway. This year, Centennial-Corona awaits and the winner will once dez were just 17 yards to become the Spartans’ top pressive company. again lay claim to the title of Best in California. rushing duo in the last 10 years. Here are the school’s They are 16 yards behind the 2009 duo of Terron Ward As they’ve navigated their junior season, De La Salle’s running most notable running back pairs over the last decade.

Total and Tyler Anderson, both of whom just wrapped up sucbacks have taken the team’s mantra more literally than anything Duo Year Yards cessful careers in the backfield at Oregon State. Custer else. Time after time, they’ve made the first man miss, and the result and Hernandez’s yards per carry averages rank first and has been a season that, statistically speaking, is nearly unparalleled Terron Ward & Tyler Anderson 2009 3,327 second among De La Salle running backs of the last 10 in the storied history of Spartan football.

Antoine Custer & Drew Hernandez 2014 3,311 years. And, they slot seventh and eighth, respectively, in It all started with that loss to St. John Bosco. The summer of 2014 John Velasco & Antoine Custer 2013 3,231 the school record book for yards in a single season. took on a new focus, one that paved a road directly back to Carson.

Tiapepe Vitale & Dasmond Tautalatasi 2012 3,136 “It’s hard to say where they stack up because they’re Motivation wasn’t hard to find, because whenever they thought Lucas Dunne & Joe Te’o 2010 2,799 juniors,” Alumbaugh said. “To be frank, we have to see about the last time they were on the field, the memory of that game Tim Maupin & Tillman Pugh 2006 2,576 how they run against Centennial. That’s a real measuring remained fresh.

Tiapepe Vitale & David Riopelle 2011 2,037 stick for us.”

Hernandez and Custer experienced it in different ways. Custer’s Neither is worried about their place in De La Salle hisstate bowl game came to a screeching halt when he suffered an antory. The size and speed of Centennial’s defense has their kle injury when he was tackled trying to return the game’s opening kickoff. After going down, the sophomore tried to summon the strength to get back in the utmost attention, and neither is much interested in anything else. Alumbaugh says the duo is game but the gregarious game-breaker that De La Salle had created a game plan for was con- handling the build-up to the season’s final game in their usual way — Custer with his sense of fined to spectator duty. “I thought I was going to be able to come back at half. The trainers humor and outgoing personality and Hernandez with a quiet, laser-like focus that his coach could see I couldn’t run anymore. After that I just tried to help on the sideline,” Custer said. “It says has sharpened a bit over the last week.

“Nothing’s really going to change. We’re going to keep going, driving the ball and keep was big for me to come back this year and play this time and try to win.”

At the same time, Hernandez did his best to fill in alongside John Velasco, but his efforts moving our feet,” Hernandez said. “I’ll be really excited. I’m playing for my brothers and to were ultimately stunted by a strong Bosco defense. He knew he was capable of more, and get that state ring.”

What both running backs know is that they want nothing more than for this year’s trip to instead of dwelling on the past, he turned his attention to the future.

“Drew was unhappy with his performance last year,” De La Salle coach Justin Alumbaugh end in a much different fashion. They won’t make big alterations and won’t stray too far from the usual De La Salle script. said. “What’s really impressed me is how hard he’s worked and the changes he’s made.”

Most importantly, Custer and Hernandez will keep their approach simple and try to do On the journey back to Carson, Custer and Hernandez have proved the perfect complement. The numbers are staggering, with Custer averaging 10.8 yards per carry en route to what they know best.

Make the first man miss. ✪ 1,679 yards and 20 touchdowns and Hernandez averaging an unheard of 12.5 yards a carry

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health watch: dr. nirav k. pandya

More Variety LESS INJURIES Playing multiple sports at a young age can lead to better athleticism and less doctor visits

As an orthopedic surgeon, former collegiate athlete and parent, sports are intricately woven into my life.

For the past several months, the media has focused extensively on the topic of misguided athletic participation, highlighting program’s like Major League Baseball’s “Pitch Smart” guidelines and the STOP Sports Injuries campaign.

Yet, for every story that highlights the potential dangers of athletic participation when not done appropriately, there are ten more stories of professional athletes whose singular focus on athletics has supposedly led to professional stardom. The unfortunate reality is that for the vast majority of young athletes, they have a very slim chance of obtaining an athletic scholarship (around 2 percent) and even slimmer chance of turning professional (less than 0.6 percent). Even if you are one of the lucky few who is able to obtain a scholarship, the average scholarship award is approximately $11,000 — barely covering the cost of tuition.

Children as young as 6 years of age walk into my clinic on a daily basis having exerted their bodies for countless hours; many times specializing in one sport year round. Many are chasing the dream of athletic scholarships or professional contracts. Anterior cruciate ligament injuries, cartilage loss, elbow ligament tears and stress fractures — once the domain of the adult — are common complaints of these athletes, many of whom have not even entered high school. Are we hurting more kids than helping them?

As a former collegiate athlete and coach, I understand the importance of athletics; not for the chance of obtaining a scholarship, but rather for fostering work ethic, teamwork and sportsmanship. Yet, over the past several years, I have seen sports in many of our youth become a means to an end rather than a mean in and of itself. The current landscape of sports is different, and many of the changes we have made have not helped to improve athletic performance but rather have only helped to increase injury rates.

Take the following example. Choosing to specialize in one sport is commonly thought to lead to improved performance in that sport; a la the 10,000-hour rule (i.e. to become an expert in anything you need to practice it for 10,000 hours). To the contrary, there are multiple studies which have shown that playing various sports until a later age is more likely to lead to success

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in athletics (i.e. whether it be scholarships or becoming professional) than specializing in one sport at a young age. This has been repeatedly shown in studies looking at elite athletes in multiple countries as well as collegiate programs in the U.S.. The fact remains that deciding to do “a lot” of one sport only at a very young age will guarantee you only one thing — an increased injury rate and multiple trips to the doctor.

Children should be encouraged to play multiple sports. Play football in the fall, basketball in the winter, and run track in the spring. Use different muscle groups, skill sets and movement patterns. Our bodies need a diversity of activity to stay healthy and avoid burnout.

I choose to live a healthy lifestyle because of my positive experience with sports. I learned more about being an effective physician and parent by participating in multiple sports at varying levels as a child; interacting with teammates of different skill levels, backgrounds and life stories.

The core values I learned have remained with me throughout my life.

What I cherish the most are not the individual accomplishments, but rather working my tail off with my teammates towards a common goal.

Sports are powerful, and physical activity is key to creating a healthy population. Kids should train hard, but train smartly. Strive to become a three-sport athlete, not a one-sport burnout. We need to make sure we are allowing our youth to experience sports in its purest form. If not, we are doing a tremendous disservice to them both now, and as adults in the future. ✪ Dr. Nirav K. Pandya is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon specializing in pediatric sports injuries at the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland. He sees patients and operates in Oakland and Walnut Creek.

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Kids on the Run running: hunter greene, m.d.

We’ve all watched kids chasing squirrels in the backyard or sprinting to the playground. We know most kids are natural runners. If you’re thinking about getting your child into a more structured running program, here are some guidelines from the Road Runners Club of America to ensure he or she has fun and stays injury-free: ›› Make running fun — First and foremost, running should be fun. Encourage children to participate and do their best. ›› Focus on participation and self-improvement — In grade school, running should be about participation and developing a healthy lifestyle, not about being the fastest kid out there. Save competition for middle and high school aged students. ›› Consider individual differences — Avoid a one-size-fits-all approach to a running program. Children mature both physically and emotionally at different rates, and this will factor into their ability to participate in running. ›› Limit training and competition before puberty — Before puberty, children are rapidly growing and changing. Excessive training may interfere with normal growth and cause injury. For ages 9 and under, encourage regular exercise, which can include organized running for fun. Around the ages of 9-12, children may enjoy participation in a more organized running program that

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has a more systematic training program. Around the age of 12 for girls and 14 for boys, developmental changes will enable youth to slowly increase training distance and duration, leading to participation in a systematic and competitive training environment. ›› Increase running workload gradually — Running workload includes volume (distance), intensity (speed or effort) and frequency (number of days per week). Just like with adult running, children should start with low volume and low intensity and limit frequency to a couple of days per week. Workload should increase over the duration of the program, but should remain appropriate for the individual child. ›› Participate in age appropriate events — Running in a kids’ fun run or youth track event can be a great experience for kids. Children age 6 and over may want to participate in a 5k run/walk. Be sure to allow for walking and let them go at their own pace. Children ages 13 and older may want to participate in a 10k or longer distance. These are general guidelines and the distance a child can physically and emotionally tolerate will vary by child. However, longer distances (10k and over) should wait until after puberty. ✪ Hunter Greene, M.D., is a board certified orthopedic surgeon with Summit Orthopedic Specialists in Carmichael.

He specializes in adult and pediatric sports medicine.

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FAST FOUR training time: tim rudd for iyca

A look at the four ingredients for reaching peak agility and quickness When you see athletes who are both agile and quick, you never forget it. They look as though they are effortlessly floating across the field or court of play. They can cut and change directions faster than anyone else in the game, and they can do so with great body control.

The recipe for dominating speed and quickness must contain these four ingredients:

1

The athlete must have great proprioceptive awareness: This means their nervous system — the nerves in the muscles, tendons, joints and ligaments which feel pressure, speed and other forces — tells the body how to regulate its position all the time. This allows athletes to make subtle to massive adjustments quickly and accurately, resulting in a high level of control.

2

The athlete must have great force absorption (stopping strength) as well as force production (starting strength): This is critical when changing direction.

When the athlete puts on the brakes, it isn’t usually just to stop; it is to get going in a new direction quickly. Athletes who can go from the stopping to the going, or deceleration to acceleration, at optimum rates will be quicker.

4

3

The athlete must have a great ability to reposition the feet in any direction around his or her center of mass: This means the athlete should be able to replace the feet on angles that promote a positive deceleration and or acceleration angle.

The athlete must understand how to maintain proper levels — or go in and out of level changes — so it doesn’t disrupt the quickness of acceleration: I like to use the term “staying in the tunnel.”

This simply means the athlete understands staying low in order to create optimal acceleration and deceleration angles without any unnecessary up or down movement of the body.

Tim Rudd is an IYCA specialist in youth conditioning and owner of Fit2TheCore.

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Head for the hills Hollister Hills Off-Road Association giving kids chance to ride and experience friendly competition The Hollister Hills Off-Road Association (HHORA) is a non-profit organization that supports Hollister Hills State Vehicular Recreation Area by raising money for educational and interpretive outreach programs and other park improvements. This group of dedicated volunteers works with California State Parks and Hollister Hills SVRA to enhance the experience of people visiting the park. They raise money by holding four annual events.

The Hare Ball Scramble is a family friendly race held on Nov. 22. This event offers classes for all ages and riding skills. The Scramble is not a timed event and parents can ride alongside their kids on a fun, easy course. There is also a Main Event for the older, faster folks, as well as a Youth Event for children 8-15 years. You must be an HHORA member to participate in these events, but it is only $20 annually to join or $25 for the entire family.

Hollister Hills Off-Road Association also holds various other events to raise money for worthy causes, such as Child Protective Services.

Bryan Southwood is one of the regular riders at these events and has been bringing his kids to these races for years. His oldest son, 9-year-old Bryan Jr., entered the Youth Event and took first place in his age class. This alone is a great achievement, but he actually took third place overall — beating older riders ranging from 10 to 15 years old.

Bryan Jr. has been riding motorcycles since he was 2½ and had training wheels on his first little motorcycle. He loves riding. Of course. it helps that his father, Bryan Sr. (who won his own class and was first overall) has been racing at Hollister Hills for years and taught his son well.

You can help support Hollister Hills SVRA by making a tax-deductible donation. HHORA is a 501c3 non-profit. You can join or make a donation online at www.hhora.org or by mail: 7726 Cienega Rd. Hollister, CA 95023 — Provided by the SVRA

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power hour

Speaking of last minute, it’s never too late to know what time it is. And Dakota Watches can certainly handle that and more. They can also look stylish while doing it. At SportStars HQ, we recently got to try out the Tough Ana Digi model for men and the Ladies Gloss Sport.

Among the bells and whistles on these bad boys are dual time settings, electro luminescent backlighting and water resistance up to 100 meters. Best of all, they retail under $50. www.

DakotaWatch.com

BOOK IT, SANTA! We came across two books that we thought great for sports fans this holiday. ›› 2014 was a pretty great year if you were a San Francisco Giants fan. Tom Zenner has put together a coffee table book that is sure to help fans remember the championship run fondly. “Giant Dynasty” is a 144-page book which chronicles the team’s entire season and features countless professional photos from the field and the clubhouse. You can order it at www.giantdynasty14.com for $34.95 ›› We’re also giving a shoutout to a local author giving it his first go. Pleasant Hill’s Christopher Georgeovich takes his first swing at self-published book writing and has scored with a nice little book called, “Cup of Joy”. In an insightful and self-analytical style, Georgeovich takes the reader on a not-so spoiled walk in the rain at Pebble Beach on the his 60th birthday. His round mirrors the game of golf itself — filled with emotional, physiological, psychological and physical hazards, but also joy. Check it out at www.AlivePublishing.com

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‘Tis the season!

Rugby action begins at all levels in January

R

nament is considered preseason ugby season is here! Schedules are finalized, tournafor our high school boys and ment dates set, and there’s girls programs, and is a fantastic lots of rugby to be had for everyplatform to introduce the sport to one. I wanted to take some time new club recruits. Over 80 teams in this month’s issue to discuss the participating yearly. upcoming season and the various High school programs begin tournaments the NCYRA will be regular-season schedules on Jan. supporting throughout the year.

31. The format follows the same carney’s The season officially gets as above, with each region playing corner: underway on the weekend of inter-region matches until the Mark Carney playoffs. Our youth and middle Jan. 10. This is the first week of competition for the Junior Youth school seasons conclude in March (under-8, U10 and U12) and middle-school with U8s finishing March 8, U10s and U12s divisions. These divisions compete in on March 15 and the middle school teams round-robin matches, with one team hosting on March 22. between one and three teams; ensuring good The high school season wraps up in April competition and ample playing time. at the Northern California Invitational TourOur league is separated into four distinct nament on April 18-19 at the Cherry Island regions, Sacramento Valley, Bay Area, Soccer Complex in Antelope. This tournaRedwood (Marin County and north) and ment serves as the first and second round of Central Valley (Fresno area). Our leagues playoffs and as a year-end round-robin tourcompete in inter-region competition, with nament for non-playoff teams. The following everyone getting the chance to play each weekend will be a championship weekend other at the end-of-season tournaments. with the location still to be determined.

An interesting aspect of our youth rugby All in all, it is a very busy season — with programs are that we do not keep track of lots of rugby and excitement is to be had by results and standings for U8-middle school. everyone. If you are interested in getting inThe reason for this is to promote character volved and playing with a local club, or comvalues such as camaraderie, sportsmanship, ing to check the sport out for the first time, fair play and respect. Too often in youth please visit our website (www.ncyrugby.org) sports, we see players, coaches and parents or call the NCYRA office at 707-693-8803. getting too focused on winning.

See you on the sidelines! ✪ The season gets underway in earnest on the weekend of Jan. 24 at the annual Sacramento Kick Off Tournament at Rancho Cordova High. This is one of the premier youth tournaments in the country. This tour-

Mark Carney is the executive director of the Northern California Youth Rugby Association.

He writes for SportStars as part of the magazine’s partnership with the NCYRA.

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HOOPHAVEN New Livermore facility on its way to being gym rats dream

Patterson Pass Road in Livermore is already home to a number of destinations for sports enthusiasts, including Umigo Racing, Cabernet Indoor Sports and The Range football training center. And now, former Saint Mary’s College basketball player has brought hoops to the party.

And he’s bringing it in a big way.

NB Courts (short for National Basketball) began a soft open in late summer and is in full swing now with five basketball courts — three high school-length courts, one middle school and one NBA court designed after the Golden State Warriors training facility. Boreman has designed NB Courts to be the one-stop shop for all things basketball.

The facility allows teams and leagues to rent the courts, hosts high school-aged AAU tournaments every weekend, runs its own AAU programs for both boys and girls, and is currently developing a basketball training center called “The Lab” that Boreman hopes will open in January.

“We want this place to offer whatever a basketball player might want or need,” Boreman said. “I like to think of it was the Wal-Mart of basketball. You can go there and get whatever you need. We can help you get in shape, help you tune up your game, whatever.”

Boreman was a gym rat himself as a high schooler in New York. His coach had a tiny basketball facility that he let players use. Boreman said he and his friends had keys and would be there at all hours of the day and night.

NB Courts will offer memberships to The Lab that will allow players to come in and work on any part of their game. There will be a fitness center, a dribbling court and a shooting court with shooting machines that rebound and return the ball. Memberships will also include discounts for personalized training sessions and other perks.

NB Courts’ AAU programs have teams from 8th grade through high school levels. Obviously, players who compete in their programs will have access to The Lab and other parts of the facility.

If you’d like to learn more about the facility or its AAU programs, visit www.NBCourts. com. ✪

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A Higher Perspective........................................................................................................24 All Out Sports League.......................................................................................................37 Antioch Sports Legends....................................................................................................15 Big O Tires Northern California/ Nevada.............................................................................2 Bigfoot Hoops......................................................................................................21, 32, 48 Boomers!..........................................................................................................................29 Catchflame.com...............................................................................................................45 Championship Athletic Fundraising.................................................................................38 Cheergyms.Com...............................................................................................................23 Club Sport..........................................................................................................................5 Community Youth Center.................................................................................................30 Concord American Little League.......................................................................................37 Concord Cobras Youth Football & Cheerleading................................................................38 Contra Costa Federal Credit Union....................................................................................18 Core Performance.......................................................................................................38, 44 Core Volleyball Club..........................................................................................................36 De La Salle High School Football Coaches Clinic................................................................45 Diablo Futbol Club............................................................................................................39 Diablo Rock Gym..............................................................................................................44 Diablo Trophies & Awards.................................................................................................44 East Bay Bulldogs Basketball............................................................................................41 East Bay Parks..................................................................................................................45 East Bay Sports Academy.................................................................................................16 Excellence In Sport Performance......................................................................................30 Fast Break Basketball Camps............................................................................................26 Foundry Sport..................................................................................................................27 Garaventa Enterprises......................................................................................................19 Halo Headband................................................................................................................45 Heritage Soccer Club........................................................................................................36 Irvin Deutscher Family Ymca...........................................................................................20 Jr. Optimist Baseball / Softball League ( J O B L)...............................................................38 Lone Tree Golf Course.......................................................................................................45 Modesto Magic................................................................................................................41 Mountain Mike’s Pizza......................................................................................................17 Muir Orthopaedic Specialists............................................................................................34 Northern California Youth Rugby Association...................................................................42 Northgate High School.....................................................................................................45 Oakland Police Department Recruiting............................................................................26 Oakland Warthogs Youth Rugby.......................................................................................43 Off- Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division...............................................................40 Pass Tha Ball.....................................................................................................................19 Prepstarsonline.com........................................................................................................12 Renaissance Club Sport....................................................................................................20 Rhino Sports Of Northern California.................................................................................29 Rocco’s Pizza...............................................................................................................36, 44 Sacramento Lacrosse Association.....................................................................................41 San Ramon Slammers Baseball........................................................................................38 Special Olympics Northern California...............................................................................15 Sport Clips........................................................................................................................25 Sports Gallery Authenticated...........................................................................................37 Stevens Creek Toyota........................................................................................................47 Sutter Health East Bay........................................................................................................3 The First Tee Of The Tri Valley............................................................................................37 The Golf Club At Roddy Ranch..........................................................................................26 Tpc / The Pitching Center..................................................................................................42 U C S F Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland......................................................................35 United States Youth Volleyball League.............................................................................46 Walnut Creek Soccer Club.................................................................................................36 West Coast Jamboree.......................................................................................................31 Win Anyway & All For Kids.........................................................................................41, 43 Wingstop.........................................................................................................................13

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