by Robert Boucher
Coming off an 8-11 loss to Fremont in their season opener, the Harker boy’s varsity water polo team played their first home game on Wednesday against the Santa Clara High Broncos.
Harker kept within two goals for most of the game. The score was tied 11-11 with just over eight seconds remaining when the Broncos got the game-winning goal.
The Eagles are now 0-2 in league play. They travel to Wilcox on Tuesday at 3 p.m. and their next home game is Thurs., Sept. 22 at 6 p.m. against Lynbrook.
MercuryNews.com recently published a story about Harker’s 41-6 victory over Emery on Sept 9, highlighting quarterback Spenser Quash’s four touchdown tosses, three of them to wide receiver Daanish Jamal, grade 12, and one to senior Avinash Patel. The story also notes that Quash, grade 11, was five for seven passing with 48 total yards. Zach Ellenberg, grade 12, subbed for Quash in the second half and threw a three-yard touchdown to Patel to put the game away. The win puts the Eagles at 2-0 on the season. In their first game of the season against San Jose High, Quash had two touchdown passes in the Eagles’ 34-13 victory.
As noted today in the San Jose Mercury News, Harker football is in a new league this year. The team will compete in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL), joining Harker’s boys volleyball, water polo and wrestling teams. Football teams from schools in the new league include Cupertino, Fremont, Lynbrook, Monta Vista, Santa Clara and Gunn high schools. Since many of these schools are geographically closer to Harker than past opponents, new bleachers on the visitor side of the field were added this summer to Davis Field. The San Jose Mercury article has an extensive appreciation of the team’s returning players and prospects for the season. Be sure to come watch the team in action at home and away, and don’t miss Homecoming, Nov. 11!
Over the summer, sabreur Regina Chen, grade 10, finished third out of 89 competitors in her age group and weapon at the Summer National Fencing Championships in Reno. Ranked 29th going in, she seeded 30th after pools and upset the 19th-ranked fencer to advance to the final eight. There, she defeated the sixth-ranked fencer to reach the semifinals where she was defeated by the ultimate national champion, leaving her tied for third place. Chen is now ranked 26th in the U.S. in points. With that finish, Chen earned an A-2011 rating, the first A rating held by any fencer from Harker! In addition, Chen has been named to the 2010-11 First Team of the USA Fencing All-Academic Team for having a GPA of 3.85 or greater. Chen also competes throughout the year at local tournaments and won the gold medal in her event at the Super Youth Circuit tournament held in San Jose in March. She trains at and competes for Cardinal Fencing Club on the Stanford campus.
Jacob Chappell ’11 has been recognized for his prowess on the volleyball court by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). Chappell was named to the Second All-American team, and was recognized primarily for his excellent defensive play as a middle blocker and his consistent performances. The AVCA, whose mission is “to advance the sport of volleyball and its coaches,” has published an All-American Team every year for the last five years. This is Chappell’s first selection.
Three members of the Harker community participated in the Silicon Valley Youth Classic 37th Charlie Wedemeyer All-Star Football Game on July 20 at San Jose State University’s Spartan Stadium. Harker coach Karriem Stinson was named head coach of the North squad, while new graduates Rishi Bhatia and Gautam Krishnamurthi were selected to the team. The team, about 45 strong, practiced on Davis Field prior to the game and played a tough game, losing 24-13. The San Jose Mercury covered the event and included a photo of Bhatia shaking hands with Lucy Wedemeyer, widow of Charlie.
After a historic season, Harker’s girls softball team picked up another honor this season when they had a player named to the San Jose Mercury News’ all-star roster. Alison Rugar, a sophomore, was named to the roster for her outstanding performance this year as a pitcher. She pitched 10 strikeouts against Notre Dame and consistently brought energy and enthusiasm for the game to the team.
Harker softball has been recognized for team and individual excellence and this season took its performances to new heights – it qualified for the Central Coast Section softball tournament for the first time in its history. We congratulate Rugar and the team on their accomplishments, and are looking forward to watching them capitalize on this momentum next season.
This article was originally published in the Harker Quarterly Summer 2011 Edition
Harker tennis director Craig Pasqua is not your regular tennis coach. “It‘s not just about teaching good tennis,” he says. “It‘s about teaching kids to become better, more responsible young adults and take their place in society through the game of tennis.”
Pasqua‘s coaching philosophy centers around development – both physical and mental – and his mission is to give as many children as possible the opportunity to play the game.
Pasqua graduated from Stanford University in 1986 with a degree in psychology and decision sciences. He played tennis for De Anza College after graduation and was for several years the national champion of the Native American Indian Tennis Association. He began coaching professionally in 2000 and has been with Harker since 2003.
Along with coaching the girls‘ and boys‘ varsity tennis squads in the upper school, Pasqua offers four levels of after-school tennis programs available to Harker and non-Harker students. Pasqua teaches at the Oakwood Tennis Center, which is located just down the street from Harker‘s Saratoga campus.
HOTTS, or Harker/Oakwood Tennis Training System, is Pasqua‘s central program. HOTTS introduces players to competitive tennis in a team-oriented environment. It is also very convenient for Harker students. Not only is it aligned with Harker‘s academic calendar, but HOTTS coaches escort Blackford students to Oakwood, and a shuttle is available for Saratoga students.
The first level is the QuickStart Junior Team Tennis League, a program designed for kids aged 6 to 10. Court dimensions are shortened, and the students use shorter racquets and slower balls. These changes help younger kids to learn because they can more quickly play “real” tennis. There is less focus on learning the strokes and rote technical repetition, and more emphasis on fun.
From QuickStart, students move on to Believe and Achieve, a program appropriate for beginner and lower intermediate tennis players ready to play on a full-sized court.
For the most advanced players, Pasqua offers the Intercollegiate Player Development Program (IPD). Acceptance to the program is by approval only, and it is meant to prepare students for tough, competitive, tournament play, as well as college tennis. “Some kids don‘t believe they have the skills necessary for college play,” says Pasqua, “but I believe in them, and I know they can do it.”
Pasqua believes in all his students and says that out of everything he does in tennis, his favorite activity is coaching. “I enjoy seeing the kids develop, and the lessons they learn on the tennis court transfer well into life skills. They learn how to problem solve, how to make decisions, how to prioritize. They learn how to be social and talk with other kids. Some of the most enduring friendships I‘ve ever made have been on a tennis court, and I‘m almost positive that’s what‘s going to happen to them as well.”
Apart from coaching at Harker and Oakwood, Pasqua keeps very busy with volunteer efforts. “I think it‘s very important to be a good role model for the kids,” says Pasqua. For the past three years, Pasqua has volunteered at the U.S. Open Arthur Ashe Kids‘ Day. This year he gave lessons for the USTA Serves Foundation, which supports programs that serve at-risk children and people with disabilities.
Pasqua is on the board of the Santa Clara Indian Health Center, the second largest community health clinic in Santa Clara County. He also founded a 501(c)3 corporation in 1996 called Standing Tall Tennis, through which Pasqua has taught tennis to more than 8,000 people in 21 states, many on Indian reservations.
In addition to coaching and his volunteer efforts, Pasqua works at keeping his coaching skills sharp. He recently spent a week at the Sanchez-Casal Academy in Naples, Fla., where Pasqua worked with Emilio Sanchez, producer of some of the top tennis players in the world, and adapted his drills and systems for Pasqua‘s own Harker/Oakwood programs.
Students are already seeing results. Harker student Shwetha Bharadwaj, grade 9, is a member of the IPD program and on the girls‘ varsity squad. “I‘ve improved tremendously,” says Bharadwaj. “[Coach Pasqua] does these new drills, and they strengthen me not only physically, but now I‘m smarter with my shots. I know when to hit what kind of shot.” Bharadwaj is appreciative of Pasqua‘s expertise. “He‘s extremely smart, very intelligent. The style [of tennis] he teaches us really helps because most of the girls out there don‘t know it.”
While Pasqua loves seeing his students improve, he says his true joy comes from seeing personal growth. “Kids come back after college and tell me how some adversity they encountered on the tennis court helped them get through something personal in their lives.” It truly is about more than just the tennis.
All four tennis programs are offered year-round, with special camps in the summer. For more information, visit Harker Tennis at www.harker.org and search on “athletics”; or contact tennis@harker.org
Jason Martin ’07 has been recognized for his contributions to the San Jose State University (SJSU) baseball team at their annual senior day. Martin, who was a standout player for the Harker varsity baseball team, is one of the most successful players in SJSU’s history and has been recognized many times for both his onfield prowess and his dedication to his studies. Martin finished as the Spartan’s all-time leader in hits, runs scored, games played and at-bat appearances. Martin, who majored in psychology and minored in kinesiology, also graduated as a three-time San Jose State Scholar-Athlete and two time Academic All-WAC athlete, a testament to his efforts in the classroom.
Martin, whose father is Harker’s executive chef, Steve Martin, began his career with the Spartans as a walk-on player whose mind-set was to work hard and earn his spot on the roster every day. He has said that he learned his work-hard mentality from his parents and that he plays 100 percent whenever he’s on the field. In an interview with the SJSU news, Martin said, “In my mind that is how the game should be played … with maximum effort. If I come home from practice and I’m not really that tired, it bothers me. If I am spending time out there, practicing or playing in a game, I want to get something done.” It is this mentality that has enabled Martin to achieve so much while playing for the Spartans and it was those accomplishments that were honored on Senior Day in May to mark the end of a remarkable collegiate baseball career.
With summer fast approaching we thought it would be fun to share some Harker summer memories with you from our archives!
A summer program brochure from 1920 describes a schedule of morning academics, military drills, calisthenics, swimming, baseball and hikes. In the late ’20s and into the ’40s, brochures touted an academic “Coaching Program” in Palo Alto with morning classes in arithmetic, spelling, composition, reading and penmanship, followed by an 11:30 – 12 military drill and an afternoon of exercise and daily swimming. Harker also hosted a recreational camp at Camp Eldorado at Lake Alpine in the Sierra where the boys slept in tent cabins and ate in a log cabin mess hall. Fishing, archery, swimming and campfire programs were offered, and popular activities included bike and horseback riding, bugling, rifle practice and boating at the Palo Alto Yacht Harbor and at Lake Alpine.
We have few summer program records from the early decades of Miss Harker’s School. However, by the 1950s the summer program featured Puppet Pantomime, an original variety show presented by the children, Aquacade in the school pool, arts, crafts and woodworking. By the 1960s – after Major Nichols purchased the school – the Harker Day School featured a six-week program of “Academics, Recreation, and Just Plain Fun!”
After the move to the Saratoga campus in 1972 and into the 1980s, Harker’s summer school continued to offer academic enrichment, recreation and sports for boys and girls in both boarding and day programs. Activities included archery, dance, drama, martial arts and weight training, and an ESL program was added with boarding students coming from around the world.
In the ’90s Harker began offering extended trips such as Fields of Dreams – A Midwest Baseball Tour and Excellent Adventure in San Diego. Non-academic classes such as Hands on Science, Friendly French and performing arts workshops were offered in the morning. A three-week Club Harker session was added at the end of the original five-week camp offering families even more options, providing a more relaxed format of the regular program, as well as offering World Camp, an intensive English instruction that ended with a California Caravan Tour.
Today, Harker continues to offer fun and famous summer programs, including the newly formed Summer Institute and Summer Conservatory. Years from now we’ll reminisce about our climbing wall, Ray (the summer camp cartoon mascot), Kindercamp and the infamous Dan Gelineau and Miss Kelly – stay tuned!