One recurring theme of this column over the years has been "play water polo and see the world." Again this year, that is literally true as The Coronado Aquatics Club has embarked on a month of training with their counterparts from the BVSC Water Polo Club of Budapest, Hungary.

The Coronado Club, which is comprised of the members of the CHS Boys Water Polo Team, has hosted the members of the BVSC Club’s 18 and under team since Friday, July 8 for the beginning of their two-week stay. The training sessions will be highlighted by a friendly match between the two clubs Thursday evening July 14 at 7 pm, a game that will be played at the NAB Combat Training Tank. To get on the base for the game, please plan to attend with someone who has a valid military ID on their vehicle.

July 15, both teams depart for an Under 20 invitational tournament that will be played at the City of Commerce. BVSC returns home July 18^th and the Coronado team will travel to Hungary for a 12-day stay July 19.

The 15-player travel party will be under the direction of Head Coach Randy Burgess, who will be joined on the trip by CHS Alumnus Genai Kerr (CHS ’95), a member of the U.S. Olympic Water Polo Team in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Kerr will serve as the team’s assistant coach for the trip. Coach Dave Throop will stay stateside to instruct the Coronado Aquatics Club Girls Team in the Junior Olympic competition at San Jose.

While in the U.S., the BVSC and CAC teams will work out twice a day, with side trips to the San Diego Zoo and Sea World worked into the itinerary. Plenty of beach time is planned as well. In Hungary, plans call for the CAC team to travel to Lake Balaton, which is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area, and one of the country’s main tourist attractions. The teams will take turns hosting the visiting players in their homes.

July 2, the Boys played their annual alumni game at Bud Kearns Pool in Balboa Park. Unfortunately for young Coronado contingent, the loyal opposition included six still active university-level players who were eager to play on that particular day. Jonathan Hopkins (UCSD and CHS ’01), Tom Jay (UC-Davis, CHS ’02), Jamal Motlagh (Princeton, CHS ’02), Scott Syverson (Princeton, CHS ’04), Connor Herron (U.S. Naval Academy, CHS ’03) and Alex Ratcliffe (U.S. Naval Academy, CHS ’02) helped lead the alumni to victory.

Other alumni on hand included: Parker Beatty (CHS ’88); Corey Berta (CHS ’95); Jack Bowen (CHS ’91); Dallas Chase (CHS ’05); Mike Hall (CHS ’96); Mark Hansen (CHS ’71); Mike Matherne (CHS ’91); Nathan McCall (CHS ’94); David Meyers (CHS ’73); and Drew Ratcliffe (CHS ’05).

The best play of the game was a pass that Hopkins tipped with his right hand, over a CHS defender to his own left hand, for a quick shot and goal. Berta was summoned from the ‘bench’ on the far end of the pool in the early going, to convert his patented 4-meter penalty shot. Bowen showed his form in goal that made him a three-time prep All-American at CHS, an All-American at Stanford and a U.S. Olympic Team member.

CHS Head Track Coach George Green had a large group of runners turn out early in the morning of July 4^th, gaining some valuable race experience in the process. Here’s his report. "There were several present and future Coronado High School Cross Country runners who ran in the Coronado Independence Day races. In the 5K, rising sophomore Ben Enowitz (age 15) placed fourth in the 13-17 age group and ninth overall with a time of 17:41.

The Girls 13-17 division was won by future Islander Sallie Privett (age 13) in 20:14. Sallie was 44^th overall out of 750 runners and the fourth female finisher across all age divisions. It looks like she should be ready for the Coronado Middle School cross country team this fall. Her sister Mollie Privett (age 10) was the third place finisher in the 12 and under division.

In the 15K event, CHS Assistant Track Coach Jack Nash placed third in the tough 50-54 division. However, Nash finished in front of all of the runners who are a decade younger, running in other age categories. In the Boys 13-17 Division, rising CHS sophomores Jose Tijerina and Tim Bowman finished third and sixth respectively, sandwiching incoming freshman David Grimes, who finished fifth in the same group."

In addition to the CMS/CHS contingent listed above, a total of 13 runners from Coronado finished in the Top 300 in the 5K Run/Walk, when all of the age divisions are listed together. They included: No. 65 James Callaway; No. 99 Mary Malone; No. 116 Tim Toole; No. 165 Greg Sheffer; No. 173 Molly Crabbe; No. 197 Kurt Thiebaud; No. 198 Christie Darby; No. 210 Harry Gimber; No. 232 Michael Mathis; No. 242 Evelyne Markel; No. 243 Brian Thiebaud; No. 295 Daren Owen and No. 300 Sam Wisotzki.

Proving that Coronadoans like challenges, a total of 28 runners (in addition to the CHS runners noted above) finished in the Top 300 of the 15K Run. They included: No. 9 Jeremy Brown; No. 58 Tom Matheus; No. 82 William Combes; No. 83 Jim McNevin; No. 86 Todd Ford; No. 87 Andrew Falkiewicz; No. 91 Alfredo Helfon; No. 94 William Wright; and No. 96 Andrew Lewis.

Runners finishing in the Second 100 included: No. 109 Bryce Frye; No. 124 Marko Medved; No. 132 Tom Toole; No. 145 Cory Christensen; No. 162 Gregory Jasso; No. 163 Mark Hansen; No. 166 Trevor Kettrick; No. 180 Michael Woiwode; No. 189 Bob Seligman; No. 192 Moira Conlon; No. 196 Kurt Sadorf; and No. 198 Shane Gibbs.

Among the intrepid in the Third 100 were: No. 211 Nancy Swanson, No. 230 Enrique Gomez, No. 241 David Hansen; No. 244 Doug Waller; No. 252 Robert Gilbert; No. 260 Patrick Dunn and No. 296 Dave Myers.

On behalf of the event, I would also like to thank the commanding officer of Naval Base Coronado Capt. Tim Alexander and his staff for allowing us to use a portion of the Naval Amphibious Base for the race course. Being able to run on the base saves the event considerable expense and makes the course more interesting for the runners.

A total of 1,738 runners participated this year, with a portion of the net proceeds from the race going to the Islander Sports Foundation. Allow me to pass along a sincere ‘thank you’ to all of the runners who participated in the 31^st Annual Independence Day Race this year from the ISF.

Last week brought some bad news with the passing of former Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach Hank Stram. My junior high and high school days growing up in the Kansas City suburb of Prairie Village, Kansas, coincided with the glory days of the Chiefs.

In fact, for a couple of seasons I was on the stats crew of the Chiefs. My primary duty was to run typed editorial copy from visiting sports writers, around the press level to the site of the Western Union teletype operators and their machines, so their game stories could be filed in those pre-fax machine, pre-E-mail days of yore.

Stram, who passed away at the age of 82, was the central figure of the team that lost to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl I and defeated the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV in 1970. He was always easy to spot on the sidelines, as he was roughly a foot shorter than most of his players. Always nattily attired in a black blazer, red vest and gray slacks, Stram’s ensemble also included a rather obvious toupee that never moved, or shifted, even in high wind conditions.

Stram was a football innovator, credited with creating the movable pocket blocking scheme that protected his brainy, accurate but not overly tall quarterback Len Dawson from severe bodily harm. He also came up with the two tight end set, which added an extra blocker in short yardage running situations, a perfect fit for the talents of running back Mike Garrett.

The Super Bowl title team was loaded with talent including wide receiver Otis Taylor, place kicker Jan Stenerud, and linebackers Bobby Bell and Willie Lanier. The 1971 team was probably even more talented with the addition of running back Ed Podolak, but the Chiefs fell to the Miami Dolphins 27-24 in overtime in the playoffs. In retrospect, the tough loss marked the beginning of the end for the Chiefs.

Stram remained intensely loyal to the players that earned All-Pro accolades and the NFL title for the Chiefs. Seemingly all of the team’s stars reached the effective end of their careers simultaneously. Stram also called all the shots regarding the team’s playing personnel, so when the Chief’s won-loss record (124-76-10 under Stram) declined precipitously; he was asked to move on by Owner Lamar Hunt.

After a brief stint at the helm of the New Orleans Saints, where he allegedly exceeded an unlimited operating budget, Stram took to the broadcast booth. Stram never met a microphone he didn’t like and in my opinion formed the best football announcing team ever with legendary play-by-play man Jack Buck.

One fall evening I was driving a family car from Washington, D.C. to Kansas City, and I spent three hours listening to a game that I didn’t really care about. But Buck and Stram made it seem like I was in the stadium with them, in person, amidst the action. During the game Stram successfully predicted several of the offensive plays called by both teams before they happened, a trait for which he became well known.

Stram will live on forever in the Super Bowl IV highlight film produced by NFL Films, where he is quoted as saying, "just keep matriculating the ball down the field boys." A mixed metaphor at best, the line was delivered by Stram with pure joy and the expectation that his Chiefs team was about to become the first American Football League team to win the Super Bowl.

But it was Stram’s on-field innovation that earned him a slot in the Football Hall of Fame in 2003. My memories are still strong of watching Henry Louis Stram coach his winning and talented teams at the old Kansas City Municipal Stadium, more than 35 years ago.