SportStories

Just in time for the first true California high school football season in two years, SportStars Magazine is excited to announce its newest podcast: 7 Friday Night. SportStars editor Chace Bryson will be joined by longtime friend — and one-time video series collaborator (if you know, you know) — Ben Enos for a weekly discussion on NorCal high school football. Through wit, whimsy and maybe some wisdom, the pair will deliver wrap-ups, predictions, topical discussions and interviews with players and coaches from throughout NorCal. Just to double down on the wisdom part, Ben and Chace will also be joined by recently-retired longtime De La Salle-Concord assistant coach Terry Eidson as a regular guest star. It's a bonanza! Join us weekly for your high school football fix, as we all countdown to 7 Friday Night.

Abby Dahlkemper and Maggie Steffens both graduated high school in the same year, as part of the Class of 2011. And for the past decade, they've been among the very best players in their sport. Both are competing in the Tokyo Olympics this summer. One has gone with a focus on stopping goals, while the other will be trying to score as many as possible. Dahlkemper is a starting defender on the US Women's National Soccer Team. And while she's already a World Cup champion, this is Dahlkemper's first Olympics. Steffens — who graduated from Monte Vista High in Danville the same year Dahlkemper graduated from Sacred Heart Prep in Atherton — is now at her third Summer Games as a member of the U.S. Women's Water Polo Team. In the second of our two Olympian-themed episode, we revisited the rise of the two 2011 graduates through memories and tales of high school coaches who still remain in contact with their former players to this day. Join us as we highlight two of the Bay Area's most successful female athletes of the past decade. This is SportStories. STORYTELLERS Jake Moffat — Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton Girls Soccer Coach (2005-2011) Scott Getty — Monte Vista-Danville Girls Water Polo Coach (2007-2010)

Of all the U.S. National Teams competing in the Tokyo Summer Olympics, perhaps none feel more urgency than the Women's Softball team. After losing the gold medal game to Japan in the 2008 Games, its sport was removed from the next two Olympiads in London and Rio. When the first game in Tokyo takes place on July 21, it will mark 4,717 days between Olympic softball games. Softball is back — but not to stay. The sport will not be part of the Paris games in 2024. It will likely be included as part of the Los Angeles games in 2028, but how many of these players can afford to wait seven more years? Most won't, especially the few veterans in their 30s who have stuck it out to make it to these games. This is their shot at gold. And of all the U.S. National Teams competing in Tokyo, none provide a bigger rooting interest for Northern California fans. One third of the team's 15-player roster features graduates from Northern California high schools. That includes two members of the team's veteran core we mentioned earlier: Monica Abbott, a 2003 grad of North Salinas High, and Valerie Arioto a 2007 grad of Foothill High in Pleasanton. There's also 2011 Pleasant Grove High grad Ally Carda of Elk Grove, 2013 Casa Roble High grad Ali Aguilar of Orangevale and 2016 Merced High grad Bubba Nickles. We caught up with former coaches of both Arioto and Nickles and asked them to share memories and stories of the two softball stars. Which player would hold her own personal practice for more than an hour after the team's ended? Which one snapped at her coach after being pinch run for? Time to find out. STORYTELLERS: Matt Sweeney, Foothill-Pleasanton Softball Coach (2006-Present) Scott Kabrich, Foothill-Pleasanton Softball Coach (1990-2005) Bart McAfee, Merced Softball Coach (2003-2016)

If you watch sports enough, you hear it all the time: The best coaches are the ones who can make adjustments. Halftime adjustments. Mid-season adjustments. Roster adjustments following injuries. Being a coach requires constant adaptation. And perhaps no academic year required more of it than the one that just ended on June 19. When California's governor and state health officials finally relaxed guidelines enough for outdoor sports in late February, it triggered a domino effect that eventually led to every high school sport having some sort of abbreviated season squeezed into a 16-week window. Many coaches who had resigned themselves to losing a whole year, suddenly faced an accelerated timeline that would include limited practice time, a variety of testing protocols and anxiety, and a long list of other unknowns outside of their control. The pandemic year's impact on young athletes has been well documented, but coaches were deeply affected as well. For this episode, we asked four coaches to share their experiences of being a coach during an unprecedented time, including one that shares a scenario that would've been tough to navigate during a normal year. Join us as we highlight the men and women who willingly jumped in the foxhole to make sure kids could be kids again. GUESTS: Tom Costello, Head Boys Basketball Coach, Dublin High David Perry, Head Football Coach, Bishop O'Dowd High (Oakland) Nick Wisely, Head Softball and Golf Coach, Antioch High Kevin Macy, Head Football Coach, Campolindo High (Moraga)

Dynasties are not particularly rare in high school sports. Even though rosters are always changing as classes graduate and others come in, if there's a consistent and well-supported coaching staff that can teach the game and effectively motivate payers, it just takes a couple winning seasons for a culture of success to take root. However, there are dynasties, and then there's what the Elk Grove High School baseball program produced from 2002-2017. In a 16-year span, the Thundering Herd appeared in 10 Sac-Joaquin Section Division I finals. They won 8 of them. And eight players from that era became Major League Baseball players. The 2013 team alone had five future Big Leaguers on its roster. What coach Jeff Carlson accomplished at Elk Grove seems unlikely to be matched in Northern California anytime soon — certainly not by a public school. What did it take to fuel such an incredible run of success? What was it like playing for a program with such a mind-bending pool of talent? What was it like viewing it from the other dugout? Grab some peanuts or sunflower seeds, kick back and listen for memories and anecdotes of a true baseball juggernaut. GUESTS: JEFF CARLSON: Head Coach, Elk Grove Baseball 2000-2018 TANNER CARLSON: Elk Grove Baseball 2015-2018, Long Beach State Baseball 2019-present DAN ARIOLA: Head Coach, Davis Baseball 1996-2019 MARK KREIDLER: Former National MLB Writer, Sacramento Bee + Radio Host; Father Of Detroit Tigers Minor Leaguer, Ryan Kreidler JOE DAVIDSON: Sacramento Bee High School Sports Reporter, 1989-present

If there was a Mt. Rushmore of Bay Area high school basketball coaches, there would be little debate over Don Lippi being front and center. Lippi is Northern California's winningest basketball coach of all time, according to the Cal-Hi Sports state record book. And on Saturday, May 15, the St. Joseph Notre Dame boys coach earned his 900th career victory when his small Alameda school — the same one where Basketball Hall of Famer Jason Kidd's career began — defeated crosstown foe Encinal. The 73-year-old Lippi became only the state's fourth member of the 900-win club. His 42-year career has featured multiple stops at St. Joseph as well as St. Patrick-St. Vincent of Vallejo, Skyline of Oakland and St. Ignatius in San Francisco. He's won four state titles, all with St. Joseph, with the most recent coming in 2017. That win was No. 800. For this episode, we gathered a handful of coaches and former players of Lippi (one guest filled both roles!) to share stories of a legendary coach with a one-of-a-kind personality. GUESTS: • Mark DeLuca — Valley Christian-San Jose boys varsity basketball coach • Bill Mellis — Salesian-Richmond boys varsity basketball coach •.Temidayo Yussuf — 4-year varsity player at St. Joseph (2011-14), member of Antibes Sharks of French B League

Najee Harris, Alabama's star running back for the past two years, will hear his name read from the podium of the NFL Draft on April 29th or 30th. Celebration and excitement from sports fans throughout the Bay Area is sure to follow (and likely already has if you're listening after the 30th). That's because Harris, in addition to being one of the most prolific high school running backs in NorCal history during his four years at Antioch, was also one of the most genuine and selfless. Teammates loved him. Opponents and rivals admired him. Nobody could stop him. Despite a childhood filled with hardships that included several moves and homeless shelters, Harris and his family found firm footing in Antioch. And he made the most of it. He was named CalHiSports.com's Mr. State Football as a junior. He was the No. 1 recruit in the country his senior year as some of the most famous collegiate coaches in the nation made Antioch a frequent stop. Harris chose Alabama and spent his first two years in backup duty before becoming the feature back as a junior. As a senior, he led the Crimson Tide to a national championship as the nation's leading scorer. He had three touchdowns in the title game. For this episode, we spoke to Najee's offensive coordinator at Antioch, a former Panthers teammate, a current San Jose State linebacker who lined up against him for three years in high school, his personal trainer of nine years, and CalHiSports.com editor and state prep sports historian, Mark Tennis. What will it mean when the name Najee Harris is announced at the NFL draft? These guys have some thoughts. Their stories and memories might just make you a fan too.

As the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship unfolded across two hours of Easter Sunday afternoon, one constant became clear: When the Stanford Cardinal needed a momentum shift, Haley Jones was the catalyst. The all-around sophomore came up with several clutch baskets, none more important than the and-1 play she converted in the paint with 2:24 left after Arizona had cut a once nine-point lead down to one. Those three points, the bucket and the free throw, would prove to be the winning points after Stanford barely hung on for a 54-53 win and its first title in 29 years. Jones, who finished the game with 17 points and 8 rebonds, was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. And the Bay Area girls basketball community beamed with pride. This performance, as well as her 24-point night in the semifinal win over South Carolina, looked all too familiar to those of us who watched her polish her game at Archbishop Mitty High in San Jose. For this episode, we talked to a pair of her former coaches, a former club teammate who also faced her multiple times during the course of their high school careers, and longtime Bay Area reporter Mitch Stephens. Together they painted a tale of a passionate and smart player — who also enjoys a Capri Sun, a good 90s R&B jam and the occasional ill-conceived dip in a hotel fountain. Gather around for stories and memories on the Bay Area's newest national women's hoops star.

Anyone who has had a life-changing coach in their lives can relate to the character of Mickey from the "Rocky" films. There was no mistaking Mickey became a father figure to Sylvester Stallone's struggling-but-driven title character. Mickey taught him to box by explaining technique and strategy — but also through a lot of tough love. Love for boxing, and love for Rocky and who he wanted to become. When Mickey finally cracks a smile, you see it. Now imagine if Mickey taught wrestling, and not just to one pupil but several thousands of youth over the course of three decades. Imagine if he was accessible not just to the talented kids who would fill the trophy case, but to kids who just wanted a sport they could push themselves in and a place to find camaraderie. Mark Halvorson was just that. As the wrestling program director at the Community Youth Center in Concord, California, he opened the door of wrestling to countless youth from all backgrounds, and became a father figure to so many of them. He did it while also building a program that DID fill the trophy case and became internationally known. At the same time, he also built De La Salle High's wrestling program into a regional power that won 11 of the last 12 North Coast Section titles. In mid-February, he passed away as a result of a heart attack at age 57. For this episode, we brought in some of his most famous wrestlers — to celebrate a legacy that will undoubtedly endure.

After more than 15 months without a high school football game in California, we celebrate its return with a tribute to traditional offseason anticipation and memorable season openers.  If you've been someone paying attention to California high school sports — or lack thereof — over the last several months, then you know this week of March 8th is kind of a big deal. A year-plus high school football drought finally ends on March 12th and 13th when several programs will return to the field to open a brief spring season. Their seasons will range from 5-6 games. There won't be full grandstands with packed student sections, and that will be just one of several very noticeable differences brought about by the threat of the coronavirus. But football IS happening. And for the players, coaches, parents, and even us media members, few weeks carry the same type of excitement and anticipation as high school football's opening week. So after the strangest of offseasons, we sought out stories of memorable season openers. Guests include former Del Oro-Loomis and Capital Christian-Sacramento coach Casey Taylor (now at Inderkum-Sacramento), former Concord High coach Brian Hamilton (now at Texas State Univ.), and current Sacramento Bee prep sports writer, Cameron Salerno. 

Scott Lunger was the "good cop" on the Freedom High School varsity softball coaching staff. Players loved the good-natured humor that the infield coach often used to teach and motivate them. But Lunger was also a cop in real life, a 15-year sergeant for the Hayward Police Department. And on July 22, 2016, he was shot and killed during a traffic stop at 3:15 in the morning. A little more than one week later, the Freedom school year began. Six months later, as many as a dozen girls showed up to softball tryouts still very much in mourning. Three months after that, they'd be placing a game ball from their North Coast Section Division I championship victory next to Lunger's headstone. To mark the fifth anniversary of that inspiring season, we gathered two players and two coaches from that team to share memories. Head coach Brook Russo, assistant coach Scott Adams, pitcher Vanessa Strong and catcher Faith Derby each detailed what went into a season that was dedicated to a fallen friend and hero — and became known as the "Business Trip."

For the debut episode, we solicited stories about Serra High football coach Patrick Walsh — a leader in the efforts to restart all youth and high school sports throughout California. Through 18 seasons in San Mateo, Patrick Walsh has been a highly decorated and successful coach for the Padres program (eight league titles, five section titles and a CIF Bowl title in 2017). And while there are many individuals involved in the statewide effort to get all high school sports back in action, few have been more present in spreading the message than Walsh. Since this is SportStories — where the stories are the star — we set out to look for anecdotes about Patrick Walsh. We wanted to find tales that highlighted the origins of the fire that's driven him to his success, and the desire to spearhead his current quest for student-athletes across the state. So we dug into his past as a star two-sport athlete at De La Salle-Concord. We think these guys nailed it. STORYTELLERS • BOB LADOUCEUR, De La Salle head football coach ('79-'12) • TERRY EIDSON, De La Salle assistant football coach ('81-present) • NICK JONES, Monte Vista-Danville boys basketball coach ('13-present) who grew up around the Walsh Family as a Little League teammate and boyhood friend of Walsh's younger brother, Nicholas. Visit this episode's page at SportStarsMag.com for images of Walsh + video of some of the moments mentioned in the stories.

"So this is how it happened..." If you're a fan of something. Anything. Music, movies, art, sports or whatever. Few things can pique your interest more than getting a glimpse behind the scenes, or learning the inside story to something you're passionate about. For 10 years, SportStars Magazine has been passionate about high school sports in Northern California. For its first podcast, the high school sports media company is turning the storytelling over to its sources in hopes of giving fans that behind-the-scenes feel. Each episode will focus on a coach, athlete, team or classic game and then find those with the best anecdotes to bring that subject to life. Join us for SportStories.