Artists Cut Short Practice to Help Their Community

Mike Roche and his Laguna Beach High football team were getting ready for practice Wednesday afternoon when they looked across their field and saw several fires burning at the top of the canyon.

In minutes, the players and coaching staff stripped off their practice gear and joined the rest of the student body in helping the community fight the fires that devastated their city.

“I know many of my players lost their homes, but they still put everything aside and helped do whatever they could,” said Roche, who has taught at the school for 20 years. “They helped unite many of the kids with their parents, assisted senior citizens and pitched in wherever they could. It was incredible teamwork all around.”

Roche said that by 3:30 p.m. Wednesday the football field was filled with cars of families who had no where else to park them. Smoke and ashes filled the air and it was easy to see houses consumed by flames.

Fearful for the safety of his own house and family, Roche found his two daughters, Jennifer and Jessica, and drove to their house in nearby Alta Laguna.

“It was a tough, slow drive home,” Roche said. “My daughters run cross-country, and the course they run on was completely gone. Luckily, our house was safe.”

Roche is in his first year as football coach, and the Artists won their first league game in four years last Friday by beating Estancia, 28-27. They were scheduled to play Century Saturday night at the Santa Ana Bowl, but the coach did not know if his team would be up for the task.

“I haven’t spoken to any of my players at this point,” Roche said from his home Thursday morning. “I figure about 10 of my 35 players are homeless right now, so I’m not sure how important a football game will be. But keeping them busy might be a good thing. It could be a rallying point for the community.”

While Roche was busy figuring out his next move Thursday, longtime Laguna Beach resident Dick Leach spent the day in his office taking stock of his few remaining possessions.

Leach, the men’s tennis coach at USC, lost his Emerald Bay home in ravaging fires that leveled nearly everything in his neighborhood. He said all he had left is a pair of jogging shorts.

“I don’t even have a checkbook,” he said.

Among his losses are 14 years’ worth of mementos from his USC coaching career, which produced NCAA team championships in 1991 and 1993. Mementos from the tennis careers of his sons, Rick, a two-time NCAA champion in doubles at USC in 1986 and 1987 and a current professional player, and Jon, a USC senior and All-American, were burned as well.

Leach was at practice at about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday when his wife, Sandy, called, saying that the fire seemed to be threatening their home. The flames moved so quickly that Sandy had just enough time to grab their dog, jump in the car and drive to safety.

Leach left practice to go home but was denied access to the area, so he drove back to USC, where he spent the night at Jon’s off-campus apartment. Sandy spent the night at the Corona del Mar High Evacuation Center.

Leach said the sense of loss was overwhelming: “It’s like losing your wallet times a zillion.”