League switch puts LO, Sobrato on the field first
In the quest to put winning teams on the field, private schools
in the Central Coast Section have always had a recruiting advantage
over public schools. Just as large public schools have always had a
greater talent pool to draw from than the smaller high schools.
Those advantages are obvious and often show come playoff
time.
League switch puts LO, Sobrato on the field first
In the quest to put winning teams on the field, private schools in the Central Coast Section have always had a recruiting advantage over public schools. Just as large public schools have always had a greater talent pool to draw from than the smaller high schools.
Those advantages are obvious and often show come playoff time.
But, as it turns out, the playing field is even more lopsided than that – particularly when it comes to when teams are allowed to form and start practicing.
Next fall, Morgan Hill’s Sobrato and Live Oak High Schools will be able to start practicing earlier than anyone else in the CCS. The reason is that both schools will be leaving the Tri County Athletic League to compete in the San Jose-based Blossom Valley Athletic League.
Some would consider it a distinct advantage. Others will see it as no big deal but the BVAL allows its member schools to start practicing and working out before any of the 13 other leagues in the section.
The reason is that the CCS has no standard rules or guidelines concerning the issue and its up to individual leagues to determine their practice times.
“I don’t know how much of an advantage there actually is in that but it certainly gives the perception of an advantage,” said Tri County Athletic League Commissioner Tim McCarthy, who also heads the Mission Trail Athletic League and the Monterey Bay League. “From my understanding, the CCS is the only section in the state that does not have section-wide starting dates.”
For years, teams in the BVAL have formed and began practicing at least a week or two ahead of the other teams, which may not seem like much but those extra days allow for more time to work on drills, technique and game planning. The extra time on the field can be a huge advantage particularly in high school where seasons are short.
Although his team will benefit from playing in the BVAL next season, Live Oak’s boys water polo and swim coach Mac Haines would like to see guidelines in place for all schools to follow.
“Whether it’s about recruiting, public schools versus private or about practice times, to me, as long as there is a CCS, my personal believe is that all the rules should be standardized so that the playing field is as even as possible for everyone,” said Haines, who has been at Live Oak for more than 20 years.
Haines points out that over the years he has seen a number of variations on different issues.
“Here in the southern section of the CCS, we are not allowed to have morning and afternoon workouts (double days) once school starts,” he said. “In other sections, it is my believe that this is not the case. The starting dates are not uniform and there is no limit on the amount of practice at some schools in Palo Alto and Cupertino and the West Catholic League.”
Currently a committee is being formed to look into the issue of practice start times.
“People think the more games you play the more of an advantage it is,” said BVAL Commissioner Barbara Beard, who has been involved in high school athletics since the 1960s. “I remember teams in the West Catholic League used to play 35 baseball games a year and we played 24 or whatever it was. A lot of people said they had an advantage over us. But I looked at it as giving us more time to instruct and teach kids how to make a double play or a squeeze bunt. It’s a different philosophy. I believe that teaching the sport is more important.”
Currently teams in the BVAL begin practicing for fall sports on Aug. 14. They start practicing for winter sports on Oct. 27 and spring sports on the first Monday in Jan. that doesn’t fall on a holiday.
In September, it will be the first time for the Sobrato High, but it won’t be the first time Live Oak competed in the BVAL. The Acorns were in the BVAL until the mid 1970s.
“Live Oak always played with San Jose Unified Schools,” said Beard. “They left to join be able to play against towns down there that all had one high school and so they could play football games at night. They voted and joined the single school league, but they’ve been talking about coming back here for 10 or 12 years now.”
The Blossom Valley Athletic League is broken up into three divisions: the Mount Hamilton Division, the Santa Teresa Division and the West Valley Division.
Live Oak is expected to compete in the Mount Hamilton division, which is considered a higher-level division and Sobrato is expected to compete in the West Valley Division. Each year the teams get shuffled back and forth from the different divisions depending on how they did the previous year.
“Live Oak has had a good program in the past and should fit in nicely,” said Beard. “Sobrato is up-and-coming.”
Beard doesn’t see the early start dates as an advantage at all.
“You could say it’s an advantage, I say it’s not,” said Beard, who coached basketball, softball and swimming for years at Leland High School in San Jose. “Most people agree that the more you practice the better you get, but some kids get tired out or more burnt out by practicing earlier. (Even if there was a uniform start time) people would just find a way to get around them. Look at the club sports that go year-round anyway and the fall baseball programs. Fall baseball is all outside entities that use the school’s fields to play on and they rent them from the district. But most of the kids play on the high school team.”
Although she sees no problem with her league’s earlier start dates, she did go on to say that another problem to address is that many kids are playing the same sports too much and getting burnt out too early. And that club sports could be at the root of the problem.
“We’re trying to have programs that allow young people to compete in three sports (throughout the school year),” said Beard. “To offer the opportunity for them to explore and learn. That’s what high school is about. Less than one percent of high school kids get Division I college scholarships but they often focus on one sport. I’ve seen kids who were junior national record holders by the time they were 13 or 14 and then they literally get burnt out. That’s why the interest in girls’ water polo took off for former swimmers. Playing water polo allowed them to still able to swim (something they do well and have confidence in) but it also gave them something new to be a part of.”
Beard sees the biggest problem with soccer.
“The first thing a young child can sign up for is soccer,” she said. “They have some success at it. Then they get to high school and are afraid to fail so they just want to play soccer and not try other things. They say they don’t know how to do anything else. No we have blocks of athletes that only play soccer. The biggest problem really isn’t what time they start practicing there are other issues that need to be looked at.”
