High School Notebook : No Matter Where, These Players Can’t Make Themselves at Home
The homeless home team is really homeless this season. Since 1960, University of San Diego High School, which doesn’t have its own football field, had played home games at the University of San Diego--until this season.
Patrick Murphy, the school’s athletic director, severed the arrangement with USD this fall because he felt it was too one-sided.
“There was a clause in our contract that said if they felt we would damage the field, they could cancel our game,” Murphy said.
According to Murphy, USDHS was forced to change sites three times last year and twice in 1986. And there wasn’t always much advance warning.
For example, USDHS homecoming plans last year went awry when USD forced USDHS to change sites the day of the game. It was supposed to have been at USD. By early Friday afternoon, it had to be switched to Clairemont High School--to be played later Friday afternoon.
“It doesn’t make the best situation for home attendance,” Murphy said. He said he expected a crowd of 6,000 for last year’s homecoming game and that about 200 showed up.
“That was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Murphy said. “It was tough. We had people coming in from out of town--former cheerleaders, players, alumni . . . and the game had already been played that afternoon.”
USDHS technically has four home games this year--one played Sept. 16 against Hoover at Patrick Henry, plus games against La Jolla Oct. 14 and Mission Bay Oct. 28 at Mesa College and against University City Nov. 10 at Madison.
“Aside from a natural disaster, we’re guaranteed these games will go on,” Murphy said.
But Murphy figures the school will lose about $5,000 this season on concessions alone. At USD, USDHS was able to keep the money from snack concessions. At the other locations, the other schools keep it.
Poway became the first San Diego high school girls’ volleyball team to win a Los Angeles tournament, when it won the Glendale Hoover Kiwanis tournament Sept. 24. Poway came out of pool play with a 9-1 record and defeated Thousand Oaks, 15-10, in the semifinals and Bishop Montgomery 15-10, 18-16 in the finals.
Poway’s Amy Boyer, a junior setter, was named tournament most valuable player for the second time this season. Shannon Griffin and Paige Smith were named to the all-tournament team.
“It was unbelievable,” said Lisa Reis, Poway coach. “My goal the last five years was just to get out of pool play.”
She said the Los Angeles teams began cheering for Poway in the finals, and that players from top-seeded San Gabriel, which was knocked out, were the biggest fans.
Notes
In its first four games, all victories, Rancho Buena Vista rushed for 1,628 yards--an average of 407 a game. The Longhorns completed 5 of 9 passes for 129 yards and 2 touchdowns.
