Coach in Search of Captain Courageous

Selecting a team captain is not a precise science for high school coaches.

Some let their players vote. Others choose a captain based on leadership skills demonstrated in preseason workouts.

Kelly Clark, the football coach at Traverse City Central High in Michigan, has come up with an elaborate process for choosing captains.

First, he’s requiring players to apply for the position.

He posted the job on the football display case: “Leaders wanted, apply here.”

Among the job qualifications are “commitment to leadership, off-season commitment to strength and conditioning program, possession of mental toughness in difficult situations, maintaining emotional flexibility, maintaining emotional strength.”

Players interested in the position had to submit a resume, then show up in suit and tie to endure a 20-minute interview process before a panel of coaches.

Twelve players applied, 11 juniors and one sophomore.

“One kid thought it was real dumb,” Clark said. “A lot have come up [and said], ‘Yeah, that was a great idea.’ ”

Clark said poor leadership by captains in the past caused him to resort to closer scrutiny in the selection process.

“When they get up after their interview, you can see the back of their chair has sweat and you shake their hands and it’s a little sweaty,” he said. “They’re fielding some tough questions.”

Clark will make his decision early next year.

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Baseball scouts already are polishing their radar guns in anticipation of an expected March 7 showdown at Glendora High between two of the top left-handed pitchers in Southern California.

If all goes as planned, the opening night game of the Glendora tournament will feature Cal State Fullerton-bound Chuck Tiffany of Covina Charter Oak pitching against Long Beach State-bound Brandon Villalobos of Glendora. The next night, Crescenta Valley, with sophomore right-hander Trevor Bell, will take on two-time defending Division IV champion La Puente Bishop Amat.

As for Tiffany, Charter Oak Coach Richard Escalera said, “He’s really come around immensely. He’s going to be throwing 94, 95 miles per hour. He’s one of those special kids.”

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Outfielder Delmon Young of Camarillo High is ranked No. 2 among the top 350 prospects for 2003 by Baseball America magazine. Pitcher Jared Hughes of Santa Margarita is No. 3.

Other top Southern California prospects include No. 36 Ian Stewart of Westminster La Quinta, No. 37 Tiffany, No. 40 Ian Kennedy of Westminster La Quinta, No. 46 Brennan Boesch of North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake and No. 69 Jo Jo Reyes of Riverside Poly.

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Bill Griffin, who was the key blocker for tailback Tyler Ebell when Ebell set a national single-season rushing record in 2000 at Ventura High, has signed with Florida. Griffin started at center for Ventura College this season.

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Recruiting and integrity are two words that don’t usually go together, but they describe UCLA assistant football coach Gary Bernardi, who just completed his ninth season with the Bruins.

Bernardi, who also has worked at USC, is waiting to see if new Coach Karl Dorrell retains him. The high school coaches who have worked with Bernardi know his value. And the parents who have welcomed him into their homes know his word means something.

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It’s not too early to promote West Covina as one of the most underrated boys’ basketball teams. Under Coach Boston Shima, the Bulldogs won the El Monte Arroyo and Chino Hills Ayala tournament championships.

West Covina (7-3) has only one player in its rotation taller than 6-foot-1. It’s a senior-dominated team that plays excellent man-to-man defense and relies on the strong guard play of Corey McIntosh (Arroyo tournament MVP), Kevin Avar (Ayala tournament MVP) and Jabir Jinna.

The Bulldogs also have a female assistant coach, Monica Peters, who’s the sister of former Pepperdine player Jelani Gardner.

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What has happened to Los Angeles Manual Arts, which used to compete on a yearly basis for the City boys’ basketball championship? The Toilers are 2-8 and have lost games by 49 and 51 points this season.

On Thursday morning in the Hart tournament, only five players showed up for a 9 a.m. game. Coach Greg Brewnick missed the game because of a back injury. Two assistants ran the team.

Manual Arts won City titles most recently in 1981, 1990 and 1999.

There’s no excuse for this proud program to slip to such a mediocre level.

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Eric Sondheimer can be reached at

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com