Finnish Line Looking Up at Pomona-Pitzer

Coach Motts Thomas of Pomona-Pitzer’s football team had to go a long way to come up with one of his assistant coaches.

About 5,500 miles.

That’s because the tight end coach for the Sagehens, Antti Hemminki, is a native of Finland.

Actually, it was more a case of Hemminki coming to Thomas.

Hemminki, 25, had played cornerback for the Helsinki Giants of the Finnish National League--a team that Thomas has coached or helped coach the last seven years.

But Hemminki has also been a coach with Helsinki’s junior team the last four seasons and wanted to learn more about the intricacies of the sport.

“One year ago I spoke to Coach Thomas and told him I’d like to come here to learn a little more about the game,” Hemminki said.

So Thomas asked Hemminki to become an assistant with the Sagehens.

The difficult part was making the proper financial arrangements to make the move.

“I got some money from my country, and that was the biggest thing that enabled me to come here and start coaching,” Hemminki said. “I finally came here last August, and I’ve been here a little more than two months.”

In his short time with the Sagehens, Thomas says, Hemminki has made progress.

“He has turned out to be a pretty good coach,” Thomas said. “He has already learned a lot. I think we’ve given him a good idea of what football is all about in this country.”

Added Hemminki: “I think the one thing I’ve learned is how the little things fit together. There are many coaching techniques that I couldn’t have learned in Finland. You just see everything come together right in front of you, and that has made it a very worthwhile experience.”

What has been the most difficult part of the game for Hemminki to learn?

“Before I came here, I think the thing I really had to learn about was blocking assignments, but I think I am much better at that now,” he said.

Hemminki said he has noticed distinct differences in the way the game is played in the United States and Finland.

“It’s mostly the speed and reaction time,” he said. “They’re not as fast and they don’t react as well in Finland. That might be because they don’t understand the game as much in Finland, so their reactions are not as quick as they are here.”

He has also noticed the differences between life in the United States and Finland.

“It’s been an adjustment, being in the U.S., and I like it but it is different from Finland,” he said.

But for the most part, he doesn’t have any complaints.

“I would say it’s been excellent, both from learning about American football and with the atmosphere in America and Los Angeles,” Hemminki said. “It’s been such a great experience.”

Hemminki will head back to Helsinki in the middle of January, although Thomas hopes to have more coaches from Finland.

“It’s a 100% positive situation, and we definitely want to do it again,” he said.

The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football title probably will be on the line when Redlands plays Occidental at 7 p.m. Saturday in Eagle Rock.

Redlands, defending conference champion and an NCAA Division III playoff participant last season, is 4-0 in the SCIAC and 5-1 overall. Occidental is 3-0 and 5-1.

Redlands appears to be peaking at the right time. The Bulldogs have outscored their last two opponents by 101-21 and beat Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday, 54-3.

The Bulldogs also have the top two rushers in the conference in Curt Landreth and Sean Trejo. Landreth rushed for 172 yards and scored five touchdowns in the Redlands victory over Pomona.

Although a victory would go a long way toward a conference championship for either team, both schools might be hard-pressed to reach the Division III playoffs, since neither is listed in the top six in the West Region in the latest national rankings.

The top four teams in each of four regions are expected to make the Division III playoffs.

The Cal State Dominguez Hills women’s soccer team might have seen its hopes of reaching the NCAA Division II playoffs disappear in a 1-0 loss in overtime to top-ranked Sonoma State last week in Rohnert Park.

Dominguez Hills (12-4-1) began the game ranked No. 6 in the division. The Toros are tied for first with Cal Poly Pomona at 4-1 in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn., with their conference finale against Chapman on Wednesday.

Only six teams will make the playoffs. The pairings will be announced Monday.

College Division Notes

Cal Lutheran clinched the SCIAC women’s soccer championship in its first year in the conference with two one-sided victories last week. The Regals defeated Occidental, 10-0, and La Verne, 11-0, to improve to 11-0 in SCIAC play and 14-3 overall. Cal Lutheran, ranked 18th in the NCAA Division III, hopes to be selected to the playoffs when pairings are announced Sunday. . . . Sophomore forward Rachel Wackerman of the Cal Lutheran women’s soccer team needs five goals to move up to 10th in the NCAA in all-time goals. She has 59, including 29 this season, after scoring three in each of her team’s victories last week.

Occidental is the favorite in the men’s division and Occidental and Pomona-Pitzer are regarded as the top title threats in the women’s field going into the SCIAC cross-country meet Saturday at Prado Park in Chino. . . . Running back Cassidy O’Sullivan of Cal Lutheran surpassed 100 yards rushing for the third consecutive game in his team’s 33-7 victory over Claremont-Mudd last Saturday. O’Sullivan rushed for 111 yards and has 686 this season.

For the first time in school history, UC Riverside’s four fall athletic teams are listed in the latest NCAA top 20 polls. The Highlanders are rated No. 7 in women’s volleyball, No. 13 in women’s cross-country, No. 18 in men’s cross-country and No. 20 in water polo. Riverside competes in Division II in all of the sports except water polo, which has a single division. . . . With two games remaining in the CCAA season, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is one point ahead of Cal State San Bernardino in the standings. San Luis Obispo is 6-1-2 and San Bernardino 6-2. San Luis Obispo has an important match against third-place Cal State Bakersfield on Wednesday.