The beginning of the 2005-06 prep sports season is just around the corner, with the Islander Football Program getting a one-week jump on the other Coronado High School fall sports teams.

Football equipment was issued earlier this week, with conditioning practices set to begin Wednesday. The annual Football Hell Week is scheduled for Aug. 22-27. For more information on football registration, please contact Head Coach Bud Mayfield or Assistant Head Coach Ed Shanholtz at 522-8970, Ext. 2707.

The Boys and Girls Cross Country Teams have been conducting informal workouts, with a more formal training trip to Big Bear planned that will also occur Aug. 22-27. For more information regarding joining the cross country team, please contact Head Coach George Green at 435-3633.

Girls Golf will hold a planning meeting for parents and athletes at the Coronado Municipal Golf Course at 4 pm Wednesday, Aug. 24. The team’s tryout process will be explained, with the dates and times of the tryouts announced at the meeting. For more information, please contact Girls Golf Head Coach Hannah Cohan at 990-8755.

The Girls Tennis Team will hold their tryouts and their first practice Monday, Aug. 22 at 4 pm at the CHS tennis courts on the 6^th Street side of the school. For more information regarding the team, please contact Head Coach Robbin Adair at 435-5140 or contact him at RLAat814@aol.com.

Girls Volleyball, under the direction of Head Coach Phil Trotter, will hold their tryouts Monday, Aug. 22 at 9 am at the CHS gymnasium. To reach Coach Trotter, E-mail him at philtrotter23@hotmail.com.

The Boys Water Polo Team will begin their practice for the fall season at the Coronado Municipal Pool Monday, Aug. 22. For more information on the team, please contact either Head Coach Randy Burgess at 851-9733 or Asst. Head Coach Dave Throop at 851-9734.

Athletes at all levels of competition must have current physical exams and complete all athletic department forms before they can begin practice with their team. For copies of the forms, please go to the main office at Coronado High School or download the forms from www.IslanderSportsFoundation.com.

San Jose was the site of the Water Polo Junior Olympics this year and the Coronado Aquatics Club was well represented on the Girls side, with teams participating in the Under 18, Under 16 and Under 14 age groups. Coronado typically enters summer competitions as a high school team, while most of the squads in the Junior Olympics are regional all-star teams, which is the more common approach in club sports.

The older two teams contain a high concentration of CHS varsity and junior varsity athletes, and since it was a "no contact period" as determined by the California Interscholastic Federation, Coaches Burgess and Throop weren’t allowed to instruct the teams. Liz Eguez and Karen Bailey stepped in to coach the older two teams, while Ian Silverman coached the Under 14 squad.

Starting with the oldest group first, the CAC U18 squad finished in 20^th place out of 48 teams, despite having a younger team than most of their competitors. An 18 and under team will often include college freshmen, while the CAC team was comprised only of high school players. Junior Morgan Ronimus, who was age-eligible to play on the U16 team, was the primary goalie for the older team, while incoming freshman Alex Adamson played goalie for the U16 squad. That approach allowed both goalies the maximum amount of playing time.

Burgess, who attended the competition as an interested parent (daughter Alana Burgess played on the U16 team), provided some of the highlights of the U18 team. "Sandra Fernandez played very well, while Kelly Phelps, Emily Bigham, Natalia Lopez, and Sarah Clinton all played well. Several players including Mollie Patrick, Maggie Sosnowski, Katie Estrada and Danielle Goldblatt played with both the U18 and U16 teams."

The U16 team featured several members of last year’s CHS freshman class, including Carly Hoshko, Hannah Sebenaler, Lenea Smith, Sabrina Anonas, Aly Rogers and Burgess. This team, though younger, actually has more playing experience on the national level, and finished in seventh place out of 48 teams. The U16 team is essentially the same team that earned a third place finish in the prestigious Speedo Cup in St. Louis two years ago.

Silverman’s U14 team entered the competition as the least experienced of the three teams. Maddie Murphy was the squad’s primary goalie. The team included Katherine Bailey, Hillary Estrada, sisters Sidney Hoshko and Kendall Hoshko, Ashley Young, Natalie Stringer and Hillary Hansen.

As this is being written, there are 1,089 days until the start of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. If you are a betting person, place a wager on CHS grad Katie Hansen (CHS ’03) being the first CHS female water polo Olympian. Hansen, a sophomore human biology major at Stanford, is currently in Kirishi, Russia with the U.S. National Team to compete in the World League Super Finals.

Hansen, if selected for the Olympic team, will join the ranks of Islander Olympians that competed for the Men’s U.S. Olympic Team in Athens, Greece in 2004, Layne Beaubien (CHS ’94), Genai Kerr (CHS ’95), and Jesse Smith (CHS ’01).

Burgess, Hansen’s high school coach, feels Katie is well on her way to that level of success. "She did real well at the national team tryouts and because of her showing, she was given the opportunity to play in Kirishi. It’s an incredible opportunity for her. She has natural ability in addition to her strong work ethic. She is very quick, very strong and a great shooter. She can defend as well as anybody and she is a great counterattack threat."

Hansen, 20, is coming off of a fine showing as the Co-MVP of the USA Water Polo National Championships, where she helped lead San Diego Shores to the 2005 title, scoring twice in the championship final. Last summer, Katie helped the USA squad win the Junior Pan American Games in El Salvador.

Coronadoans Mollie Privett, 10, and Abigail Callahan, 9, were both members of the Girls Under 11 San Diego Surf team that won their division in the San Diego Surf Cup tournament, which was played at the San Diego Polo Club in Del Mar.

On the surface, that doesn’t sound like that big a deal, until you consider that the Surf Cup, just completing its 25^th year of competition, is one of the most prestigious events in youth soccer. The tournament field, which includes both boys and girls, playing in divisions from U10 through U19, draws 336 teams. This year 112 of the 336 teams were state champions, with an additional 61 teams good enough to reach their state’s final game before losing. Add in that the Girls U11 Surf team was the only team from San Diego to win one of the divisions.

Privett plays center midfield, while the left-footed Callahan plays forward. The Surf did now allow a goal while winning their three bracket games. Callahan scored the game winner in the second contest on a header. Their semi-final game was tied 1-1 after double overtime, with the Surf eventually defeating the two-time defending champion So Cal Blues on penalty kicks.

A similar format allowed the Surf to defeat the Northern California Champs, the Mustang Blast, with the championship again decided on penalty kicks. Congratulations to both girls and their Surf teammates for their success.

Your Natterer joined daughter Kristen Axelson and son Michael Axelson and several of their friends for a few games of beach volleyball over the weekend. Growing up in a suburb of Kansas City, we didn’t play the beach game often as youngsters. It was an enjoyable time and in the process, I gained a greater appreciation for the professional players who play the game for a living. I hope to have recovered and to be walking normally by the time you read this… The good and the bad from professional sports were on display in the last week. The Good – San Diegan Phil Mickelson winning the PGA Tournament at Baltustrol in New Jersey Monday morning. For a long time, Mickelson carried the mantle of "The best player never to have won a major tournament." The PGA was his second major, adding to last year’s Masters title. The Bad – the constant harping by Philadelphia Eagles’ wide receiver Terrell Owens that he is underpaid at $7 million a year and deserves more money. Owens has been playing the media, especially ESPN and their related networks, like Horowitz played a Steinway. ESPN, desperate for NFL-related news which in turn helps their ratings, has been a most willing accomplice to this media-driven mess… The San Diego Chargers launched into their pre-season schedule last Thursday and lost 10-7 at Green Bay. Let’s go ahead an admit that any game in which LaDainian Tomlinson doesn’t play and starting quarterback Drew Brees plays in only the first quarter, isn’t to be taken too seriously. A potential problem however, is the erratic performance of place kicker Nate Kaeding, who has now missed his last four consecutive field goal attempts, extending back to last year’s playoffs. Kicking on a wet field in Green Bay this week, Kaeding missed from 44, 45 and 46 yards, with no discernable pattern among the misses. While saying that the missed scoring opportunities weren’t a big deal, Chargers Head Coach Marty Schottenheimer tried hard not to look concerned… San Diego Padres shortstop Kahlil Greene suffered his third major injury in the last 11 months over the weekend, this time with a broken big toe. If anything, it gives a baseball fan a greater appreciation of the longevity of Cal Ripken, who occupied the same position for the Baltimore Orioles and played in 2,632 consecutive games. Ripken didn’t miss a game between May 30, 1982 and Sept. 19, 1998… From ESPN The Magazine, come these factoids: In his seven Tour de France wins, Lance Armstrong pedaled 15,218 miles in 606 hours 20 seconds (25.11 miles per hour); completed 142 stages; spent 83 days in yellow; won 23 stages; putting himself so far in front that nobody will catch him.