L.A. GAMES : High School Coaches Take Glimpse at the Future

Although high school athletes were the focus of the 23rd L.A. Games at El Camino College Saturday, coaches may have been the real beneficiaries.

They got a chance to look at the future.

The annual Olympic-style competition, sponsored by the Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce, is held over the last two weekends in June and involves more than 10,000 Southern California athletes. The high schools bring players who have yet to graduate, and the competition provides off-season insight into problems coaches will see in the fall.

Head coaches Paul Knox and Gene McAdoo of last year’s City 4-A football champion, Dorsey High School, saw some of the past in a passing-game victory over Carson, 7-6.

“We had played them close since 1985, but got a few bad breaks in those close games. . . . Our kids always believed we could win it,” Knox said.

The games originated after the 1965 Watts riots and allow athletes to compete with those from other cultural backgrounds.

La Canada girls volleyball Coach Bobbie Estas has extra incentive, even if she will get no insight.

“The games mean a lot to me because I’m leaving the school (to teach at Saugus High),” Estas said.

Estas is finishing her 13th year as head coach for the Spartans. It’s kind of like our farewell performance because two of the players are moving out of the area.”

Estas teaches in the Regional Occupational Program.

In their first match Saturday, La Canada defeated defending Southern Section 3-A champion Arcadia, 14-12, 9-11, 12-10.

Estas says this was a big victory because her team practiced only a few days before the competition, and the Spartans lost a few strong players to graduation.

“A lot of times you’re here competing without some of your key players,” Estas said.

La Canada has been dominant in the Rio Hondo League for the past few seasons, partly because of the dedication of such players as senior setter Kim Tibbets, who plays with a hearing impairment.

Tibbets, who is legally deaf, is a returning varsity player relying on her visual ability while concentrating in a game.

“She turns off her hearing aides before she plays,” Estas said.