Canyons Set for Opening Kickoff

The national boom in women’s soccer provided Phil Marcellin with his job and, at the same time, has made it more difficult.

Marcellin, coach of the first-year women’s team at College of the Canyons, is enjoying the honeymoon that comes with a new program. Low expectations, unbridled enthusiasm and new equipment and facilities abound at the Valencia campus.

However, Marcellin also faces a stiff challenge.

While nearby rivals Ventura and Moorpark have all of Ventura County from which to recruit, and Bakersfield has a pool of 23 high schools in its district, Marcellin can make initial contact only with recruits from the four high schools in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Even more daunting, female graduates of Hart, Valencia, Saugus and Canyon highs have several hundred NCAA Division I women’s soccer programs to choose from. That number was fewer than 75 at the start of the decade.

“The biggest hurdle has been getting people,” said Marcellin, who expects to have about 20 players when the Cougars open practice. “With women right now, so many colleges are starting programs that many people are matriculating straight to four-year schools. We’ve had to get out there and work hard to talk to people and get them to come here.”

Marcellin, 31, has assembled a largely anonymous bunch ranging in age from 17 to 34.

Teleana Baltad, a recent Canyon High graduate who was a second-team All-Foothill League goalkeeper, has the highest profile.

But Marcellin said star power is not an issue in Canyons’ first season. Tenacious play and discernible growth are what he wants his team to display.

“Results are not as important as meeting the goal that we go out and compete well,” Marcellin said. “Frankly, I’m not sure how we’ll do. We could be in the middle of the pack or fighting for the final playoff berth.”

Canyons, which plays its first game Sept. 3 at College of the Sequoias in Visalia, will compete in the 10-team Western State Conference. The top three teams receive state playoff berths.

The Cougars figure to be better than traditional doormats Oxnard, Hancock and Santa Monica but a level below two-time defending champion Ventura.

Regardless of how well the program floats, Marcellin is just happy to be aboard Canyons’ ship. He spent five years as a part-time employee at Bakersfield, where his teams compiled a 58-29-18 record and won the WSC title in 1994.

Marcellin jumped at the chance to become a full-time faculty member at Canyons, despite a 72-mile commute from Bakersfield to Valencia he has been making since his hiring in January.

“Getting the chance to start a program from scratch is a pretty neat thing,” said Marcellin, who plans to move to the Santa Clarita Valley. “Getting hired [full-time] at Bakersfield just wasn’t happening and I needed some security for my family.”

Marcellin said his program’s budget is about $30,000. Cal State Northridge began its NCAA Division I program in 1995 with $65,000, about $26,000 earmarked for scholarships.

Included in Canyons’ start-up is a new soccer field adjacent to the football stadium.

Marcellin said the field will be available for Canyons’ home opener Sept. 11 against Santa Barbara.

*

Another coach facing an uphill battle is Mike Scanlon, Oxnard College women’s coach, who was fired at Moorpark last year.

Scanlon, 52, guided Moorpark to a 26-5-4 record in two seasons and the 1995 WSC title, but administrators did not rehire him, handing his team and a full-time faculty position to Jen Cowper. Scanlon had been a part-time employee.

Hired at Oxnard in June, Scanlon inherited a team that has not won a game since 1994, when it finished 2-13-1. The Condors have won five WSC games in seven years, but none since 1991.

“This may be my first losing season but we’re not going winless,” he said. “My first goal is to win a game. Part of the battle is to get [a victory] and give the players some encouragement.”