Students have flocked again to the Oakwood Tennis Center for this year’s Harker tennis camp, which are open to students in grade 2-11 of nearly any skill level.
The two tennis programs, Harker Summer Tennis Camp (HSTC) and the Harker-Oakwood Tennis Training System (HOTTS), cover a wide range of skill levels and techniques. Harker tennis coach Craig Pasqua, certified by the United States Professional Tennis Association and a coach for 14 years, heads both programs.
With HSTC students, he said, “We want to teach them a sound fundamental base, although with a modern twist.” Beginners still learn the primary forehand, backhand, serve and volley strokes, but they are also introduced to some slightly more advanced concepts. “I start teaching the kids right away how to hit rotational forehands, rotational backhands as well as traditional forehand and backhand,” he said. “When I learned how to play, and all the coaches learned how to play, there was one method, and that was you took the racket back, you stepped into the shot and your weight propelled your momentum. Today most pros play differently. They don’t hit that way anymore. They use a more rotational, or angular, force.”
This technique, he said, creates more spin and is more effective at concealing the kinds of shots a player makes. It also makes it easier for younger players to hit balls that are hit above their heads.
At the intermediate level, students still concentrate on the basic skills, but also learn how to take better control of their muscle groups to get the most out of each hit, using what is known as the kinetic chain. “The better a tennis player you are, the more opportunities you have to develop and expand your kinetic chain,” Pasqua said. “You start by pushing against the ground when you hit a stroke, and you push up through your legs, certainly using your waist and your hips as you rotate and then eventually to your arm with the racket.”
The HOTTS program is meant for competitive players who wish to learn the more advanced aspects of tennis. “It’s a technical tactical and conditioning program for our up-and-coming competitive players. Many of our players already play tournaments,” Pasqua said. Students in this program train for actual in-game situations and participate in interclub matches. “We feel that realistic engagement is going to lead to better performance when they get in actual game situations.”
What’s important to Pasqua however, is that the students have fun and maintain a healthy respect for the game. Additionally, all of the coaches in the program have college degrees and have played at the college level. “The coaches are very respectful and very supportive of the players,” he said. “We don’t yell at any of the kids. We teach tennis how we want to be taught.”
Joshua Valluru, an incoming student who starts grade 5 in the fall, has enjoyed the camp so far, as much for its educational value as for the opportunity to make new friends. “It’s really fun because since I can socialize with the Harker students, I can get an idea what it’s going to be like when I enter fifth grade,” he said.
In accordance with the camp’s aims, Valluru said the most important thing he learned was “to have fun and not take the sport too seriously because you’re not going to become a good tennis player if you’re always under pressure, so I’ve learned that if you take the sport in a fun way then you’ll become better at it.”
With summer temperatures on the rise, students in grades 4-8 headed to the Singh Aquatic Center at the upper school campus to learn about one of the more popular aquatic sports at this year’s summer water polo camp.
“The camp is basically one for fundamentals of water polo,” said coach Ted Ujifusa, who has been involved with water polo since 1964, and helped the University of California, Berkeley, win their first NCAA championship. “We want to talk about body movement in the form of a variety of different kicks that we use to move ourselves around, also just the mechanics involved in simply catching and throwing a ball.”
The camp started with the basics of the game, including movement, body positioning and passing. “We consider a shot to simply be a faster version of a pass, so we’re trying to work on good body positioning and mechanics right to begin with,” said Ujifusa.
Students later worked on shooting and how to guard members of the opposing team, as well as how to break free from defenders and deal with one-on-one situations against goalkeepers. The aim by the middle of the week was to have students build enough fundamental skills to begin playing games. “Really, we’re just playing a fancy game of keep-away, so it’s not rocket science,” Ujifusa said.
One student, Addith Srinivasan, who will start grade 6 in the fall, said the games were his favorite part of the camp, which he joined this year because he “just wanted to try out water polo.
“It’s really fun,” he said.
Samantha Yanovsky, also going on to grade 6, saw her siblings excel at water polo and decided to try it for herself, and enjoyed the camp, learning that “you need really big leg muscles because it’s going to get tiring.”
Boys in grades 4-8 attended Harker’s basketball camp the week of June 25 to learn the game’s fundamental skills. The camp was headed up by Butch Keller, upper school head, who has coached basketball at the high school and college levels for more than 25 years.
“Our goal is to hand [the students] skills and tools to make them better individually, so they understand the fundamentals of the game,” he said.
Each day of the program focused on a different skill, such as dribbling, passing and shooting. Harker varsity basketball players assisted the younger students with morning drills. “We had different stations set up and the kids went through the stations; each player was given to one of the older players, so they have a group of players that they’re responsible for and making sure they learn the fundamentals,” Keller said. “Everything we did during that day had as its emphasis the skill that we taught that morning.”
Students also played four-on-four games using the skills they learned, and also participated in schoolyard games such as Hotshot.
“The goal by the end of the week is to give the kids that are here skills that they can work on on their own,” Keller said. The program even taught the students drills that they could work on during commercial breaks while watching TV. “It’s all about things that they can do to improve their game at their age,” Keller added.
Jarrett Anderson, starting grade 6 in the fall, thought attending the basketball camp was a “great idea” because he wanted “more experience.” He believed dribbling was one of the most important things he learned.
“I like sports, and basketball’s a fun sport,” said Brandon Coulter, who starts grade 4 in the fall, of his reasons for joining the camp this year. He enjoyed the camp and said shooting was a skill he felt the camp helped him to improve.
The bottom line for Keller was to equip the students with what they need to become better individual players. “If they’re here to get better, they can take everything that we teach them, and they can do it on their own,” he said.
Young soccer enthusiasts in grades 5-12 once again flocked to the upper school campus for Harker’s yearly summer soccer camp. Players of all skill levels found something to enjoy about the program, which just finished up its second week.
Coach Shaun Tsakiris, who won an NCAA national championship with UCLA in 1997 and received an MVP award from that university in 2000, says Harker’s approach is unique among soccer camps. “We do different stations of psycho-motor skills, which is either juggling, balance, coordination or agility. We incorporate passing and receiving in part of our warmups,” he said.
Throughout each day of the camp, different stations are set up to allow students to work on different skills. “We rotate the kids so we make sure that each kid has a topic every day,” Tsakiris said. Each station has a coach dedicated to helping students improve a skill, be it shooting, passing, futsal (indoor soccer), one-versus-one matchups or dribbling.
“We have coaches who have either played at the highest level or coached at a very high level, and I think that we have a lot of energy with the kids,” Tsakiris said, adding that it is important to him that students have fun and learn at the same time. “We make it fun, but we make sure that it’s not just day care, that this is a soccer camp where kids are leaving knowing that they learned something.”
Harker student Jeffrey Hanke, who starts grade 11 in the fall, said the soccer camp is a “good way to train and get ready for next season,” and has been a good opportunity for him to improve his shooting techniques. Alan Guo, entering grade 10 in the fall, is now attending his third summer soccer camp. “I can improve while still having fun,” he said.
At the end of each week, students receive awards for their efforts at the camp. Awards are based less on ability and more on hard work, improvement, teamwork and attitude. “Things like that are very important for us,” Tsakiris said.
Each week also ends with an appearance by a guest speaker. The first week of the program featured an appearance by Aly Wagner, a former professional soccer midfielder who played for Women’s Professional Soccer and was a member of the United States women’s national soccer team.
According to Tsakiris, the hard work that the coaching staff and the students have put in has evidently paid off: “The fact that we keep getting more and more kids every week I think says quite a bit.”
Former Harker gridiron and swimming stalwart Cole Davis ’10, along with several of his Stanford University swim teammates, competed in the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, held June 25 – July 2 in Omaha, Neb.
Although Davis did not place on the team, the experience was one he will never forget. “Olympic trials were really fun,” said Davis. “I was there for about ten days and only raced for 23 seconds, so most of the time I was a spectator, but it was cool to see such an important meet from a behind the scenes perspective. I was seated 106th going in and only 16 advance. I had a decent race, not my best, but I wasn’t expecting to make it to semi-finals, so it wasn’t a crushing disappointment.” The event had a serious wow factor: along with substantial security by U.S. Army troops, “I’ve never swam in a pool with a jumbotron above my head, cameras on the bottom, and flame throwers on the side,” said Davis.
Prior to heading off to Omaha to try out for the U.S. Olympic team, Davis and his teammates had the unique opportunity to train with former Olympic coach Dr. Genadijus Sokolovas at Harker’s Singh Aquatic Center.
In addition to working with Davis and his teammates over the course of a weekend, Sokolovas offered high-level training tips to Harker’s swimming and water polo coaches. A former professional marathon swimmer, Sokolovas has tested, evaluated and advised many U.S. swimming national and Olympic team athletes and coaches.
The private training sessions for the Stanford swimming teammates was made possible by Davis’ parents, John and Christine Davis, who, back in the fall of 2007, generously donated the funds to build the upper school’s athletic field. Christine Davis said that Cole and his friends had been staying with them since the end of school, leading to “some priceless dinner conversation.”
Following the conclusion of the trials, USA Swimming named the complete roster for the 2012 U.S. Olympic swim team. While female swimmers often peak in their teens, men usually peak in their mid- to upper-20s. So for Davis and his Stanford swimming teammates, all 20 years old, simply qualifying to compete at such a high level is an amazing feat.
Tanya Schmidt ’08 has gathered a couple more kudos as she departs Santa Clara University for grad school. She received a special grant to give her full matching funds under unusual circumstances at her final athletic banquet and was awarded the Saint Clare Medal, “given to the female graduate judged outstanding in academic performance, personal character, school activities and constrictive contribution to the University by the faculty and the provost” at the SCU graduation on Saturday! Read all about it!
This article was originally published in the summer 2012 Harker Quarterly.
Upper School This spring was a season of ups and downs for Harker sports, as teams pitted themselves against worthy opponents from across the state. School records were broken in the pool and on the field, as students shattered previous shot put and 500-yard freestyle numbers. Lower and middle school athletes continued to impress with their enthusiasm and dedication, as well as their stellar results, with many teams coming away undefeated or nearly so. Overall, it was another exciting season for Harker athletes. Go Eagles!
Baseball
Harker sluggers finished a difficult year with a 9-17 record, 2-8 in league. “Three tough extra-inning losses hurt the Eagles’ chances in league play,” said head coach C.J. Cali. Highlights of the season included a monster 18-0 thumping against North Valley Baptist, as well as an exciting extra-innings 5-4 win in the season opener against King’s Academy. To cement the bond between campuses, the upper and middle school teams took a group trip to an A’s-Angels game in May, where they enjoyed the fun from a luxury suite.
Lacrosse
Harker cradlers had a historic season this spring, posting their first winning season since the program began. Coach Andrew Irvine had his first year as head coach, building off the foundation of Dawn Clark’s four years as head coach, with Jason Berry, also a varsity girls soccer coach, assisting. “We beat out league rival Mercy Burlingame for the first time in several years,” said Irvine. “We are looking forward to the development of the lacrosse program in the coming years as it is the fastest growing
sport in America.”
Volleyball
Congratulations to the boys volleyball team on their tough-fought season. “Harker arguably competes in the strongest league in the state,” said head coach Dan Molin. “[Their league] features three other teams ranked in the state’s top 25.” The boys were 14-18 overall and 4-8 in league.
Golf
Harker linksmen finished 7-3 this spring, with a strong third place in their league. “I think we had a great season and competed very well against Menlo (who won the league) and split with Sacred Heart (who finished second and won the league championship tournament),” said cohead coach Phil Hall.
Swimming
Harker’s aquatic athletes posted admirable results in the CCS championships this spring, which included more than 100 schools stretching from San Francisco to King City. Nevertheless, Harker had many top 10 finishes, including second and third places, respectively, in girls 100-meter backstroke and boys 100-meter freestyle. Overall, the girls tied for 16th place, and the boys came in tied for ninth. Great work!
Softball
Harker’s lady sluggers finished the season 11-10-2 and 7-5 in league, placing fourth. Two players made first team All League. In a heartbreaking last game, the team missed the CCS playoffs by one home run, abdicating to Castilleja 1-0. “We are losing two seniors this year,” says head coach Raul Rios, “but are getting most players back. The girls know how close we were to getting [into the playoffs], so next year they will try even harder. I think we are going to be better and stronger next year.”
Tennis
The Harker racquet men showed not only a winning season this spring, but made it to the CCS championships for the ninth straight year! Though the boys got off to a slow start losing three of their first six matches, they then took off and won nine of their next 11, including one stretch with seven straight wins! They finished the season with an overall record of 11-7 and finished third in the WBAL.
Track and Field
“A small band of talented, hardworking athletes is a powerful force,” said coach Brian Dougall, and indeed he was right, as Harker track and field athletes posted impressive results at the WBAL varsity finals on May 12 in Daly City, even though they had one of the smaller squads in the league. Harker posted first-place results in the men’s 100, 200 and 3,200 meters, as well as the women’s 200 meters. Other top five finishes included men’s shot put and discus, and the women’s 800 meters, 1,600 meters and 3,200 meters. Said Dougall, “We had a young team this year and they will be back next year. So, watch out.”
Lower and Middle School Girls Volleyball
Big congratulations to the VA girls volleyball squad, who went undefeated all season, ending 8-0. “It was an amazing season with effort from every kid,” said coach Alisa Vinkour. “This is a very talented group of kids.”
The VB girls team posted impressive results this season, ending their league with a three-way tie for first place, with a win-loss record of 6-1. Coach Diana Melendez said the team had a positive attitude and a strong team spirit. “They were a fun group to work with and an eager-to-learn bunch, which made their learning process much more fun. They were dedicated and committed; considering the many activities Harker kids have, I was very pleased when almost all girls would attend practices and games.”
The VB2 girls team had a strong season, going 5-2 and placing third in their league.
The girls on the JVB1 team had a wonderful season, going 5-1 and finishing the season co-champions! “The girls played their hearts out, and I was very proud of all of them,” said coach Michelle Hopkins.
The grade 4 intramural team had an amazing time and built a strong foundation of skills to use in future years. “I am very proud of the progress the girls made from the first day of practice until the final practice,” said coach Patrick Hightower. “This team began the season as young girls who had never seen or touched a volleyball. They have progressed by making controlled passes and sets. By the end of the season, they were able to serve and receive a serve.” Good work, girls – we look forward to seeing you shine in future seasons!
Boys Volleyball
What a season it was for the boys varsity A team, who finished the season 10-1 and placed first in the ADAL (Art David Athletic League). “This is a tremendous accomplishment and a tribute to the volleyball talent here at Harker,” said coach Pete Anderson. “The team meshed and worked hard throughout the year.” This was the varsity A team’s first season in a boys volleyball league after many years playing as an independent.
Baseball
The JVA boys had a difficult season, going 0-5-1, with a tie in their last game against Menlo. “We continued to get better and better as the season went on,” said coach Matt Arensberg.
With only 11 players on the roster, the grade 5 JVB sluggers fought hard and ended the season 0-3 in league play. Coach Walid Fahmy said, “I am really looking forward to seeing the boys improve and get better next year as they move on to Blackford. Coach [Joe] Mentillo and I are very proud of each and every boy who came out for baseball and made this a memorable season.”
The grade 4 intramural team was superlative in their enthusiasm this year. “The boys’ passion for the game and their love of practicing and playing while challenging each other to improve was remarkable to witness on a daily basis,” said coach Jim McGovern. “Their dedication to working on fielding, hitting and base running was evident early on to Coach Wade and me, and the entire team improved their skills throughout the season.”
Tennis
A hearty congratulations to the varsity A girls tennis squad, who competed for the first time ever and pulled off a winning record of 4-1. “The girls performed to their best every match,” said coach Silvana Dukic. “Such enthusiasm, spirit and love for the game … I’m so proud of them! It was a pleasure to coach them.”
Water Polo
Kudos go to the middle school water polo squad, who finished fourth in their league.
This story was originally published in the spring 2012 issue of Harker Quarterly.
Upper School
Basketball
The boys varsity basketball team had an outstanding season, making the semifinal round for the first time in school history, where they lost to rival Sacred Heart Prep, ending their season at 18-9 overall. Girls varsity basketball made it nearly as far, losing in round two 53-49 to finish with a 17-9 overall record, 7-3 in league play.
Wrestling
Wrestlers Darian Edvalson, grade 10, and Corey Gonzales, grade 9, competed in the Central Coast Section championships held in late February at Independence High School, Edvalson in the 160 lb. weight class and Gonzales in the 106 lb. Though both lost their first round matches, “it was a great experience for both of them because they are young they have a chance to improve next season,” said coach Karriem Stinson.
Boys Soccer
“Boys soccer had a successful season in terms of what our program is trying to accomplish for the next few year,” said Shaun Tsakiris, the team’s coach. “Our soccer program continues to grow as we gain more and more interest about the sport on our campus. Our JV team had the best year in five years, and the coaching staff is really looking for our younger players to continue to develop and contribute in the years to come.
“Our season was not as successful in terms of wins and losses as we would have liked. Giving up points on a few tough home matches put us out of contention for playoffs which was disappointing, but our boys continued to show great personality, attitude and desire to improve throughout the season. My goal as the head coach at Harker is to continue to develop the soccer program and I think we are on the right path!” Tsakiris concluded.
Girls Soccer
Given that freshmen outnumbered the juniors and seniors combined this year, the girls’ season could have gone in any number of directions, said coach Jason Berry. “The senior leadership, however, combined with the spirit of 10 freshmen, paved the way for a rather smooth campaign.”
The lady Eagles won a key first-round game at a tournament in Bakersfield and finished fourth, and finished the season in third place at a tournament at Skyline, securing one first-team All-League player, three second-team All-League players, and a couple of honorable mentions. They finished the league season at 10-4-2, with an overall record of 11-6-3.
“As we look forward to both next season and beyond, we have much to expect,” added Berry. “We will certainly build upon the almost unprecedented success in terms of wins, but we will also grow the team’s recognition of tactical play in terms of shape of play. Looking ahead in years, we hope to build a more fluid relationship with the middle school program as well as continue the rich tradition of the Kicks Against Cancer program. In short, the girls program is on the cusp of the playoffs, and next season will prove to be quite telling.”
Lower and Middle School
Soccer
We had great results in lower and middle school sports this season. The grade 7 girls basketball team are champions, grade 5 girls basketball took second in championship play, and both the grade 7 and junior varsity B boys soccer teams finished first in their leagues. Congratulations to all hardworking teams, coaches and, of course, the supporting parents!
Basketball
Grade 8 (varsity A) girls basketball had a bit of a rough season but they never gave up and demonstrated amazing determination and fortitude. There was a vast amount of skill development and improved knowledge of the game demonstrated over the course of the season, and their coaches are all very proud of their effort and positive attitudes. Their final record was 0-9.
The Grade 7 girls basketball team (varsity B) finished the league season with a record of 7-2, good for a second place finish in WBAL regular-season play. They advanced through the playoffs to the championship game and defeated Priory in the finals of the WBAL tournament in mid- March, 18-10, to take the tournament championship, finishing 10-2 overall!
The Grade 6 girls basketball team (junior varsity A) finished the league season with a record of 6-3, earning them a fourth-place finish in the WBAL regular season. They lost early in the playoffs but triumphed in the consolation playoffs, taking first.
Grade 5 girls basketball (junior varsity B) finished the league season with a record of 5-1, earning second place by making the championship match in March (see the cover photo)! Their 28-6 victory over Woodland put them in the semifinals; then they defeated St. Matthews 41-14 to put them in the big match. After a tough game, they lost 18-10, but grew a foot along the way! Their final record is 7-2, with second place in league and second place in the WBAL tournament.
The junior varsity C girls basketball team finished with a record of 2-4.
Wrestling
Grade 6-8 wrestling had two matches this season. In the first they had consistent winners (6-0, 5-2, 4-1, 2-1, 2-1), but didn’t have enough wrestlers in any weight class to claim a victory. They participated in the New Brighton Classic on March 17 at Soquel High School, but results were unavailable at press time.
This article originally appeared in the spring 2012 Harker Quarterly.
Harker’s athletic department is making a concerted effort to make available the best sport-specific training possible to lower and middle school athletes. The integrated program will enhance player skills, introduce them to varsity coaches and training techniques and should result in higher caliber teams for Harker.
Solid Staff
The integration has become possible with the careful expansion of the athletic staff. Dan Molin, athletic director, joined Harker in 2005 and recognized the benefit of harnessing Harker’s potential for an integrated athletic program. “We’d like our younger athletes to see themselves contributing someday to the upper school program,” he said. “They see the wonderful student and coach role models in the upper school and want to emulate them.”
The integration, gradually introduced where appropriate over the last few years, provides a smooth transition for student athletes as they progress towards and enter the upper school. “The main goals are to have similar skills taught at the lower and middle school programs as are taught in the upper school programs,” Molin said. “When those students come to the upper school, there is a seamless transition regarding those skills.”
Molin is a certified athletic administrator, a member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association and a lifetime member of the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. At Harker he has led numerous athletic improvement projects, helped turn the football program around and coached the first boys athletic team to a Harker league championship.
One of his first steps was bringing a higher level of training to the varsity teams, and to that end, in 2007 Jaron Olson joined the department. Olson is a certified athletic trainer and a National Academy of Sports Medicine performance enhancement specialist.
The integration program took a long stride forward when Ron Forbes joined the athletic department in 2010. Forbes has national chops as a leader in developing winning athletic programs. He comes to Harker from Stanford University, where he was director of sports performance.
“Ron has been an outstanding addition to our athletic department,” said Molin. “He continually sets the bar to a higher standard.” In the last 15-plus years, Forbes has trained more than 60 athletes later drafted by the National Football League. He helped the University of Florida Gators to seven consecutive bowl games and helped Stanford secure its spot as one of the top teams in the NCAA’s PAC 10 division. His organizational ability and deep knowledge of sports programming give the athletic department the administrative depth to coordinate the additional program elements effectively.
Summer Sports Camps
Three programs – swimming, tennis and soccer – have long had summer camps that put athletes of all ages together, providing a de facto integrated program for each.
Swimming, a natural summer activity, benefitted from the opening of the Singh Aquatic Center at the upper school campus in 2008. This year a special competitive element, Junior Swim Team, was added for intermediate swimmers to practice competitive strokes and build endurance and fitness as part of a summer team.
The summer tennis program, directed by Harker’s tennis coach, Craig Pasqua (United States Professional Tennis Association certified), has been naturally integrated with the upper school tennis team as Pasqua trains young students during the summer, then sees them as they continue to compete and reach high school.
Competitive tennis players ages 6-18 train in the summer at Pasqua’s Harker Oakwood Tennis Training System (HOTTS), with team practices and interclub matches, in addition to instruction on advanced techniques, strategy, footwork and sports psychology. When students reach the upper school, they are fully acquainted with Pasqua’s methods and he with their strengths and weaknesses.
Harker also has long had a strong summer soccer program, drawing players from other schools and clubs, and enhancing the upper school’s soccer team, run by varsity coach Shaun Tsakiris. “My aim every year has been to create more and more of a buzz on campus about the sport,” says Tsakiris, a member of the 1997 U.S. National Team and winner of UCLA’s MVP Award in 2000. (For more on Tsakiris, see page 11.)
The Integration
Across the sports, integration has three elements. The first is a series of weekend training sessions during the season open to boys and girls in grades 4-8, run by varsity coaches. The middle school’s varsity A teams also practice with upper school teams. “I felt that it was extremely important for our lower and middle school athletes to see how we do things at the varsity level, see where we train and who we are as a coaching staff,” Tsakiris said. The soccer teams held an inaugural combined practice session in January, while girls basketball weekend training sessions for lower and middle school students started in early February. In addition, upper school track coaches will help with middle school track meets, and Molin, as boys varsity volleyball coach, plans to run training sessions with the grade 8 boys volleyball team.
The training sessions have enjoyed great attendance, with the basketball sessions attracting as many as 28 lower school and middle school athletes, said Molin.
Alfredo Alves, girls varsity basketball coach, noted the age groups mesh well. “At the workouts we have all four high school coaches and some varsity girls each week,” he said. “The varsity girls know everything we do and how we run things, so the coaches have full trust in the high school kids to teach the younger kids, and I feel like that is a key component to the workouts.”
“We were able to get the girls basketball clinics and boys soccer training sessions up and running for the third sports season of our lower and middle school calendar,” said Theresa “Smitty” Smith, the athletic director for grades 4-8. “Last season coach Butch Keller invited members of the lower and middle school boys basketball teams to sit on the bench at his upper school varsity basketball games.”
In addition, Smith said, “Wrestling coach Karriem Stinson runs middle school wrestling prior to upper school wrestling practice with a slight overlap so middle schoolers are integrated with upper schoolers. In the fall, we ran a grade 7 and 8 flag football tournament at the Saratoga campus, and the upper school football players helped out with everything from chain gang to scoring to clean up.”
There are other overlaps being added as schedules and personnel sync up. “In the fall,” Smith said, “upper school softball coach Raul Rios also coached the middle school softball team, and this spring we will have members of the upper school girls volleyball coaching staff, Alisa Vinkour and Diana Melendez, coach our middle school girls volleyball teams.”
Also this spring upper school water polo coaches Ted Ujifusa (boys) and Amelia Lamb (girls) will be coaching the middle school water polo teams.
New Programs
One of the jewels of the program is the new Harker Football School, taking place on Davis Field, March through May. The coed school is open to students from any school, grades 6-8, looking to improve their skills.
Forbes, who directs the football school, noted that the school has made the commitment to develop stronger players. “Success in producing football players who can compete on the highest level is the direct result of a consistent commitment to developing athletes who are sound in the fundamental skills of their respective positions,” he said. The athletic department is applying that maxim to as many sports as it can by presenting advanced techniques to younger players.
The second integration element is the plethora of sports camps Harker is running this summer. Along with tennis, swimming and soccer are now volleyball, football, basketball and water polo camps all run by Harker varsity coaches (see page 8 for details or visit www.harker.org).
In addition, Harker’s Summer Sports Conditioning (formerly Eagle Iron), a drop-in program that lasts most of the summer, meets daily and is managed by Olsen, Forbes and Smith.
The third element is the outreach upper school athletes do to the middle and lower school campuses, visiting to read or to help deliver core value messages along with school administrators. In addition, at the end of November, about 40 upper school athletes joined middle school students for lunch to get them excited about high school sports.
The advantages of the system are straightforward, said Molin. First, athletes will grow into their sports faster, gaining confidence and the ability to become better players – all good for the students’ personal growth. Second, the system will help Harker sports programs as coaches are better able to build on strengths and eliminate weaknesses of athletes, as well as better plan team play as skills build and are refined.
“We want there to be familiarity with the upper school program when students enter,” said Molin. “And naturally this will make our teams more competitive.”
Upper and middle school baseball players and coaches took a group trip to Oakland on Monday to watch the A’s trounce the Angels 2-1. The evening bonding trip was sponsored by Kari Wolff, mother of Drew Goldstein, grade 11, and Arthur Goldstein, grade 8. The group was lucky enough to enjoy the game in a luxury suite, owned by Lew Wolff (Kari Wolff’s father). Harker athletics organizes crossover get-togethers like these specifically to foster a sense of connectivity between the upper school and middle school teams, in conjunction with an overall program goal to connect campuses across all sports. Here’s to many more bonding trips in the near future!