School sports springing into action for fall

Most students, parents and teachers measure the school year in semesters or quarters or grading periods.

I divide the year into seasons.

The seasons do not, however, correspond with their names and traditional seasons.

I see the fall season as Mother Nature views the spring. In a school year, the fall season is the beginning, a rebirth. The students, student/athletes, teachers and staff are returning from a dormant period, a vacation (if one can call two weeks a vacation). Most are happy to get back and are looking forward to a new beginning, a renaissance.

The entire school and community anxiously await the fall season. Football generates large crowds and Friday nights are centered on the Friday Night Lights. A successful football season sets the tone for the entire school year.

A high school football game would not be complete without a band and RHS has one of the best marching bands in the county. Their halftime shows hurt the concession stand because nobody wants to leave their seats and miss a great show.

Cheer and song teams are also a big part the football experience.

High school football is a uniquely American experience. No other country has a sport that comes close to what America does on Fridays in the fall.

Boys and girls cross country is off and running in the fall. New head coach Steve Albanese enters his harriers in invitational and huge meets and when the league meets start the schools in the Valley League run bi-meets and tri-meets. The league meet determines which individuals and teams will advance to the CIF meet, which determines who advances to the state meet.

Coach Connie Halfaker’s girls volleyball team will be on the court. Volleyball is one of the few team sports that has a state playoff, which is ridiculous. Every sport should have a state playoff.

The girls will play in tournaments and non-league matches and then enter the Valley League and vie for a playoff berth. Girls’ volleyball is an exciting sport. It is contagious. Girls volleyball has one of the highest GPAs in the county.

Girls tennis is also a fall sport. Coach Failla schedules a tough non-league schedule to get his team ready for the very tough competition in the Valley League. The girls play at Riviera Oaks Resort, a world-class facility. Tennis also has a high GPA. I suggest an academic match between the two sports.

Coach John Rathbun and his new assistant, Lorne Smith, will get the Lady Bulldog golfers ready for a season in the tough Valley League. The golf team also plays at an excellent venue, San Vicente Golf Resort. The girls play their away matches at some of the finest courses in the state and nation.

High School golf is not a spectator sport. Fans can only watch the first tee off and the final hole. No galleries are allowed in high school play.

Women’s golf is one of the fastest growing sports in the nation and high school golf is a big reason for the growth.

This school year will be the last year of the Valley League as we know it. The North County conference will re-league for the 2010-11 school year.

It appears that some major changes are on tap. Right now the league officials are considering separate leagues for football and the rest of the sports. Several NCC schools do not field football teams.

Cathedral Catholic would like to be in the NCC, but the majority of the schools in the conference do not want to try to compete with the Dons, which is ironic. The newest school in the NCC, Del Norte High School, is allowed open enrollment. Student/athletes from Poway, San Diego, Ramona, Escondido, Encinitas, Carlsbad and Oceanside can enroll in one of the most beautiful and most modern facilities in the state. Yet schools don’t want to compete with Cathedral Catholic because they can recruit.

The number of schools that recruit in North County is far greater than the schools that don’t recruit. Cathedral Catholic just is open and honest.

The last time the NCC re-leagued, the emphasis was on fair competition. This time the principals are going to try to save money and re-league according to geographic location. Another irony since many schools, Ramona included, do not provide transportation for athletic teams.

Count on several articles being openly critical about the hypocrisy of the re-leaguing process.

Even if the calendar says it is fall, the sports will be springing into action.