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Nado Natterings |
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weekly column by David Axelson |
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11 August 2010 Issue #32
Coronado will be the center of the CIF sports universe, at least the San Diego portion, during the weekend of August 27-28, 2010. A couple of weeks ago we noted that the Islander Football Team will host the Kickoff Classic doubleheader Aug. 27th, with La Jolla Country Day playing Hoover at 5:30 pm. Immediately following, Coronado will play Francis Parker at 8 pm.
Not to be outdone, the following day the CHS Boys Water Polo program will host the 5th Annual Coach Draz Classic at the Brian Bent Memorial Aquatics Center. The event will consist of a whopping 10-game schedule, which includes several of the best teams in San Diego County, but more about that later.
The 2009 season concluded with Coronado losing a very well-played Division II Championship Final to Cathedral Catholic by the score of 6-5. Since then a total of eight Islander seniors have graduated and the CIF has restructured its water polo playoff system.
In 1993 the CIF split the San Diego Section into two divisions for water polo, a format that continued through the 2009 season. For 2010, there will be three divisions, with 36 of the 60 schools that sponsor the sport qualifying for a playoff spot. Last year 32 of the 58 schools in the section made the playoffs with two divisions. The rationale behind the change was that more teams would qualify for the post season and possibly advance farther into the playoffs.
The reality is that the strength of water polo, for both the boys and girls programs, has almost universally been found in Division II. Perennial powerhouses Coronado and The Bishop’s School have been joined recently by La Jolla and Cathedral Catholic competing atop the Western League. All four schools will now be found in the freshly minted Division III.
The new Division II (divisions are determined by school enrollment), will likely be dominated by another Western League entry Scripps Ranch, as the bullies from the smaller schools will be in Division III. That seems like a like a lot of fancy footwork for a net of four added playoff slots.
Coronado Head Coach Randy Burgess returns for his 28th season (overall record, 623-173) at the helm of the Islander program and the veteran coach doesn’t seem to have let his 15 CIF titles go to his head. As has been the case in years past, the team traipsed off to Europe for a 12-day trip, which coupled a heavy dose of water polo with an equally large dose of historical content.
“The best way to describe the trip was phenomenal,” said Burgess of the venture. “It was very well balanced and we did a lot of sight-seeing, a lot of very structured sight-seeing, which included European and Hungarian history.”
The trip began with a flight to Budapest, and then a bus trip to Kopice, Slovakia, which is just north of the Hungarian border. “We played in a mini-tournament,” Burgess said. “We played against a team from Romania, the host team from Slovakia, and a team from Hungary. We were playing kids who were already 18 and approaching 19 years of age. For our kids, the water polo was great on several levels. The style of play is much different than in the United States. Our kids got to know each other well. They traveled and worked well together. The trip gave Coach Dave Throop and me time to evaluate the kids on all levels. We’re starting to figure out their roles on the team for next year. I was very impressed with the kids.”
The squad enters the year with one captain already designated, returning senior goalie Braydon Hummeldorf. The team’s strength will be in goal as senior Garrett Sabesky and junior Joe Rodgers will all be vying for playing time with Hummeldorf. “They all put in very nice training since the end of the last season,” said Burgess of the three net minders. “They all swam and played club water polo. The best goalie will be playing.”
Burgess noted the squad’s senior leaders will include Patrick Geer, Garrett Smerdon and Dylan Peterson. Juniors Van Burgess, Eitan Peled and Tommy Grall all figure to contribute heavily. “All three juniors have gotten much stronger in the off season training programs and during swim season. Our weakness is our depth factor.”
With so many graduating seniors from last year’s squad gone, many would consider this a rebuilding year for the Islanders. Burgess sees it somewhat differently. “We are very inexperienced and the team is willing to work on that. It will be a great challenge for the entire coaching staff and for the kids themselves. We saw it coming down the line. We need to make sure they are mentally prepared to have some setbacks. La Jolla looks good and Bishop’s looks good. The Western League will be the strongest conference in the section again. We’re very optimistic that we will have a good year and a lot of learning.”
Perhaps not coincidentally, all of the really good teams in Divisions III will be competing in the Coach Draz Classic August 28th. General admission tickets cost $7 each, but if you stay for the last four games, you’ll get a good first look at the best boys water polo programs the county has to offer.
Here’s the schedule of games: Del Norte vs. Serra at 8:30 am; Mt. Carmel vs. La Jolla Country Day at 9:35 am; Westview vs. Eastlake at 10:40 am; Grossmont vs. Rancho Bernardo at 11:45 am; University City vs. Rancho Buena Vista at 12:50 pm; Torrey Pines vs. Scripps Ranch 1:55 pm; La Jolla vs. Granite Hills at 3:00 pm; Carlsbad vs. Cathedral Catholic, 4:05 pm; The Bishop’s School vs. Vista at 5:10 pm; and Poway vs. Coronado at 6:15 pm.
CHS Alumna Alexis Castro Competes for Mexican National Team
Alexis Castro (CHS ’04) was a dominant player for the Islander Girls Basketball Team under Head Coach Toler Goodwin a few years back and she has continued to pursue her basketball career since graduation from CHS. Her first stop was for two seasons at the Division I University of Vermont program, before completing her collegiate career at Division II American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Castro, a multi-talented post player while in high school, has now developed into a ball-handling power forward. Last year she played professionally in France and helped propel her team to a league title.
Castro’s grandmother is of Mexican descent, and Alexis decided recently to audition for the Mexican Women’s National Basketball Team. According to Goodwin, Castro broke her finger two days before leaving the United States for the tryout camp in Mexico City. She then played in two tournaments in Puerto Rico after making the squad, all with her finger still broken.
In the Centro Basket Tournament, Mexico lost to eventual champion Puerto Rico in the semi-finals, but then defeated Trinidad & Tobago 78-65 to win, the bronze medal. By earning third place in the tournament, Mexico qualified for the 2011 FIBA Americas Tournament, which is a pre-Olympics qualifying event. In this tournament in five total games, Castro started every game and averaged 14.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.
In another tournament played a week later, which included the same teams, Castro averaged 15 points per game and 9.5 rebounds per game. The Mexican National Team finished in fifth place in the second event.
As for the future, according to Goodwin, Castro is weighing a couple of European options for next season. She may return to her team in France or pursue an option to play in Spain.
Success for Coronado Youth Soccer Teams in Crown City Classic
For nearly 20 years, the Coronado Youth Soccer League has hosted the Crown City Classic Youth Soccer Tournament. This year, it was held the first and second weekends of August and drew 167 teams from throughout Southern California, as well as from Arizona, Canada and Mexico.
Four Coronado teams, the Boys under 11, the Girls under 14 White, the Boys under 17 and the Boys under 18, all won their brackets. In addition, the Coronado Girls under 8, the Girls under 9, the Boys under 10, and the Girls under 18 teams, all finished in second place. For further information regarding Coronado Youth Soccer, please go to nadosoccer.com.
Coronado Youth Soccer Golf Tournament Coming Soon
A reminder that Thursday, August 19, 2010, the Coronado Youth Soccer League will host their Second Annual Golf Tournament fundraiser at Sea N Air Golf Course on NAS North Island. The playing fee is $100 per person or $375 for a foursome, which also includes lunch. An awards reception follows the high jinks on the links.
Registration begins at 10 am, with a $2,500 putting contest slated for 10:30 am. The golf starts at 12 noon with a shotgun start and the event will be played in a scramble format.
In addition there are sponsorship opportunities available, including sponsoring a hole for $100 and the opportunity to have a military golfer join you as your guest for $100. For information on other sponsorships, or to register to play, please contact Helen Maracle at 619-954-1163 or via E-mail at helenmaracle@gmail.com. For additional registration details, go to nadosoccer.com.
Coronado Youth Baseball
Coronado High School incoming ninth graders Casey McPherson and Robby Weissenfels can both call themselves ‘World Champions.’ The two Coronado boys participated in the Pony-13 World Series Championship, with the victorious Chula Vista North Maroon Pony All-Star Team.
The team completed their road to victory with a win over Simi Valley, 3-1 in the championship game held in Fullerton. They competed in 19 games over the course of four tournaments and only lost two games in the process. Coronado is in the Chula Vista North zone for Pony League baseball. The two boys participated in the league throughout the spring and were selected for the All Star team at the end of the season.
Both Casey and Robby were major contributors to the team. Casey caught, played centerfield and right field while Robby played centerfield and led off the batting order for the All-Stars. Coming into the World Series, Casey was batting .500 and Robby led the team with a .600 batting average in the World Series and an overall season average of.571.
Time Flies - 13th year of Nado Natterings On Tap
The sub-headline pretty much says it all. Your Natterer has seen lots of balls thrown, kicked and shot, along with many fouls called. That is also an estimated 1.25 million words written in the history of the column, primarily about CHS sports.