Bay Area Issue 41, Feb. 23, 2012

CRUNCHRACE TO STATE

STARTS NOW!TIME

endure | excel | achievefebruary 23, 2012vol. 3. issue 41

freebay area

SportStarS cup ’12: leaderS of the pack. Pg. 14

InsIde:the offIcal

program of the

in a golden state of mind. Pg. 6

Pg. 36

linside: lockerroom zeroeS in on norcal icon. Pg. 10

unbeatable: miramonte nearS record feat. Pg. 32

http://www.bigo.com

http://www.kindersbbq.com

http://www.nationalguard.com

http://www.eccousa.com

6 SportStars™ Upload photos and team stats! www.SportStarsOnline.comFebruary 23, 2012

PHONE 925.566.8500 FAX 925.566.8507EditOriAl [email protected] Chace Bryson. Ext. 104 • [email protected] Bill Kolb, Erik Stordahl, Mitch Stephens, Doug Gardner, Matt Smith, Clay Kallam, Jim McCue, Eric Gilmore, Dave Kiefer, Liz Elliott, Tim Rudd, Jonathan OkanesPhotography Butch Noble, Bob Larson, Jonathan Hawthorne, Darryl Henick, Norbert von der Groeben, Phillip Walton

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

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

AdvErtisiNg & CAlENdAr/ClAssiFiEd [email protected], (925) 566-8500Account Executives Erik Stordahl • Erik@SportStars Online.com, Phillip Walton • [email protected] (Sacramento Sales), Stacey Harris • SHarris@SportStars Online.com. sac Joaqin edition: Breck Phillip • [email protected], Dave Rosales • [email protected], Finn Jensen • [email protected].

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

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

iNFOrmAtiON tECHNOlOgy John Bonilla

CFO Sharon Calamusa • [email protected] Manager/Credit Services Deb Hollinger. Ext. 101 • [email protected]

bOArd OF AdvisOrsDennis Erokan, CEO, Placemaking GroupRoland Roos, CPA, Roland Roos & CoSusan Bonilla, State AssemblyDrew Lawler, Managing Director, AJ Lawler PartnersBrad Briegleb, Attorney At Law

COmmuNity sPOrtstArs™ mAgAziNEA division of Caliente! Communications, LLC5356 Clayton Rd., Ste. 222 • Concord, CA • [email protected] ON RECYCLED PAPER IN THE USA

Caliente!LLC

your ticket to bay area sportsadmit one; rain or shine

Read Me. Recycle Me.

This Vol. #3, January 2012 Whole No. 39 is published by Caliente! Communications, LLC, 5356 Clayton Rd, Ste. 222, Concord, CA 94521. SportStars™© 2010 by Caliente! Communications, LLC. All rights reserved. Subscription rates: 24 issues, U.S. 3rd class $42 (allow 3 weeks for delivery). 1st class $55. To receive sample issues, please send $3 to cover postage. Back issues are $4 each. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission of Publisher is strictly prohibited. The staff and management, including Board of Directors, of SportStars™© does not advocate or encourage the use of any product or service advertised herein for illegal purposes. Editorial contributions, photos and letters to the editor are welcome and should be addressed to the Editor. All material should be typed, double-spaced on disk or email and will be handled with reasonable care. For materials return, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope. SportStars™© and STARS!™© Clinics are registered trademarks of Caliente! Communications, LLC.

Get noticed. Join today!www.SportStarsOnline.com

A third of the way into the season and the battle for the inaugural cup

is too close for comfort. Pg. 14

let it rip: Will Brueckner, left, and Austin Smotherman are two of NorCal’s best golfers. Pg. 20

First Pitch ............................................ 8

Behind the Clipboard ....................... 9

Locker Room ...................................10

AAA SportStars of the Week .......13

Impulse ..............................................26

In the Paint........................................36

Training Time ....................................39

Health Watch ...................................39

Photo Finish ......................................46

on the coVer: Photo Illustration, Mike DeCicco. Salesian’s Jabari Bird (Jonathan Hawthorne,

Newark Memorial’s Joey Frenchwood (Phillip Walton), De La Salle’s Joe McNiff (Bob Larson)

clipboard: If you’re not giving it your all, you’re not giving enough. Pg. 9

iconS: Ton Bonfigli and Rick DeMartini are two of the best coaches you’ll ever find. Pg. 40

hiStory in Sight: Miramonte’s girls basketball team is seeking to achieve what few others have — a perfect season and an NCS Championship. Pg. 32

http://www.playallworld.com

8 SportStars™ Upload photos and team stats! www.SportStarsOnline.com

It’s been a little more than year since I used this space to announce SportStars’ plans for world domination.

That was back in January of 2011 when we debuted our California edition filled with coverage of schools throughout Northern California and essentially scattered it to as many places we could could across the North State.

That endeavor proved successful. Which is why I’m back to explaining some new changes with the maga-zine.

As more people outside of the East Bay learned about SportStars, we started getting calls from a number of different folks asking how their team or school could be featured in the magazine, as well as where they could find more copies. Many of those calls came from the Greater Sacramento area, and after enough positive feedback we figured we better take the hint.

The California Edition is changing names. This issue will mark the debut of our Sac-Joaquin Edition, which will cover schools and clubs from throughout the Sac-Joaquin Section — a region that goes as far east as the Nevada border and as far south as Turlock. We aren’t diving into this region lightly, either.

In the past few months we’ve put together a modest sales team in the Sacramento area. These guys, whose names and email addresses you can find in our staff box on page 8, will be hard at work looking to bring in advertisers from the region who are also excited about the magazine. We’ve already come across a few.

Our primary writer and photographer from the region will continue to provide the type of content that had us receiving positive feedback in the first place. We like where this is headed, and we hope our readers in that area do too.

Making this change is also requiring us to tweak our original East Bay edition.

The California Edition brought us fans in the South Bay and North Bay in addition to those in the Sacra-mento region. We didn’t want to completely cut them out of the loop with the creation of the Sac-Joaquin Edition. Therefore, the East Bay Edition also gets a name change and has become the Bay Area Edition.

To our most loyal East Bay readers, this is no time to panic. Or riot. Trust us on this one. We plan on delivering the same amount of East Bay coverage that we always have.

Now you’ll just be getting some bonus coverage. For instance, just in time for the North Coast Section basketball playoffs, we’ll be including a three-page feature on two of the most successful coaches from the North Bay/Redwood Empire region — Rick Demartini of the Marin Catholic-Kentfield girls basketball program and Tom Bonifigli, who earned his 600th career victory this season with the Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa boys.

We like to think of this as the best of both worlds. It takes the two editions we already had and brings us closer to our original concept for SportStars, that when our readers open up the magazine they either see their school, or their friend’s school, or a school they play against. You get the point.

I also should bring up that if you haven’t seen our newly-redesigned website yet, you should. That’s another part of this transition. We’ll be adding occasional stories and game coverage that we run exclusively at SportStarsOnline.com. While you read, keep an eye out for prompts about what you might find online.

We haven’t forgotten about world domination. We’ll get there. Give us time. ✪

February 23, 2012

Chace Bryson Editor

First Pitch

Chace@ SportStarsOnline.com

(925) 566-8503

SportStars continues its baby steps toward global awesomeness

http://eastbaysportsacademy.com/ebsa/East_Bay_Sports_Academy.html

9SportStars™Support Your Local Business • Say You Found Them In SportStars™ February 23, 2012

It’s probably going to be my first year on varsity this spring, and I’m a little nervous. What do varsity coaches want from their players?

K.L., Windsor

So here’s part three of the answer to that very good question, and the starting point is something

I heard John Madden say long ago when he was coaching the Raiders: “I only have three rules,” he said. “Be on time; pay attention; and play like hell.”

This time, we’re on the “play like hell” part, and the answer, as always, is a little more complicated than it appears. After all, nobody goes out on the field thinking “You know, I don’t think I’ll play very hard today. I think I’ll just relax and let the other kids do the work.”

In reality, of course, there are games when it just isn’t happening, no matter how hard you try. Your energy level might be low, you might have trouble concentrating, or things just don’t go your way — and the result is you can’t quite get yourself into gear.

So let’s go back to another famous coach: John Wooden. Like all coaches, he knew it was too late

to prepare yourself for a game when you got to the locker room. No dramatic speech was going to make a player ready who wasn’t already good to go.

Typically, then, coaches will empha-size a couple of things. Get to bed early the night before, eat well, spend some time thinking about what you need to do to help the team win. But Wooden, not surprisingly, took things a step further. He knew that the night before a really big game was not necessarily a night when an athlete was going to sleep all that well. Playing for a championship, or against a rival for a postseason berth, is going to make it hard to sleep like a

rock (though some athletes can sleep no matter what).

So what John Wooden told his players was that preparation for a game began two nights before. That was the night to make sure you got a lot of sleep, and that day was also the day to make sure you had your life more or less under control. Good nutrition is also not something that just happens the day of the game, or even the day before. Eat well, drink a lot of liquids, all that stuff that you hear over and over again — you may be really tired of hearing it, but it’s also really true.

Another aspect, aside from physical and mental preparation, is learning how to be aggressive on demand. Girls especially have a tough time turn-ing it out when the game starts. Sometimes they need someone to elbow them or push them a little to get fired up — and if no one does, they are too passive to play at their best.

When the game begins, you have to be ready to go, and successful athletes, like successful actors or successful musicians, develop a ritual that helps them play at 100% from the opening seconds. Some players listen to rap; others are quiet; others bounce around and pump themselves up with motion and noise. It doesn’t really matter what you do, but the first step is to find out what works for you, and then make sure you create space and time so that you can do it.

Again, though, that ritual won’t help you if you haven’t done all the other things that give you the best chance to play like hell. And if you don’t play like hell, the odds are someone will be doing the playing — and sooner rather than later. ✪

Clay Kallam is an assistant athletic director and girls varsity basketball coach at Bentley High in Lafayette. To submit a question for Behind the Clipboard, email Coach Kallam at [email protected].

Clay Kallam

Behind the Clipboard

Meeting expectations, Part III: Playing with maximum effortWhen the

game begins, you have to be

ready to go, and successful

athletes, like successful

actors or successful musicians, develop a ritual that

helps them play at 100%

from the opening seconds.

mailto:[email protected]


http://www.mountainmikes.com


countEM7

Most annoying things about LinsanityIt’s the story that’s taken the sports world by storm. It’s inescap-

able. It’s ubiquitous. It’s omnipresent. It’s forcing us to use Roget’s Thesaurus at an unprecedented rate. It is, obviously, the A’s signing of Cuban sensation Yoenis Cespedes. No. Of course it isn’t. It’s New York Knicks phenom guard Jeremy Lin. And it is, quite possibly, the most overblown sports sensation since Tom Brady’s hair. Say it with me now: Slow. News. Week. Here are the top 5 most irksome things about Lin-sanity.

1. D-League highlights. On television. Seriously. If it’s the D-League, isn’t it, by definition, NOT a highlight?

2. All these Knicks highlights are crowding out the NHL highlights. Oh wait.3. Plays on words. Lin-sanity. Super Lin-tendo. All we do is Lin Lin Lin. Right.

We get it. Hilarious. Enough already. The pun is the lowest form of humor.4. Tim Tebow. That’s right, we blame EVERYTHING on Tebow. But look.

The NFL season is looooong over. The Broncos got bounced in the second round. Why oh why are we talking about Tim Tebow again? And yet there he is, all over our LCD screens.

5. Honestly? We’re anti-anything-that-means-more-Stephen-A.-Smith on SportsCenter.

— Bill Kolb

YuP, hE’S EvErYwhErE

The number of soccer teams with double-digit seeds to earn upset wins in the first round of the North Coast Section soccer playoffs on Feb. 15. Pilar Souder and the 12th-seeded College Park-Pleasant Hill girls soccer team were the lowest-seeded girls team to win, defeating Berkeley 2-0. The biggest upset of them all was in the Division II boys bracket where No. 16 St. Mary’s-Berkeley shocked No. 1 Acalanes-Lafayette 1-0.

So IS hE. hI, TIM!

Lin: Zhang Jun/Xinhua/Zuma Press Tebow: Rupert George/MaxDenver.com


rapidFIRE

getREEL

M&M dancing

naked

Geico with Maxwell

the pig

Skechers with the

dog

michael barton, de la Salle, track

carrie Verdon, campolindo, track

mikey eggleton, college park bb

Favorite super bowl commercial

best advice from a coach

Directing

Acting

Acting

Chili cheese fries

My phoneLet your actions

speak for themselves

Kenneth Walker III, Kennedy-Richmond

hurdler

Always have fun

Don’t force things, let the game

come to you

Ice cream

Fried chicken

Cereal

My phone

Karlie Garcia, Oakmont-Rosemont distance runner

Northgate-Walnut Creek hoops team

oscars: What category

would you be nominated in

biggest personal

rivalWorst guilty

pleasure

amenity you couldn’t live

without

With the Oscars airing on Feb. 26, we at SSM are getting into the movie awards spirit and debuting Get Reel — an occasional Locker Room feature where we’ll provide our humble opinions on an offering from the film or TV realm. Last month, we were treated to a sneak peek of ‘Undefeated’, an Oscar nominee for Best Documentary this year. ‘Undefeated’ follows the rise of the Manassas Tigers football team of North Memphis, TN., where coach Bill Courtney leads his inner-city play-ers on a quest for the school’s first playoff victory in more than 100 years.

Once hired out as a practice team for more privileged and successful schools, the Tigers begin to turn the tables on the local high school foot-ball landscape. Full of heart and passion, ‘Undefeated’ will have you cheering on these underdogs to the last play. The film opened in theaters Feb. 17 and will have a wider release on Mar. 2.

rAtiNg (out of four stars):

Dan Lindsay/TJ Martin/Weinstein Company



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BRANDON WHITE

LIBERTY . BASKETBALL . JUNIOR

Taking down a league opponent is always a big deal but when your coach calls it the biggest win in school history since 1985, it’s a BIG deal. That’s how coach Jon Heinz described Liberty boys basketball’s win over Deer Valley on Feb. 10. Brandon White led all scorers with 27 points as they handed the Wolverines its only league loss of the season.

SportStars Magazine: You guys have come a long way since your freshman year. What’s been the cause for the turnaround?

Brandon White: I think this year we have players on the team who have more of an urgency to win. We also have some new guys who came in. Overall, we just have a mindset to win. Everyone on our team wants to go far and win games.

SSM: Was the win over Deer Valley your career highlight so far?

BW: It’s probably the biggest for my career. Just for how highly ranked they were. It was on the road and it was senior night for (Deer Valley). It was a big win and it’s always tough to win on the road.

SSM: You’re the No. 6 seed in your bracket. You could have a re-match with Freedom who beat you in two close games this season. What needs to be done differently to beat them?

BW: We just have to finish our baskets. Last time we played them we missed easy baskets. I think we have to run the ball more.

honorablemention

kiran shastri

The Miramonte junior racked up 34 points against Alhambra on

Feb. 3 and collected 31 points, seven boards and three steals in a crucial league win against Las Lomas on Feb. 10.

shannon hennessy

The senior midfielder scored two goals in San Ramon Valley’s

3-0 quarterfinal win over Freedom on Feb. 18. The Wolves advanced to the Div. I semis with the victory.

molly kommer

In the final league game of the season, the Clayton Valley

senior notched 27 points and 21 rebounds to hand Northgate its only DVAL loss in a 70-39 rout on Feb. 17.

BRAndOn’S quiCk hiTSFavorite athlete: LeBron JamesFavorite team: Miami HeatFavorite class: Algebra 2Favorite starbucks item: Carmel Macchiato


1. Campolindo

2. De La Salle

4. Alameda

5. Dougherty Valley

6. Mission San Jose

7. Amador Valley

8. Miramonte

9. Heritage

10. Northgate

3. San Ramon Valley

Section titles5 - Football, boys XC,

boys XC (Joyce), girls XC, girls XC (Verdon)

5 - Boys XC, boys XC (Deuel), girls XC, girls XC (Bayliss), girls

volleyball, girls water polo

1 - Girls golf (Childs)

1 - Boys water polo

2 - Girls XC (Pianin), girls golf

2 - Football, boys XC

League titles8 - Football, girls volleyball, girls tennis, girls tennis (Korich/Hill), boys XC, boys

XC (Joyce), girls XC, girls XC (Verdon)

4 - Girls volleyball (shared), boys water polo, boys XC, boys XC (Deuel)

8 - Girls tennis, girls tennis (Hamilton/Huie), girls golf, girls golf (Childs), boys XC,

boys SC (Tu), girls XC, boys water polo

4 - Girls tennis, girls tennis (Chan), girls golf, girls golf (medalist)

4 - Girls XC (Pianin), girls tennis (Irish), girls golf, girls golf (Bodnar)

6 - Girls volleyball, girls golf (Condor), boys water polo, boys XC, boys XC (Pena),

girls tennis (cleek/Anchettea)

6 - Girls volleyball, girls tennis, girls tennis (Welch, Smizo/Shi), girls water polo, boys

XC, boys XC (Stalters)

2 - Boys water polo, girls XC

1 - Football

SportStar of the

SeasonCarrie verdon

Michael Barton

All-State athletes

Carrie verdon

Michael Barton

Zach Kline

Points4,500

2,000

2,900

1,200

4,300

1,400

2,100

2,650

1,400

1,200


The brainchild of our editor, Chace Bryson, the SportStars Cup competition is one that runs the length

of the school year and will culminate in mid-June with the crowning of the East Bay’s most successful

high school athletic program.

Schools can accumulate points through a variety of ways. They are as follows:

100 — Have an athlete named SportStars of the Year (Fall, Winter or Spring)

200 — Win a league championship (team or individual)

250 — Have an athlete be named All-State (First-team overall only)

300 — Win a section championship (team or individual)

350 — Win a scholastic section championship for highest team GPA

400 — Win an individual NorCal title

500 — Win a team NorCal title

700 — Win an individual state championship

1,000 — Win a team state championship

We’ll show you the standings through all fall competition. As you can see, it’s quite a tight race with

plenty of points still in play. Keep an eye on sPOrtstArsONliNE.COm for updated standings as the

North Coast Section begins crowning new champions in the coming weeks.

whErE wE STAndrecapping SportStars Cup ’12 after opening stretch

nCS Scholastic Team Titles

1 - Boys XC (Div. 3)

1 - Football (Div. 1)

1 - Girls XC (Div. 2)

6 - Football (Div. 2), girls water polo (Deiv. 1), boys water polo (Div. 1), boys XC (Div. 2), girls volleyball (Div. 2), girls tennis (Div. 1)

2 - Girls XC (Div. 1), girls volleyball (Div. 1)

2 - Girls golf (Div. 1), girls volleyball (Div. 3)

norCal titles

Girls golf (Childs)

Girls golf

State titles

Girls XC (Verdon)

Football

11. Bishop O’Dowd .............................. 1,20012. Albany ........................................... 1,20013. Las Lomas ...................................... 1,15014. St. Joseph Notre Dame .................. 1,00015. Castro Valley .................................. 95016. James Logan ................................. 80017. Salesian ......................................... 75018. St. Mary’s-Berkeley ........................ 70019. Piedmont ...................................... 70020. Berkeley ........................................ 60021. Head-Royce ................................... 60022. Foothill .......................................... 60023. Freedom ........................................ 60024. College Park .................................. 60025. Pinole Valley .................................. 50026. College Prep .................................. 40027. Irvington ....................................... 40028. Deer Valley .................................... 40029. Clayton Valley ................................ 40030. Moreau Cathloic ............................ 40031. Granada......................................... 30032. Concord ......................................... 25033. Encinal .......................................... 20034. Pittsburg ....................................... 20035. Liberty ........................................... 20036. Monte Vista ................................... 20037. Washington ................................... 20038. Acalanes ........................................ 20039. Dougherty Valley ........................... 20040. American ....................................... 200

Knocking at the door

TOP ROW: Brett Stephens and the Campolindo football team delivered a section championship. SECOND ROW: The Campolindo girls cross

country team earned a section title and Carrie Verdon, third from left, won an individual state crown for the Cougars. THIRD ROW: Tiapepe Vitale, left, helped De La Salle football grab section and state crowns, and San

Ramon Valley’s, Zach Kline was a first team All-State selection. BOTTOM ROW: San Ramon Valley’s Megan Rodriguez, left, helped the Wolves to an NCS water polo crown, and Christine Bayliss won an NCS cross-

country title for SRV.Photos by Jonathan Hawthorne, Bob Larson and Butch Noble


With the rugby season already a month old, Michael dominguez likes what he sees.

The Diablo Rugby head coach, now in his third year at that position, looks to improve on last year’s fourth place finish at the Northern California Tournament.

“Honestly, we didn’t expect that (finish) last year,” Dominguez said. “We had quite a few new players, but they picked up the game pretty quick. So last year’s outcome was pretty unexpected.”

Despite losing top players, Jeffrey dominguez and david Walton, the coach is pleased with a roster led by his son, kelil dominguez (Clayton Valley), uai manoa (Concord), Saldy Santos (Clayton Valley), Luis Ostalaza (Olympic), lJ leapaga (Olympic) and Cesar luengas (Clayton Valley).

“Uai has the most experience, he’s been playing for about seven years,” Michael Dominguez said. “He’s got the most knowl-edge. Kelil is our speedster, probably one of the fastest wings in the area and a good tackler. LJ is a beast. Luis’ got a great motor. He always hustles around the ball; same with Saldy. This is (Cesar’s) fourth year. He is a little guy with a huge heart and he hits like a truck.”

Dominguez is also confident with his new guys. And what better players to recruit than some of the top football players in the East Bay?

“We picked up a lot of the best running backs from the area,” Dominguez said. “Olito thompson (Concord), his brother Willy,

mister Cotton (Pittsburg), Fe’ao Vunipola (Pittsburg) and Joe Protheroe (Clayton Valley).”

The draw for football players is simple: hitting people.

“The (football) guys like the contact but it’s also an opportunity to improve tackling,” Dominguez said. “A rugby tackle is a great football tackle.”

Dominguez added that the linemen in particular love rugby because they get a chance to run with the ball, which is what makes rugby an intriguing sport. Everybody has multiple roles on the field.

Dominguez explained how rugby clubs keep opening in the Bay Area with some to-taling more than 200 players. And with more football players joining, rugby may become the leading offseason program for them.

Diablo Rugby is off to a satisfactory start of 1-1. They lost their season opener on Feb. 4 to Danville Rugby, a team more seasoned than the raw talent on Dominguez’s roster. But they bounced back and knocked off San Francisco-Golden Gate on Feb. 11. The team won’t play again until March 3 against Lamorinda.

In the mean time, Dominguez will continue to teach the fundamentals and do’s and don’ts of rugby.

One thing he won’t have to teach is his players getting along with each other.

“Our team is based on camaraderie,” Dominguez said. “When I coach football, it’s the same as rugby: I want to teach these guys how to be men. I think winning will come as extra credit. If we do things that make us a better team, we’ll be better off.” ✪

returning experience and raw football talent has diablo rugby trendingBy eRik STORdAhL | SportStars

Mister Cotton, right, deliv-ers a firm tackle during a match in early February.

Cotton, a running back for the Pittsburg High football team, is one of five high school football standouts who are playing in their first year with Diablo.

Diablo Rugby Club

http://www.bayareagolfshow.com


Pull the clubs out of storage, clean off the spikes and iron those golf shorts — golf season is almost here!

How do we know? Because on March 2, the doors of the Santa Clara Convention Center will be thrown open to the 2012 Bay Area Golf Show — the largest annual consumer golf expo in Northern California and the golf sale of the year for golfers throughout the Bay Area. The three-day show runs Friday through Sunday, March 2-4.

The Bay Area Golf Show has become the annual kickoff event to the spring golf season for thousands of local golfers. It’s earned that status on the strength of unbeatable savings on name-brand clubs and merchan-dise, a free try-and-buy driving range featuring the hottest new clubs on the market, free lessons from top PGA pros, skills contests that allow golf-ers to compete for great golf prizes, and more.

In addition, every attendee at this year’s show receives a goody bag val-ued at up to $90, including greens fees at Spring Valley Golf Course and a subscription to Golf Digest. Early birds will pocket extra goodies in the form of golf balls from Bridgestone and 2-for-1 greens fees at the world-famous La Quinta Resort.

One of the show’s major appeals is the Golf Mart Testing and Fitting Zone, where representatives from up to a dozen manufacturers show off the latest clubs for free on a massive, indoor driving range. Bay Area golf-ers will be among the first in the country to get their hands on the Tay-lorMade RocketBallz, the Callaway RAZR Fit, the Cobra Amp, the PING i20 and the other new clubs that have been the talk of the golf industry since the PGA Merchandise Show in January. In addition, manufacturer’s reps will give golfers fitting tips to find the right clubs for you — for free!

The Golf Mart Superstore will offer up to 60-percent off on name-brand clubs, apparel and accessories from the biggest names in the industry — save on drivers, hybrids, irons, wedges, putters, shoes, apparel.

Last year’s show packed more than 5,000 attendees into the all-new Santa Clara Convention Center, popular for its free parking and central location for golfers from the Peninsula, East Bay and San Jose. As a thank you to those golfers and others who have made the show a success over the last seven years, show producers have brought in new exhibitors and features designed to give golfers even more value for their $10 ticket.

This year’s show will include:■ Up to $90 in front door giveaways — including a round of golf, golf

balls, a magazine subscription and more!■ The lowest prices of the year on name-brand merchandise in the Golf

Mart Superstore■ A free indoor driving range lined with manufacturer’s reps showcas-

ing the hottest new products■ Putting, long drive and short game contests for the chance to win

rounds of golf, stay-and-plays and more■ Free lessons from top PGA pros■ And much more! Complete show information, including hours, lists of exhibitors, daily

activities and more can be found at bayareagolfshow.com. We’ll see you there!

— Varsity Communications

■ A2Z Marketing■ Acupuncture & Chinese Herbs■ Adams Golf ■ Amazing Sheets■ American Golf■ Ameriprise Financial■ Best Western Plus Villa Del Lago Inn■ Biltmore Hotel and Suites■ Bobby Jones■ Bridgestone Golf■ Butler Golf■ Callaway■ Carson Valley Inn■ Central Chiropractic Center■ Central Oregon Golf Trail■ Cleveland Golf■ Cobra Golf■ Crossroads Health Center■ Divine Nine■ EWGA - San Francisco Chapter ■ Family Life Chiropractic■ Firestone Complete Auto Care■ Fisher Golf■ Fore2yourdoor.com■ Forever Putting Greens■ Global Travel■ Golf Balls Only■ Golf Mart■ Golf Today Magazine■ Golfing Nevada■ Golfing Oregon■ GolfNow.com■ Golfswitch, Inc■ Greenhorn Creek Golf Course ■ GroupGolfer■ Half Moon Bay Golf■ Hammerhead Golf■ IGOLPING■ Kerry A. Adamo Golf ■ La Quinta Resort and Club■ Laser Eye Center of Silicon Valley

■ Massaging Insoles by Soles for Comfort■ Mizuno■ Moffett Field Golf Club■ Morgan Stanley Smith Barney■ Nakoma Golf Resort■ New Mexico Golf Destinations ■ Nike Golf■ NK Products■ Northern California Golf Association■ Orange Whip Trainer■ Parfection Golf■ PING■ PSP Golf■ Puerto Rico Tourism ■ R-Mac Properties■ Rapid Fire Fitness■ Red Rock Golf Trail■ Renewal by Andersen ■ Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority■ Ridgemark Golf & Country Club ■ ShankMeister.com■ SKLZ■ SportStars Magazine■ Spring Valley Golf Course■ Stevens Creek Toyota ■ Stevinson Ranch Golf Club■ Stormy Point Village■ STX Golf ■ Sun Country Golf House■ Superbandz.net■ SWAG Bag by Molhimawk ■ TaylorMade■ The First Tee of San Jose■ The Golf Club at Genoa Lakes■ The Links at Bodega Harbour■ Titleist Golf■ Total Effects Technologies■ TPC Stonebrae ■ West Coast Golf■ Wintonbury Hills■ Zengryo

BAY ArEA GoLF Show Exhibitors A to Z

Here’s a list of all the vendors you can expect to see at the Bay Area Golf Show on March 2-4. This list was current as of Feb. 15.

TEE oFF on EvErYThInG GoLFGolf season officially returns with a new Bay Area Golf Show

http://www.stevenscreektoyota.com


■ tOP 2011 FiNisH: Won California State Junior Amateur Championship (14-under (69-66-67) at The Country Club at Soboba Springs, San Jacinto, CA)■ lOWEst 18-HOlE rOuNd OF 2011: 7-under 65, Del Paso Country Club (Sacramento)■ CArEEr bEst 18-HOlE rOuNd: 9-under 63 Del Paso Country Club (Sacramento), 2010■ tOugHEst COursE PlAyEd: Trump National Golf Course (Bedminster, New Jersey)■ bEst CElEbrity gOlF mOmENt: Competed in a pick-up putting contest with George Lopez, Fred Funk, and Greg

Norman at Del Monte Golf Course (Monterey). Smotherman and fellow local golfers had an impromptu putting contest after the group was practicing after a round at the 2011 event.■ bEst FEEliNg yOu CAN rEmEmbEr ON A gOlF COursE: Shooting the 63 at Del Paso. “I didn’t really feel anything. It was one of those rounds where it all feels right and you can’t miss.”■ Avg. driviNg distANCE: 300 yards■ Avg. Putts PEr rOuNd: 30-31■ drEAm FOursOmE: Payne Stewart, Ernie Els, Troy Smotherman (father)

2012 NorCal Boys Golfer to Watch

Austin smothermAn •senior • Del oro-loomisIt’s been more than nine months since Austin Smotherman fired a 1-under

par 71 at Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach to snag a Top 5 finish at the California Interscholastic Federation boys golf state championship tournament.

And if you think Smotherman spent much time away from the golf course in those nine months, think again.

An intense summer and fall schedule took him to premier tournaments from Washington to Mississippi. He will enter his senior season with the Golden Eagles as a definitive favorite to win the Sac Joaquin Section Masters Tournament and a serious threat at the CIF NorCal and State championships.

— Jim McCue

See more of NorCal’s top golfers to watch, including defending CIF/NCGA NorCal champion Jonathan Garrick, at SportStarsOnline.com.

Auburn Journal

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http://www.golfzing.com

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22 SportStars™ Upload photos and team stats! www.SportStarsOnline.comFebruary 23 , 2012

■ tOP FiNisH 2011: Won the NCS championship with an even 70 at Contra Costa CC; Won the AJGA Junior All-Star at River Ridge (72-73, 36 holes).■ lOWEst 18-HOlE rOuNd OF 2011: 6-under 65 at Rancho Cañada (Carmel)■ CArEEr bEst 18-HOlE rOuNd: The same round at Rancho Cañada■ tOugHEst COursE PlAyEd: Spyglass Hill (Pebble Beach) or Torrey Pines (La Jolla) ■ STROke PLAY/MATCh PLAY: Match Play■ bEst CElEbrity gOlF mOmENt: Played in a fundraiser over the summer that featured a number of PGA Champions Tour players, including Lee Trevino.

■ bEst FEEliNg yOu CAN rEmEmbEr ON A gOlF COursE: Playing in Pinehurst, N.C., as an 11-year old and making an up-and-down from a green-side bunker (including a 10-foot breaking putt) to save par, finish at 1-under for the round, and clinch a Top 5 finish to qualify for the following year’s tournament. ■ Avg. driviNg distANCE: 290 yards■ Avg. Putts PEr rOuNd: 27-28■ FAVORiTe On-COuRSe SnACk: Fruit snacks, hands down■ drEAm FOursOmE: Bubba Watson, Aaron Rodgers and Jack Nicklaus.

2012 NorCal Boys Golfer to Watch

Will Brueckner • sophomore • AcAlAnes-lAfAyetteMost high school golfers don’t enter their sophomore year with high expectations.Not the case with Will Brueckner. He set the bar pretty high for himself as a freshman in 2011, winning the North Coast

Section on a drizzly afternoon at Contra Costa Country Club in Pleasant Hill. He then cruised into a very successful summer and fall that included a Top 5 finish at the American Junior Golf Association’s Montverde Academy Junior All-Star Invitational in Montverde, Florida.

Brueckner has spent the last few weeks tuning up for the high school season with the occasional round at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, which will play host to the U.S. Open in June.

“They are definitely making it harder to play,” he said. “Too hard.” — Chace Bryson

Chris Scott/SportStars

http://www.thefirsttee.org


Anyone who plays the game of golf cherishes that one great shot they hit over the course of a round and only wishes they could replicate it. “If only…!”

There’s one great “shot” at The First Tee of Silicon Valley that I cherish, and that we are replicating because of the generosity of donors. That “shot” is the joyful look on a young person’s face when she or he receives their very own set of clubs. Then that joy is replicated every time that young person shows up at the course for a life skills class.

At least once a week, we receive donated clubs from folks who want to see them used to benefit kids. We resize and re-grip the clubs then put them in a new or lightly used bag for any young person in our program that needs a set.

We all know that the game of golf can be expensive, so we do this to make the game and our classes financially accessible to all youth re-gardless of background. Variations of this sort of policy are in place at The First Tee of Silicon Valley, Oakland, Tri-Valley and Contra Costa. All four of us will be together providing a club to the first 250 youth who visit our booth at the upcoming Bay Area Golf Show in Santa Clara from March 2-4.

Volunteer coaches at The First Tee walk alongside young people in their character develop-ment. They form safe, trusting relationships with the kids. Helping participants feel a sense of belonging in our programs and at the course is critical. Clubs for kids ensures that all the kids belong — nobody is excluded.

Each kid has an equal chance to learn about the game while learning important values and life lessons. I’m convinced that the care our young people feel when they receive their very own set of clubs — and not the clubs themselves — is the true source of their joy.

Attendees at the Golf Show will see it when the witness the faces of youth who stop by our booth. And new volunteers can share in it again and again as they mentor youth in classes at The First Tee. While I cherish my own (infrequent!) great shots, I cherish the joyful faces of kids much, much more. ✪

First Tee Files is a rotating column featuring administrators of four Bay Area chapters of The First Tee — Contra Costa, Oakland, Silicon Valley and Tri-Valley. George Maxe is the execu-tive director for the The First Tee of Silicon Valley. Check out your local chapter by visiting one of the following websites: www.TheFirstTeeContraCosta.org, www.TheFirstTeeOakland.org, www.TheFirstTeeSanJose.org and www.TheFirstTeeTriValley.org.

First Tee using Golf Show to put clubs in kids’ hands

George MaxeFirst Tee Files

First Tee Silicon Valley

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http://www.TheFirstTeeContraCosta.com

http://www.TheFirstTeeOakland.com

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Driveline lAser To be the best you need the right equipment, but racking up birdies and eagles requires something extra. No, not blind luck. Get the top-line products of DriveLine. Pick up the Drive-Line Laser Muscle Memory Training System to perfect muscle memory. You’ll get step-by-step instructions for positional, putter and fast-speed training. You can use it at home or in the office. Plus, the equipment looks like it came from a sci-fi movie so, regardless, you’ll be the talk of your foursome. Go to www.drivelinelaser.com for more.

Welcome to Impulse, your one-stop shop for gadgets, gizmos and gear. Compiled by staff writer Erik Stordahl, Impulse provides you with the latest and greatest of what’s hot. Since this issue is going to the Bay Area Golf Show in Santa Clara, we’re gonna give you a heads up on the products on which to keep an eye.

greenhorn CreekNow is the ideal time for a weekend getaway. The ideal spot is Greenhorn Creek. Enjoy a few days of peace and quiet in what is essentially God’s country in Angels Camp. Experience the new Caddyshack, a home away from home. The Caddyshack is complete with five bedrooms, living room, kitchen, 55” LCD TV and best of all, it sits right smack dab in the middle of the golf course. It’s ideal for the whole family or just you and up to 11 of your friends. Go online now to reserve your spot at www.greenhorncreek.com

fore 2 your DoorThe mobile golf service will be there again serving up a smorgasbord of golf goodies. New shafts, club re-gripping, balls, tees and other items will be at your purchasing disposal come early March.

niCk’s net WorksIt’s not like you’re gonna go to the driving range whenever you want to hit a bucket of balls. Pick up the Sports Practice Net, hook it up on your garage door and you’re good to go. It’s easy to install and it’s also good for other sports like soccer, tennis, baseball and hockey. Hit up www.nicksnetworks.com for more info.

shankMeisterGo to www.shankmeister.com and immerse yourself in what is the Craigslist for golfers. Buy and sell golf gear. They’ve got a library of products, whether you’re looking for the TaylorMade R11 or an affordable set of clubs. Maybe your wife is eager to get rid of your clubs which are collecting cobwebs in the attic? Sell ‘em on ShankMeister! It’s easy to sign up, just go to www.shankmeister.com to create a free account and you’re ready to buy or sell.

forever putting greensOne of the beauties of golf is that you can practice short game anywhere. Whether you have a rollout mat in your office or your backyard is actually Pebble Beach, there are plenty of options to perfect your game. For those wanting to liven up their backyards with a state of the art putting green, look no further than Forever Putting Greens. Give ‘em a call or reach ‘em at their website: www.foreverputtingreens.com to find out more info on special deals.

27SportStars™Support Your Local Business • Say You Found Them In SportStars™

heAvenly greens BirDie mAteSSM will be at the show, so come pay us a visit. If you do, we’ll make it worth your while. We’ll be giving away the Heavenly Greens Birdie Mate to a lucky winner. All you have to do is step up, sink your putt and you’re entered to win. Also, you’ll get a Sport-Stars goody bag with a $500 coupon from Heavenly Greens which you can put toward your own putting green for your backyard.

aMeriCan CustoM goLF CarsIf you’re gonna drive a golf cart, why not ride one with some style? Choose from a Hummer, Escalade, hot rod, you name it! At American Custom Golf Cars, just tell ‘em what car you want and they’ll make it. So even if your golf game is lacking, your presence on the course will be a force to be reckoned with. For more info go to www.californiaroadster.com.

ADiDAs golfIf you can’t play with the best, you might as well dress like the best. Adidas Golf has you covered. They’re rolling out the Jason Day collection. Pick up one of the outfits he wore at the Northern Trust Open or collect all four. Think of it like Cracker Jack prizes, only it might be a little more $$$.

Fisher goLFWith top flight technology, Fisher Golf continues to produce some of the best putters in the game. Known for being silky smooth, Fisher Touch putters will turn around your short game in a few rounds. If you don’t believe ’em, you can try out one of their putters. If you don’t like it, they have a 30-day money back guarantee. Boo yeah! Go to www.fishergolf.com for more info.

igolpingWho wants to play a FREE round at Pebble Beach? You heard us right. Stop by the iGolping booth and play their SwingTrack 320IG kiosk to win. Finish six holes as fast as you can and those with the lowest scores will advance to the playoff round. The winner gets to play 18 holes at Pebble Beach with a caddie and a one-night stay the historic Lodge at Pebble Beach. You’ll also get an awards dinner in your honor where you can pretend you’re Tiger or Phil, which is pretty cool. Your first crack at it is FREE then $5 after. You’ve really got nothing to lose. Well… other than a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play the greatest golf course ever. But no pressure. For more info, hit up www.igolping.com

February 23, 2012

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You may not be able to tell, buts it’s every-where.

At first it was only at high school or college football fields and the occasional shopping cen-ter — however, since these products look and feel so real now, it might even be installed in your neighbor’s front yard and you don’t even know it.

Yes, we’re talking about artificial turf. The latest generation of artificial turf prod-

ucts are nothing like your father’s AstroTurf. The combination of new product developments and lower-than-expected water levels (a real prob-lem facing Northern California residents) are only part of what is driving the adoption of these products. In fact, some towns like Foster City are offering artificial turf rebates (some of the high-est in the state) as an alternative to real grass. The real driver for people who are installing these products is simply – how good they look.

Who wouldn’t want green grass year-round? These incredible products have been custom-

ized to have the look and feel of real grass, and the durability to withstand even the harshest ele-ments. Thus, it makes them ideal candidates to replace the real thing. Many of these new prod-ucts are even pet proof. Imagine no more muddy paws, yellowed patches, or holes that cause un-sightly turf issues. In fact, these products have become so popular that many kennels, SPCA’s and Humane Societies have installed all types of this kind of wonder grass.

Heavenly Greens, the leader in Bay Area ar-tificial turf, has been installing these products

for well over a decade. The company’s focus is offering products that are “Best of Class” from the world’s top turf manufacturers, including FieldTurf.

With a variety of different products to choose from, Heavenly Greens can bring the showroom to you.

Since he started the business in 2001, owner Dan Theis says rapid changes in the artificial turf market have led to the proliferation of exceeding lower-quality products. And even worse is the emergence of other companies using shortcuts on proper installation methods in the name of profit.

“Our products, some of which are 100 percent recyclable, are used to address specific drainage requirements and help homeowners enhance their properties,” Theis said.

All Heavenly Greens’ turf systems are installed with proper drainage systems and backed with 8-to 15-year warranties.

“We’ve performed more than 7,500 installa-tions at homes, businesses, golf courses, dog fa-cilities, child day care centers and more,” Theis added. “So we know how to do the job right the first time.”

Customers can visit Heavenly Greens’ San Jose showroom, www.heavenlygreens.com located at 370 Umbarger Rd. in San Jose. Choose from a variety of artificial turf products on display. Or, call 866-724-8873 for a free site survey and allow us to bring the showroom to you.

— Heavenly Greens

Artificial turf has changed

so much, you may not know you’re

standing on it

BEFORE

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BEFORE AFtER

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It’s halftime inside the team room of the Miramonte High girls basketball team.

The Feb. 17 game — a regular season finale against Diablo Foothill Athletic League arch rival Campolindo — is not going as anticipated.

On the line this evening is a perfect 26-0 regular season, a feat which hadn’t been accomplished by an East Bay basketball team, boys or girls, since 2006.

Campolindo, the same team which Miramonte beat 82-39 a mere three weeks prior, is hanging around, trailing by just 12 points after the first 16 minutes of play. Though they’d held the Cougars to just 13 points, not much had gone right for Miramon-te. The Matadors just could not buy a basket. Not only were their 3-point shots not falling, but neither were the fast break layups, the offensive put-backs or free throws.

As the Matadors trudged into their team room, there was a quiet undercurrent of emotion.

It wasn’t panic. There may have been some frustration seeping out, but the pri-

mary feeling in the room seemed to be a quiet confidence — an eagerness to get back on the floor and prove to a near-full gym that the perfect record wasn’t in any sort of jeopardy.

Nobody said a word until coach Kelly Sopak asked, “What’d you guys think?”

Junior point guard Carly Gill quickly responded.“We’re playing hard. The shots just aren’t falling.”The 11 other players, consciously or subconsciously, all seemed

to nod their heads in agreement. Sopak agreed, too.“In terms of effort, you guys are fine,” the third-year coach of

the Matadors said. “Everything is fine. Hard work pays off. It’s going to pay off ... Shots will fall.”

In that 30-second exchange is the blueprint for Miramonte’s overwhelming dominance this season.

The team came out and promptly put the game out of reach with a 19-4 run over the first 3:44 of the third quarter. The first five baskets were all layups, and then the 3-pointers started fall-ing. Gill sank the first, and when Megan Reid hit hers with 4:16 to go in the quarter, Campolindo finally called timeout. The 25-13 halftime score was now 44-17.

Approximately a half hour later, with the final minutes of the game ticking off the clock, the Miramonte student section confi-dently broke into a chant.

“Un-de-feat-ed! Un-de-feat-ed.”■ ■ ■

A little more than 24 hours earlier, Sopak is watching his team run through shooting drills during a Wednesday practice.

It’s the day before the regular season finale and it’s impossible to tell if the team is feeling any jitters over its chances at closing out the regular season without a loss. The mood is loose and playful.

HiGHiNtENSity

Full-court pressure

basketball at top speed could make Miramonte

the first undefeated

girls NCS champs in

12 years

tOP: Miramonte meets for a huddle near midcourt

prior to the tipoff of their season finale against Campolindo

on Feb. 16. bOttOm rigHt: Head coach

Kelly Sopak, right, goes over pregame strategy with the

Matadors before the contest with Campolindo.

bOttOm lEFt: Megan Reid, Miramonte’s super-sub, rises up over the Campolindo de-

fense on a 10-foot jumper.

Butch Noble photos

By CHACE brysON | Editor



“I’ve never had a team like this,” he said. “I’ve had good teams, but none that have meshed and got along so well together.”

Certainly the absence of any losing doesn’t hurt, but Sopak maintains the cohesion on this team on and off the floor has been pres-ent from as far back as summer 2011.

“We had lost our two best players, on pa-per (to graduation), and there probably were more questions surrounding this year’s team than any before it,” Sopak said. “But in our few summer workouts and tournaments, we felt like they were already buying into the team. Nobody was looking around saying we were missing anybody. It was like, ‘This is our team, and we’re pretty good.’ I think it just snowballed from there.”

Sopak arrived at Miramonte prior to the 2009-10 season, the second stop of his high school head coaching career. He came in on the heels of a wildly successful four-year stint at Northgate where he was 94-20 with two North Coast Section Division II finals appearances.

The Matadors program had a history of success, but had fallen into a state of flux just two years after reaching the California In-terscholastic Federation Northern Regional championship in 2008. Sopak was going to be the third coach in as many years.

Darrell Hirashima Sr., who chalked up 238 wins in building the program into its powerhouse status, was essentially fired fol-lowing the 2007-08 season in a controversial decision that brought upheaval to the pro-gram, school and entire Orinda community. James Kizziee replaced the beloved coach and steered his way through a strong season, despite a difficult circumstance made worse when Hirashima tragically died of a heart at-tack in December 2008.

After Kizziee stepped aside, Sopak came into the picture battling the emotions of leav-ing his first program and wondering if he’d made the right move.

“It was an emotional time,” said the coach, who went 19-9 in his first season with the Matadors. “And I was the third coach in as many years, so that was obviously a fear going into it. But I couldn’t have asked for stronger support from the school’s administration and community.”

■ ■ ■As the only high school in town, there’s

never been a shortage of community support for Miramonte basketball. Even non-rivalry games can fill the gym to two-thirds capacity.

Community members carry in their por-table chair-back seats and watch the game referring to the players by their first name. It’s the place to be on Friday nights.

While the boys stamped a ticket to the NCS Division III playoffs for a fourth time in five seasons, it’s the girls who currently get the “showtime” tag behind their perfect record.

It helps that watching the current Matadors is about the farthest thing from boring.

Miramonte knows only one speed, and it’s not for the light of heart. They apply constant full-court pressure defense, constantly look to break on offense, and unabashedly fire away from behind the 3-point line.

“I would like to say that we work harder than any team out there,” said starting wing Devon McDonald, one of just three seniors on the team. “We just come out with so much intensity and make it impossible for teams to match that.”

McDonald, who Sopak described as the embodiment of what he’d wish every Mira-monte player to be like, stands 5-foot-11 and seemingly can be everywhere on the floor at once. She’s the lighting rod for the team’s pressure defense. Her steal and ensuing layup at the buzzer won the team’s closest game of the season to date, a 64-62 triumph at Dough-erty Valley on Feb. 7.

“She just goes out and plays,” Sopak said. “You can’t put a price tag on a player who goes out there for 20-25 minutes a night and risks injury to make that one play that can swing a game.”

McDonald might be the prototype for that type of effort, but it’s present throughout a deep roster that features a little bit of everything.

Fellow seniors Taylor Kizziee (the daughter of Sopak’s one-year predecessor) and Janine Loutzenhiser are both key weapons. Kizziee can score inside and outside, while Sopak la-beled Loutzenhiser as potentially the best pure shooter he’s coached. There are seven sopho-mores, including starting center Breanna Al-ford and the team’s best overall athlete in Reid.

“I’ve never had a team like this. I’ve had good teams, but

none that have meshed and got along so well together.”

Head coach Kelly Sopak


Reid, who also starts for the school’s soc-cer team during the same winter months as the basketball season, is Sopak’s first player off the bench. In the season-finale win over Cam-polindo she totaled 11 points, seven assists, five rebounds, three steals and a blocked shot.

“She’s our x-factor,” Sopak said. “She’s the one player that no one else has. ... At least coming off the bench, they don’t.”

She might be the ultimate x-factor if the No. 2-seed Matadors reach the NCS Div. III final for an anticipated showdown with top seed Bishop O’Dowd. Despite their perfect record, the Mata-dors would be unquestioned underdogs in a championship bout against the Dragons — the No. 6-ranked team in the state as of Feb. 14. There hasn’t been an unbeaten section champion since the Newark Memorial boys went 29-0 in the 1999-2000 season.

Sopak said Bishop O’Dowd has been the “el-ephant in the room” for some time now, and while acknowledging the overwhelming talent of the Dragons, he’ll put his team’s effort up against anyone at this point.

So will Loutzenhiser. “We all have the mentality that as long as we

go in there and play intense and know that no other team can match our intensity,” she said. “We’ll do that and then we’ll see how it goes.” ✪

AbOvE: Senior wing Taylor Kizziee, right, drew praise from coach Kelly Sopak as a player who has really raised her game this season. rigHt: Sopak

calls Janine Loutzenhiser the “best pure shooter” he’s coached in his eight seasons.

36 SportStars™ Upload photos and team stats! www.SportStarsOnline.com

tiM

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February 23, 2012

Norcal Top 5Here’s who we see as the Top 5 boys and girls teams in Northern Cali-fornia heading into the postseason. Records are through the end of the regular season.

boys1. Salesian-Richmond (26-2)2. De La Salle-Concord (24-2)3. Archbishop Mitty-San Jose (24-3)4. Newark Memorial-Newark (22-4)5. Sheldon-Sacramento (16-4)

girLs1. St. Mary’s-Stockton (23-3)2. Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland (23-3)3. Carondelet-Concord (22-3)4. Berkeley (20-2)5. Sacramento (21-6)

For our full NorCal Top 20s, visit SportStarsOnline.com.

we dig into the nCS and oAL basketball playoffsTo quote a popular ad slogan, “Here we go.”The road to the California Interscholastic Federation state basketball championships at Sacramento’s Power Balance Pavilion began on Feb. 21.

More than 150 teams will lace up their sneaks and put it all on the line. In the North Coast Section boys tournaments, especially Division I-IV, the top seeds appear to the strongest across the board in some time.

Three of those top seeds played for in the state final a year ago, and at least two of them are unquestionably stronger this season. Upsets this year may be at a premium, but if they happen, you’ll want to be in the building.

As for the Oakland Athletic League playoffs, they might be as wide as open as ever.Let’s dive in.

— Chace Bryson

Division i Boys NOrtH COAst sECtiON

■ tHE FAvOritE: De La Salle. The Spartans reached the Division I state final a year ago, nearly knocking off heavy favorite Mater Dei-Santa Ana. This year’s team is better, and deeper than its predecessor. ■ The BRACkeTBuSTeR: Any Bay Valley Athletic League team. There are four in the field, three of which have 19 wins or more. League champ Deer Valley has the No. 2 seed, but Freedom or Liberty (which beat DV on Feb. 10) are equally dangerous. ■ ONE PlAyEr tO WAtCH: Marcus Lee. The 6-foot-8 junior center nearly averages of a triple double (13 points, 14 rebounds, 9 blocks) and has a chance to dominate the tournament.■ FiNAls PrEdiCtiON: De La Salle 48, Freedom 39

OAkLAnd SeCTiOn■ tHE FAvOritE: McClymonds. The Warriors have been the favorites to win the Oakland Athletic League since things got underway in November. They should be peaking at the right time, too.■ The BRACkeTBuSTeR: Skyline. Even though Castlemont picked up a 50-47 win over Mack on Feb. 10, it’s the Titans that have played the Warriors the toughest this year (a 61-58 win on Jan. 11 and 57-51 loss on Feb. 8). ■ ONE PlAyEr tO WAtCH: Paris Davis. The 6-foot-3 Skyline forward can be electric at times. He averages 21.9 points/game and 8.4 rebounds. He closed the year scoring 29, 30 and 24 against Oakland Tech, Castlemont and Fremont, respectively.■ FiNAls PrEdiCtiON: McClymonds 65, Skyline 57

Division ii Boys■ tHE FAvOritE: Newark Memorial. The Cougars drop from Div. I, where they likely would’ve been the No. 2 seed to De La Salle, makes them nearly a hands-down favorite in this bracket. ■ The BRACkeTBuSTeR: Maria Carrillo-Santa Rosa. The No. 7-seed Pumas probably don’t have the firepower to go toe-to-toe with Newark Memorial, but they are certainly capable of an upset or two in the early rounds. They have a 51-48 win over No. 2 Windsor from late December.■ ONE PlAyEr tO WAtCH: While Casey Norris will draw most of the attention for top-seeded Newark Memorial, we say keep an eye on Joey Frenchwood. His on-ball defense is superb.■ FiNAls PrEdiCtiON: Newark Memorial 61, College Park 47

BO

yS

Remington White. Photo by Bob Larson

Joey Frenchwood, left. Photo by Bob Larson

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Division i girls NOrtH COAst sECtiON

■ tHE FAvOritE: If Berkeley doesn’t win the NCS title, it will be one of the biggest California postseason upsets this century. The Yellowjackets are deep, battle-tested and have the best player in the bracket in Elisha Davis.■ The BRACkeTBuSTeR: Deer Valley’s lack of size has contributed to the Wolverines’ inconsistency, but on any given night …■ ONE PlAyEr tO WAtCH: Elisha Davis will play for Arizona State next year, and if she keeps her emotions under control, will lead a deep Berkeley postseason run.■ FiNAls PrEdiCtiON: Berkeley 65, Deer Valley 50

OAkLAnd SeCTiOn■ tHE FAvOritE: The six-team Oakland section features a three-way tie for first at press time, and barring an upset, that’s how the regular season will end. Skyline has been the most consistent, but since McClymonds has played the toughest schedule – and gone through a heart attack for coach Dennis Flannery and battled through injuries – we’ll go with the War-riors.■ The BRACkeTBuSTeR: Castlemont has ten losses to Skyline’s five, but the Knights challenged themselves much more in preseason — and that could pay off during playoff pressure.■ ONE PlAyEr tO WAtCH: Skyline’s Tiffany Rivers is an outstanding point guard with a strong ability to score the basketball. For the Titans to move on to NorCals, she’ll have to play well.■ FiNAls PrEdiCtiON: McClymonds 57, Skyline 56

February 23, 2012

Division iv Boys■ tHE FAvOritE: Salesian. The Pride is easily the strongest No. 1 seed of any of the NCS boys brackets. The No. 3 team in the state should find little resistance in claiming its Div. IV title in four years. ■ The BRACkeTBuSTeR: Cardinal Newman. The No. 3 seed chalked up 24 wins, the most in the bracket other than Salesian’s 26. Despite a young roster, the Cardinals are perennial visitors to the postseason and typically show the disci-pline/fortitude to win tight games. ■ ONE PlAyEr tO WAtCH: Salesian has a slew of guys to watch, but the big ticket player is Jabari Bird (which is why he’s on the cover of this issue.) One of the the top recruits in the country for the 2013 class, he creates all sorts of matchup problems.■ FiNAls PrEdiCtiON: Salesian 74, Cardinal Newman 59

GiRLSThis is not a year for parity, at least in the North

Coast Section. In fact, all five of the top teams – Berkeley, Carondelet, Bishop O’Dowd, St. Mary’s and St. Joseph Notre Dame – could easily be placed in the “prohibitive favorite” category, and most likely only their division rivals would object.

The two that will probably have to work the hard-est are Carondelet in Division II (but only because Dougherty Valley is experienced) and St. Joseph Notre Dame in Division V (but only because of some potential NCS road games).

Oakland, at least, should deliver plenty of suspense. It’s a three-way tie for first in the OAL, and there’s no obvious favorite, so those looking for Section-final thrills will most likely find them in Oakland.

Then again, the chalk almost never holds in postseason, so it’s also likely one of the heavy NCS favorites will get knocked off – but which one?

— Clay Kallam

Division iii Boys■ tHE FAvOritE: Bishop O’Dowd. There is no reason to think the Dragons aren’t poised for another deep postseason run. All five of their regular season losses are to Div. I op-ponents, and none of them were NCS teams. ■ The BRACkeTBuSTeR: El Cerrito. The Gauchos might be the best No. 4 seed in any of the boys tournaments. Senior swingman Justin Johnson leads a very balanced roster that is underrated defensively. Unfortunately, they’ll need to upset O’Dowd to reach the final. ■ ONE PlAyEr tO WAtCH: Kiran Shastri, Miramonte’s 6-foot-5 junior, can fill it up. He averaged 22 points/game and added 7.5 rebounds. If he’s on, the Matadors are the favorite in the bottom half of the bracket.■ FiNAls PrEdiCtiON: Bishop O’Dowd 58, Miramonte 50

Division v Boys■ tHE FAvOritE: St. Joseph Notre Dame. The top-seeded Pilots haven’t lost to a Div. V team all year. The defending NorCal champions aren’t bulletproof, but it’ll take a very strong effort to knock them off. ■ The BRACkeTBuSTeR: Hoopa Valley. The No. 6-seed Warriors are always a tough matchup come playoff time, especially at home a mere six hours north of the Bay Area. And their league champion status means the only team they’d have to travel to is No. 2 Branson-Ross, which wouldn’t be until the semis. ■ ONE PlAyEr tO WAtCH: When you think of game-changing players you don’t think of Marin Academy. Think again. 6-foot-4 swingman Luke Winfield averages 23 points and seven rebounds for the No. 10 seed.■ FiNAls PrEdiCtiON: Branson 54, St. Joseph 52

Justin Johnson. Photo by Phillip Walton

Salesian’s Markel Leonard, right. Photo by Bob Larson


Division ii girls■ tHE FAvOritE: Carondelet’s one-two backcourt punch of senior Hannah Huff-man (Notre Dame) and sophomore Natalie Romeo is backed up by a bevy of solid roleplayers. It’s hard to see the Cougars losing.■ The BRACkeTBuSTeR: Dougherty Valley is a senior-dominated team that has played a brutal schedule, so the Wildcats aren’t going to be intimidated by Carondelet. But they’re going to have to play their best game of the year to get by the Cougars.■ ONE PlAyEr tO WAtCH: Hannah Huffman is strong, fast, skilled and indomi-table. As long as she stays out of foul trouble, she’ll control every game.■ FiNAls PrEdiCtiON: Carondelet 73, Dougherty Valley 60

Division v girls■ tHE FAvOritE: Don’t be fooled by the 10 losses — St. Joseph Notre Dame is the heavy favorite here. The Pilots have feasted on Division V opponents, and most of their losses have come to much bigger schools.■ The BRACkeTBuSTeR: Sonoma Academy has only lost to St. Vincent de Paul (which they beat in the last meeting), and has beaten up on the other Division V contenders.■ ONE PlAyEr tO WAtCH: Kate Bayes might just be good enough to carry Sonoma past St. Joseph Notre Dame — though Pilot stars Jessica De Mesa and Desiree Harris are awfully talented as well.■ FiNAls PrEdiCtiON: St. Joseph Notre Dame 46, Sonoma Academy 35

Divison iv girls■ tHE FAvOritE: St. Mary’s played in the state championship game last year, and with Gabby Green finally back from an ankle injury, there’s no reason to expect much dropoff.■ The BRACkeTBuSTeR: Mariya Moore is another sophomore standout, and if she goes off, Salesian might have enough to pull off the upset.■ ONE PlAyEr tO WAtCH: All the talk is about Green, and for good reason, but senior Shannon Mauldin must rebound for St. Mary’s to reach its goals.■ FiNAls PrEdiCtiON: St. Mary’s 45, Salesian 38

Division iii girls■ tHE FAvOritE: Bishop O’Dowd has four players, at least, at the Pac-12 level, and in big games, girls with Division-I scholarships might not even play. The Dragons are flat loaded, and their goal isn’t the sec-tion title, but the state championship.■ The BRACkeTBuSTeR: Miramonte is unbeaten, and the Matadors have a bunch of three-point shooters who conceivably could get hot enough to get them past O’Dowd.■ ONE PlAyEr tO WAtCH: Ariell Bostick runs the show for O’Dowd, and as long as the junior point guard makes good decisions, the Dragons aren’t going to lose.■ FiNAls PrEdiCtiON: Bishop O’Dowd 72, Miramonte 55

Hannah Huffman. Photo by Bob Larson

Ariell Bostick. Photo by Phillip Walton


Low back pain (LBP) is a frequent complaint among young athletes. Spinal structural differences, muscular imbalances, decreased flexibility and poor body mechanics may predispose

an adolescent to LBP. Repetitive motion and loading of the spine in sports can put the back at risk for overuse. Common injuries range from a simple muscle strain to a fracture in the bones and compres-sion of the discs.

Non-specific LBP affects 60-75 percent of children. Maintain-ing the natural curves of the spine during activities is imperative. If the natural curves are compromised, the core muscles have to work harder to support the spine, resulting in muscle strains.

Spondylolysis is another common back injury among young athletes. It is a fracture in the spinal bone due to repetitive twisting and over-arching. Sports at risk for this injury include gymnastics, volleyball, football and cheerleading. Symptoms include low back or buttock pain that increases with backward bending.

It is critical to seek treatment before the fracture gets too severe, causing the vertebra to break off and slip forward, resulting in a spondylolisthesis. Slippage usually occurs during a growth spurt, and is rarely due to trauma. Rest is recommended until the athlete is able to move the spine in all directions without pain. An exercise program focusing on flexibility, proper body mechanics and core strength should be implemented. Surgical treatment may be required if persistent pain or nerve involvement occurs.

Here are some areas to focus on to help avoid these back injuries.

FLexibiLityDuring a growth spurt, bones may grow faster than the muscles

and ligaments, causing muscle imbalances and pathologic tightness. Stretching the muscles in the back, hips and hamstrings may help reduce the risk of a low back injury.

proper BoDy mechAnicsModification of activity, correct posture and body mechanics with

movement is necessary to reduce overall stress on the back. Each movement of the lumbar spine should be accompanied by core acti-vation to help support the back.

Core strengtheningThe core muscles, which include the abdominals, back and hip

muscles, need to be strengthened to maintain postural control, provide a base of stability, reduce loads on the spine and to facilitate movement in the arms and legs.

Begin core exercises in a controlled, gradual and progressive man-ner. Common core strengthening exercises include bridges, planks, clamshells and mini-squats. Each exercise may be progressed by changing the plane of movement, the firmness of the surface, the amount of time, resistance and/or speed.

Core stabilization will not only help prevent LBP, but it will also improve athletic performance. Several studies have shown improved vertical jumping and sprinting after a core stabilization program. A regular routine of low back exercises with an emphasis on flexibility and core strengthening will help athletes avoid stiffness and core weakness, aiding in the prevention of LBP and enhancing athletic performance. ✪

Judy Pang is a physical therapist intern for the staff of Sports Medi-cine For Young Athletes, a division of Children’s Hospital Oakland with a facility also in Walnut Creek. If you have questions or comments regarding the “Health Watch” column, write the Sports Medicine For Young Athletes staff at [email protected].

If you watch any field or court game you will notice that you see frequent accelerations. Therefore it should come, as no surprise that sport is about acceleration — not top-end speed.

Coaches, trainers and even parents often focus on the wrong strategies or use the wrong term when talking about speed, one of the most important qualities an athlete can possess.

The reality is that you should be more interested in your athlete’s acceleration: how fast they can get from zero to sixty, metaphorically speaking.

Most people see 40-yard dash tests as an indicator of speed, when actually it’s an indicator of how fast an athlete can accelerate. How fast an athlete accelerates in the first ten yards determines how fast they will run the 40.

This brings me back to a point I always come back to when dis-cussing speed development — your athletes must get stronger and more powerful to increase their ability to accelerate rapidly.

It takes years to make an athlete fast. I’m not saying your athletes won’t get faster in the short term (they will), but how much faster will be a factor of strength and power development — which can only be optimally developed over the long term.

Most people think a great first step is required to accelerate quick-ly, when in reality it’s a great first push. Athletes who can produce the greatest force into the ground (action) will yield the greatest benefit from the ground (reaction).

Coaches need to stress the importance of the push-off when your athletes are accelerating. When I get new athletes, the three biggest issues I see are a weak or incomplete push-off, a step instead of a push, and a weak arm drive. Arm action plays a big role in the push-off, so it’s not practical to discuss acceleration without mentioning the importance of the arm drive.

I try to get my athletes to master three steps for five yards and five steps for ten yards, and do so without a reaching (over-striding) ac-tion. I continue to emphasize stride length from back-side action-re-action (push), not front side reach. Stride length is increased by great forces applied into the ground, not by coaching high knee-lift.

Here are a couple keys for evaluating your young athletes accelera-tion. Look at them in a 10-yard sprint. Are they moving quickly? Or do they just look like they’re moving quickly?

Many athletes come out of the start with fast feet and go nowhere; they look fast and run slow. Great accelerators often look slow com-ing out because they are producing great force and minimizing how many steps they are taking.

Running is all about action and reaction. Force placed into the ground produces forward motion. The start is not about how fast your young athletes feet are moving, but how much force they can push into the ground. ✪

Tim Rudd is an International Youth Conditioning Association specialist in youth conditioning (level 3), speed and agility (level 2), and nutrition specialist (level 1). For more information on anything you read in Training Time, email him at [email protected].

Attention to core stabilization, flexibility will protect against back injuries

Judy Panghealth watch

Tim Rudd for IYCA Training Time

Top-end speed shouldn’t be the goal; good acceleration is what to aim for

Most people think a great first step is required to accelerate quickly, when in reality it’s a great first push.




When the North Bay League boys and Marin County Athletic League girls basketball playoffs came to their con-

clusions on Feb. 18, there was little surprise as to which teams were victorious.

Because when it comes to Redwood Empire re-gion basketball, the more things change the more they stay the same.

The more they stay the same, the boys program of Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa and the girls pro-gram of Marin Catholic-Kentfield will continue to reap the benefits.

With 1,065 wins between them heading into the NCS playoffs on Feb. 21, it’s hard to ignore the continued success of the Cardinals’ Tom Bonfigli and Wildcats’ Rick DeMartini. With their 2011-12 teams boasting a combined mark of 44-10, that success doesn’t appear to be ending anytime soon.

“Last year’s team was 24-6 and we lost nine guys,” Bonfigli said after his team captured the 30-year veteran coach’s 11th North Bay League title in 18 years on his alma mater’s bench. The 58-46 defeat of Rancho Cotate-Rohnert Park in the NBL Tournament final was his 621st all-time. “This group has grown up a lot. I thought we’d be com-petitive, but I didn’t think we’d be 24-3 right now.”

Even if Bonfigli claims it was unexpected, it probably didn’t surprise many. Neither did the MCAL girls championship result — a 41-34 Marin Catholic win over San Marin-Novato, victory No. 444 in DeMartini’s career. The win also gave his team its fifth undefeated league season. The Wild-cats began play in the NCS Division IV tourna-ment on Feb. 22.

Clearly, the beat goes on.

in the beginningBonfigli very nearly chose a career spent in

court, as opposed to on one. Upon returning home after graduating pre-law

from Santa Clara University in early 1975, Bonfigli — a 1971 Cardinal Newman graduate and star for the Cardinals’ basketball program — was offered a teaching and coaching position at the school.

“My old coaches, John Fitzgerald (who the Car-dinal Newman gym is named after) and Ed Lloyd (217 wins from 1966-1995 as a football coach at Newman, Piner-Santa Rosa and Analy-Sebasto-pol) wanted me to come back to coach and teach,” Bonfigli said.

He couldn’t resist. In 1976 Bonfigli accepted the position and by

the 1980-1981 season he had replaced his mentor

LEGENDSHardcourt

A former pre-law student and

a plumber make for unlikely

coaching iconsBy HArOld AbENd | Contributor


Fitzgerald as the varsity head coach. Along the way Bonfigli has taught everything except foreign language. He currently teaches five periods of World History.

“In 35-years of teaching, I’ve taught PE, English, religion, theology, anthropology, math, biology, all the social sciences, AP World History and American History, economics and American Government.”

In 1979, DeMartini began a career as a plumber while he and wife Elaine prepared to raise a family in Marin. In the early 80’s, he began coaching freshman football at Marin Catholic as well as CYO boys basketball.

“My mother in law, Joanne Greco, and her friend, Barbara Figone, would come to basket-ball games and tell me I couldn’t coach,” DeMartini mused. “I told them ‘OK, you guys coach.’ So they did and took on a fourth-grade girls team. After three weeks, I got a call from them asking to come help them. I ended up taking over.”

The DeMartini household quickly had the first two of its three kids — Craig, currently 28-years old, and Sabrina, now 25 — so besides earning a living working for a plumbing contractor, he was needed at home.

“My wife told me to make a choice between football and basketball.” The rest is history.

tWists AnD turnsMost 30-year coaching careers don’t unfold without a few detours along the way. Bonfigli

had his share. After several successful seasons including the 1989 state finals, Bonfigli left Newman in

1994 for personal reasons. He moved over to Justin-Siena-Napa where he taught and won 225 games in 12-years

coaching the Braves.Bonfigli came back to Newman in 2007, but just prior to returning home, his wife Norma

Jean passed away suddenly from an aneurysm. She leaves behind Jeffrey Ferguson, a 1996 Cardinal Newman graduate and Bonfigli’s stepson.

Despite it all, with 396 wins at Newman, Bonfigli is the winningest coach in both schools’

FAr lEFt: Rick DeMartini has won three North Coast Section titles

and a CIF Divi-sion IV state

championship in his long

tenured career as the Marin Catholic girls coach. (Bill Schneider/Varsitypix.

com) lEFt: Tom Bonfigli is in his 35th

season as the head coach of the Cardinal

Newman boys basketball team, and

has no plans to step down soon. (Mary

Cooper/Cardi-nal Newman

HS).


histories. His 621 combined win total makes him second ac-tive winningest coach in Northern California history behind Don Lippi of St. Joseph Notre Dame-Alameda. Lippi entered the NCS playoffs with 695 victories.

“He built character within the team concept,” said Sheridan Silver, a member of Bonfigli’s 1989 state runner-up team that went on to play at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. “Part of that is individual performance and striving to get better, but never forgetting it’s about the team.”

There have been less twists to DeMartini’s career. Once he finally was named the girls varsity coach at Marin Catholic in 1992 — one year after being passed over for the same position — he went to work building the foundation for his program. In just six years, the Wildcats won their first of three NCS Di-vision IV championships.

And he continues to work by day as a plumber, acting as the Building Operations Plumber at City Hall in San Fran-cisco. His day begins at 5 a.m. so that he can be back across the Golden Gate Bridge in time to run a practice 12 hours later.

lAsting impressionsGetting former players to speak highly of the two coaches

isn’t difficult. It’s second nature for most. “In four years of playing for Coach Bonfigli I went through a

lot of ups and downs but he was always there for me as a coach, friend and mentor,” said 2011 NBL Player of the Year, Bobby Sharp, who is currently starring for the Santa Rosa Junior Col-lege men’s team. “He’s the best coach I ever played for.”

Bonfigli cherishes every relationship he’s made with play-ers.

“My legacy is making a difference in kids lives,” Bonfigli re-marked. “My fondest memories are when my kids come back

to games. They’re like extended family.” Meanwhile, DeMartini is building relationships with play-

ers he hasn’t even coached yet.“I know a lot of young girls that come up to him and tell

him they want to play for him,” said current Wildcats star Em-ily Easom, the school’s all-time leading 3-point shooter. “We love playing for him. It helps he had a daughter. He relates to all the girls and knows how to communicate and talk with us. He’s like a second dad to me.”

Four-year Marin Catholic player Adrienne (Payne) Shierk was a senior on the 2002 state championship team. She went on to play at West Point where she graduated as a First Lieu-tenant and served a tour in Iraq. She’s now married and work-ing as a consultant in San Diego.

“As a nervous freshman he built my confidence up,” Shierk said. “He always had a positive attitude that was contagious. Rick gave us a real sense that hard work and dedication can bring success, and that was something I carried to West Point.”

Jennifer (Enos) Imbimbo, a four-year player who was a se-nior on the 1998 team that won DeMartini’s first MCAL play-off title, remembers her coach just as fondly.

“Its no wonder he’s been coaching 20 years. Rick has always had so much fun. Almost as much as the players,” she said. “He also takes the time to get to know each individual player.”

As each coach prepares to dive into another postseason with dreams of playing through the month of March, neither has any plans to call it a career yet.

“My energy level is high and my health is good,” Bonfigli said. “The administration is supportive. I have no thoughts about retirement.”

That means more of the same in the Redwood Empire. ✪

Mary Cooper/Cardinal Newman HSThe Cardinal Newman student body holds up a sign to celebrate Tom Bonfigli’s 600th career coaching vic-

tory in early December 2011.


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From April 27-29, Football University is coming to Dublin High School with its staff of NFL-caliber instruc-tors to teach 18 hours of intensive football study.

Among the Bay Area natives who will be coming to FBU looking to make his mark is standout wide receiver Darrell Daniels from Freedom High in Oakley.

Daniels, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound wide receiver, is one of the 2013 class’ premier players. He will be looking to show off his skills against the Bay Area and Central Valley’s best at FBU, with the hope of receiving an invitation to FBU TOP GUN — a camp which takes place in Williamsburg, Va., in July and features the best-of-the-best from FBU’s more than 40 camps throughout the United States and Canada. Daniels will also be looking to impress enough to earn a possible selection in the 2013 U.S. Army All-Amer-ican Bowl next January in San Antonio.

Rivals.com has Daniels ranked as a four-star recruit — the fifth-best athlete — and 170th on its Rivals 250. And 247Sports has him as the 10th-best wide receiver in the country, the 99th overall recruit, and as the eighth-best player in California.

In January, Daniels went to San Antonio and competed in the U.S. Army National Combine for the top 500 ju-niors in the country. He so impressed that he was named to 247Sports’ All-Combine Team for skill-position players and he was an honorable mention member of Rivals.com’s All-Combine Offense Team.

“When we saw him at the U.S. Army National Combine he had no problem separating from defenders,” said Rivals.com West Coast Analyst Adam Gorney. “Even when the ball was thrown a little short or a little too high, Daniels made the necessary adjustments to catch the ball. He has great hands, he’s fast for his size and he seems like a natural playmaker.”

Daniels is a big receiver who creates mismatches with his size and his excellent speed for such a large frame. As a junior, he had 30 receptions for 526 yards and seven touch-downs and rushed for another 266 yards and four touch-downs.

This helped make him the MVP of the Bay Valley Ath-letic League and a first team All-East Bay selection.

“The thing that stands out most about Daniels is his athleticism,” Gorney said. “He can be used down the field because he’s so much taller and stronger than a lot of cor-nerbacks, but his high school team also uses him on short passes and they let his speed and elusiveness take over.”

Don’t make the mistake of thinking Daniels is a one-trick pony. In addition to his standout offensive play, he also earned postseason recognition for his play at defen-sive back.

The colleges have taken notice. According to Rivals.com, Daniels has received offers from Colorado, Oregon State and UCLA. He is also being recruited by Cal, Oregon, Stanford and USC.

For more information on the FBU camps, visit Football University.com. ✪

Freedom’s daniels is ready to be tested at Football universityBy AdAm libErmAN | For FBU Camps


❒ A A A Northern California, Nevada & Utah .................12

❒ AABCO Printing .........................................................43

❒ All World Sports ..........................................................7

❒ Army National Guard Recruiter ....................................4

❒ Back Forty B B Q ........................................................24

❒ Bay Area Golf Show ...................................................17

❒ Big O Tires ...................................................................2

❒ Butler Golf / Miura Golf USA ......................................31

❒ Cal Stars Basketball ...................................................16

❒ Cheer Gyms ...............................................................43

❒ Community Youth Center ..........................................43

❒ Crow Canyon Country Club ........................................30

❒ Crowne Plaza ............................................................43

❒ Delta Sign-A- Rama ..................................................45

❒ Diablo Car Wash & Detail Center ................................20

❒ Diablo Creek Golf Course ...........................................22

❒ Diablo Rock Gym .......................................................45

❒ Diablo Trophies & Awards ..........................................45

❒ Dianne Adair Enrichment Programs ..........................41

❒ Earthquake Arabians .................................................43

❒ East Bay Sports Academy ............................................8

❒ Fit 2 The Core .............................................................41

❒ Football University ....................................................44

❒ Franklin Canyon Golf Course ......................................20

❒ Greenhorn Creek .......................................................29

❒ Heavenly Greens........................................................21

❒ Home Team Sports Photography ...............................34

❒ Igolping ....................................................................25

❒ Image Imprint ...........................................................42

❒ Kinders B B Q ...............................................................3

❒ Lone Tree Golf Course ................................................22

❒ Loudmouth Golf ........................................................48

❒ Mc Coveys..................................................................34

❒ Mountain Mike’s Pizza .................................................9

❒ N K Products Inc. .......................................................22

❒ Niles Personal Fitness ................................................45

❒ Rocco’s Pizza ..............................................................45

❒ Rockin Jump ..............................................................35

❒ Saint Mary’s Athletic Summer Camps ........................43

❒ Scandia Family Center ...............................................42

❒ Simply Selling Shirts .................................................45

❒ Sky High Sports .........................................................45

❒ Stand! For Families Free Of Violence ..........................47

❒ Stevens Creek Toyota .................................................19

❒ The Ecco Store .............................................................5

❒ The First Tee Of Contra Costa ......................................20

❒ The First Tee ..............................................................23

❒ USKS Concord ............................................................43

❒ Velocity Sports Performance .....................................33

❒ Velocity Sports Performance .....................................45

❒ Walnut Creek Soccer Club ..........................................16

❒ Walnut Creek Sports & Fitness ...................................28

❒ Wente Vineyards Golf Club ........................................24

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Campolindo boys soccer player harlan Raine leaps in celebration following a goal in the Cougars’ quarterfinal match against Concord on Feb. 18. Concord won 3-2 in a

penalty kick shootout.Photo by Jonathan hawthorne.

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Documents

Bay Area Issue 41, Feb. 23, 2012