Players from Pacifica (right) and Crean Lutheran meet for the coin toss before last year’s game. (File photo: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone)
Through very tough, challenging and unprecedented times, Orange County athletes and coaches continue to inspire us.
All week long, we’ve been reading social media posts on Twitter from coaches and athletes about how excited they have been about athletic camps. Some are resuming camps that were postponed while others are just beginning their’s.
Football coaches from Aliso Niguel, Laguna Hills and San Juan Hills (which won the CIF Division 4 crown last year) have been among the coaches providing updates.
The proposed high school fall seasons are still quite a ways off but all these athletes are showing great attitudes and work ethic so that they are ready.
It’s too early, of course, to predict whether sports such as volleyball, water polo and cross country will start in December and football will begin in January.
A lot has to happen for those seasons to occur, including the lowering of daily coronavirus cases in Orange County. If approval is eventually given, numerous safety precautions will need to be in place.
But athletes aren’t waiting: they’re getting ready now and we can all follow their lead.
In stark contrast to what we’ve been reporting on since March, we have had some good news to report this week.
We’ve been pleased to provide a couple updates on high school football this week, starting with a detailed report from Esperanza Coach Wes Choate.
He’s staying positive, looking to fill the losses of key players. Choate led his squad to the CIF Division 13 crown last year.
On Thursday, former Woodbridge softball coach Alan Dugard celebrated his 88th birthday, and indicated he’s healthy and looking forward to returning as an assisting coach next spring.
Dugard is also working out about 45 minutes a day before a daily walk, and he’s also taken up piano.
That’s inspiration.
Then on Friday, Laguna Hills football coach Mike Maceranka provided an update on the Hawks. He hasn’t seen his players since March, so this week’s football camp was extra special. Maceranka said this group of seniors is aming for a league title.
We ended the week with news that Crean Lutheran High School will begin its athletic training on Tuesday, Sept. 8.
We welcome your sports news and would like to share more news like this with our readers in the coming weeks as we can continue our regular publication schedule at a time which normally would be filled with Thursday and Friday night high school football. We remain committed to our communities but need story ideas from you (please send to timburt@ocsportszone.com).
A week like this deserves one more look!
Send your sports news to timburt@ocsportszone.com
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