Sports Briefs
New coaches arrive
Boys Varsity Water Polo
Johnny Bega is currently the Associate Head Coach of Girls water polo at San Jose State. Before coming to Los Altos, he coached boys varsity at Menlo Atheron, winning a CCS title in 2007. He has also played and coached for Long Beach State.
JV Boys Water Polo
Jesse Figueroa began coaching water polo in 1968. He won six national championships as the goalie coach for mens varsity at Berekly from 1980-1992. Since then, he has worked on and off as a goalie instructor, and met Johnny at a camp this summer.
JV Volleyball
Rick Rasay coached varsity volleyball at Fremont Christian in Fremont for five years. He has played ameteur volleyball for 20 years, and started the volleyball program at his high school in kuwaii.
JV Boys Basketball
P.E. Teacher Bob McFarlane was a varsity basketball assistant last year. He has coached JV at the school before as well as varsity at St. Lawrence Academy in Santa Clara. During his playing career, he played at Cuesta College and was All-League at Saratoga.
JV Girls Soccer
Heidi Galvez works in security at the school, but her passion lies in soccer. She played for the Olympic Development Team, the University of San Francisco and later for the Sacramento Storm. She has been coaching soccer since she was 13.
JV Girls Tennis
English teacher Galen Rosenberg has been playing tennis since he was eight. He currently plays for several United States Tennis Association teams and often plays in tournaments. He has coached several sports including JV girls basketball at the school.
No relief from heat for fall sports athletes
The administration has increased enforcement of the school dress code for athletes.
Before, many athletes in fall sports and marching band removed shirts to cool at practice.
However, according to the school dress code, all students must wear shirts that cover them to their waists. Enforcement has been stricter this year because the administration only recently noticed that participants were breaking the dress code.
“It has always been a rule for people to be covered down to their waists,” Athletic Director Kim Cave said “[Everyone] must wear t-shirts and shoes.”
Many athletes are surprised and angry over this sudden enforcement of the policy.
“I feel infuriated because we run long distances dripping in sweat,” water polo member junior Kevin Stangl said. “This is intolerable.”
Rule changes affect age participation
Two Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) rule changes will affect sports this year.
First, SCVAL Board members have voted to deny senior girls the ability to play JV sports. The reasons for the change were inequity between both senior-freshmen competition and gender double standards.
“All seniors can only compete at the varsity level,” Cave said. “That’s not new for the boys, but it’s new for the girls.”
Second, the board established Frosh-soph and varsity teams for boys and JV and varsity teams for girls this year and beyond.
The change was made for consistancy, as boys soccer, which previously had JV, is the only sport that is effected.
The regulations apply to all divisions within the 14-school league, including El Camino and De Anza.
However, junior boys can still play JV wrestling and badminton, which are coed.
Becky Larsen | Sep 28, 2010 at 1:38 am
It’s truly unfortunate that a rule intended to make play more equitable end up deterring athletes from joining teams. This new rule is especially egregious to the female athlete in high school. Girls are not the same as guys physically. A senior guy IS going to be bigger and more coordinated than a Freshman, Sophomore, or even a Junior. This type of differential is not found in females, and so cannot be ruled as a “double standard” value to be imposed, most probably under the auspices of Title IX.
It is really sad that an athlete, knowing that their participation will be severely limited – due to their ability, not their age or grade level – will probably not go out for the sport at all in their senior year. Being a “bench-warmer” is not what high school sports are supposed to be about. Let’s bring back the camaraderie, teamwork, and participation that high school sports are supposed to foster. Lose the “senior girls must play varsity” rule!