SPORTS

Pioneer’s Man on fire

After carving out a role off the bench for Pioneer basketball last year, Nolan Maggipinto
looks to lead the new-look Mustangs with the same fire, energy in ‘05-’06

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Writer

Meet the new Energizer Bunny. No, he’s not running around with white fur, beating a drum and wearing sunglasses. Instead, he’s a 5-foot, 11-inch guard for the Pioneer basketball team.

Pioneer guard Nolan Maggipinto (with ball) has made a name for himself in the Mt. Hamilton Division by being the team’s best man-on-man defender. Maggipinto, known also for his energetic play, said he hates losing above all else. Photos by Amanda Brittingham

He is Nolan Maggipinto, an incoming senior who made an impact off the bench last season when the Mustangs compiled a 15-14 overall record and made their way into the CCS Division III playoffs. Gaining the trust of the coaches throughout the season, Maggipinto began to find himself on the court in key situations for one purpose—to provide energy and defense to the team.

“This past year, he was basically a guy who came off the bench and brought energy,” said Pioneer assistant coach Kevin Mack, who is running the summer league team. “He’s probably one of our best on-ball defenders and probably our best defender in general. I think he’s bringing that to his game this year.”

This summer, the story remains the same. During a 44-34 win for the Mustangs in summer league action, Maggipinto played a pivotal role once more, scoring 6 points, including a 3-pointer with just over a minute left, to ice the game for his team.

Maggipinto said his hustle and ferocious defense stems from his desire to play the game with passion. Above all, Maggipinto said he hates to lose.

“I just want to win,” Maggipinto said. “That’s basically it. I just want to get the W. I try to get myself involved in every defensive play because it kind of hurts me every time the other team scores. I feel like it’s my fault.”

Another element that Maggipinto bring to the court is fearlessness. Throughout the regular season and now in the summer league, Maggipinto has never been afraid of getting knocked around in the low post, grabbing rebounds and driving the lane with great frequency against players who tower over him by several inches.

“He’ll go up against anyone,” Mack said. “He’ll take the ball to the basket even if there’s a 6-5 guy inside. It doesn’t matter to him. He’ll do whatever he has to do for the team and he doesn’t care about points or steals. It’s all about W’s for him.”

But Maggipinto’s role with the team has changed since the end of the 2004-05 season. With six seniors, including the entire starting lineup, departing the team, Maggipinto will be looked on to provide senior leadership to a team that features many new faces.

“We need him to be a leader now,” Mack said. “Last year, he came off the bench and wasn’t really vocal. I think this year he needs to be more of a leader and I think he’s doing it.”

Although he quickly gained a reputation as a solid defender, Maggipinto has more to his game. Mack is quick to point out that Maggipinto can also shoot from the outside with great success, a skill he brought to the team last year, while also working on other elements of his offensive game.

“I’ve got to change my game to be more of a leader, more of a scorer this year,” Maggipinto said. “Last year, the ball comes to me, I shoot the three, that’s all I had to worry about. This year, I have to do a little bit more.”

To that end, Maggipinto said he’s working hard on improving his dribbling. In addition, Maggipinto is working on penetrating defenses more by taking the ball to the basket with greater frequency, thereby creating more options offensively for his teammates. All the while, Maggipinto is still working on refining his defense even more.

“He’s going to be a big part of our team not just offensively, because obviously he can shoot the three pretty good and he’s pretty quick with the ball in his hands, but it’s his defense right now that he’s just excelling in,” Mack said. “He’s doing a great job getting deflections and steals, and that gets us out on the break so we can get easy baskets with him playing good defense.”

Regardless of how his offensive game progresses this summer, Maggipinto always relishes the thought of being considered a good defender, and with good reason too.

“I like the idea of being known as a good defender because it gets you on the court,” Maggipinto said. “That’s what got me on the court last year. If it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t have played at all.”

Sports Briefs

Almaden Ladybugs host soccer tryouts
Almaden Ladybugs Premier/Class 1, U17 girls, tryouts for state cup and spring/fall season, every Tuesday and Thursday.  Date of birth after 7/31/88. Contact Roger Haupt (408) 779-7697, Linda Urzi (408) 723-0928.     

Almaden Quicksilver holds soccer tryouts
Almaden Quicksilver Class 3, U12 girls, is holding tryouts for spring/fall season every Tuesday and Thursday. Date of birth must be after 7/31/93. Contact John (408) 323-8768 or john@politoski.com.

Central Valley Edge holds youth soccer tryouts
CV Edge, a Class 3/U17 girls’ soccer team, is offering Monday/Wednesday tryouts to girls born after 7/31/88 for the fall season for all positions. Contact Patty Rashid (408) 267-2740 or Afsari at (650) 771-6213 for more information.

South Valley Lacrosse Chiefs offer free clinics July 23 and Aug. 20
South Valley Lacrosse Chiefs are offering free clinics during the summer for kids in grades three through eight July 23 and Aug. 20 from 10 a.m. to noon at Williams Elementary School in San Jose. 

The Chiefs are adding a seventh/eighth grade team in spring, 2005. The free summer clinics give newcomers a chance to try the sport before they purchase equipment (loaner sticks available on first-come, first-served basis). So bring a friend and come have some fun with lacrosse.

RSVP to joy.bender@prodigy.net.  The Web site is www.svlax.com.

Almaden Metro holds soccer tryouts
Almaden Metro Class 3, U17 boys, is holding tryouts for fall season most Sundays. Date of birth after 7/31/88. Contact Jeff Earl at (408) 268-5125 or jesvo11@yahoo.com.

Bret Harte seeks Boys Junior Lacrosse coaches
Bret Harte Middle School in San Jose is looking for Boys Junior Lacrosse coaches for the 2005-2006 season. Multiple positions are available for both head coaches and assistants. Previous lacrosse coaching experience is strongly recommended, and a competitive salary is offered. If you are skilled in lacrosse, kid-oriented, and motivated to create a winning team from the ground floor up, we would love to talk with you! This is an exciting, and rapidly growing sport in California, and these Bret Harte boys are ready to go!

For more information, please contact Mike Garcia at 408-590-6949 or emailmgarcia@gmail.com.

AVYSL fall registration information
Almaden Valley Youth Soccer League (AVYSL): 2005 Fall Registration is open through June 30, 2005; this is the last deadline for signing up your players for a fun season of soccer. The recreational soccer season runs mid-August to mid-November 2005. Check the league’s web site at www.almadensoccer.org for more information and access to online registration.

Almaden’s Eric Johnson continues climb up USTA rankings

Johnson and doubles partner get No. 1 and No. 2 ranking in boys’ 12 doubles

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Writer

With the United States Tennis Association competition well underway, Almaden resident and Bret Harte student Eric Johnson is ascending the player rankings faster than a jet.

Johnson, 12, has been playing in boys’ 12 singles and doubles tournaments steadily since the beginning of the year and with frequent success. Recently, Johnson attained the No. 1 ranking in the USTA Norcal boys’ 12 doubles, with his doubles partner, Michael Kuhlman of Santa Rosa, claiming the No. 2 spot until June. Kuhlman will turn 13 later in this month and has already moved up to boys’ 14.

“We’re both really good at the net,” said Eric of the doubles partnership that began a year ago when the two became friends at a tennis camp in Arizona. “We both have really good overall games.”

The results bear fruit to Johnson’s statement. The pair has won four major USTA tournaments this year, including the Spare Time Excellence in Sacramento, a tournament reserved for players who have been with level 3 national tournament credentials. The duo has also won the Fig Garden Championship in Fresno, the boys’ 14 doubles tournament in Santa Cruz and the Spare Time Championships.

For Eric, who is a straight-A student, winning tournaments with great frequency never gets old.

“It’s really fun, except when you get a really small trophy,” Eric said with a laugh.

For Eric’s parents, Allison and Jim, the year-round travel and full activity calendar is at times tiring, but fun and well worth the trouble. For the Johnson family, tennis has become a family activity, with Jim Johnson coaching sons Eric and Brent on the tennis court at home after work on a nearly daily basis.

“It’s fun work,” said Allison. “People ask me a lot about scholarships. It’s not about scholarships, it’s about a lifestyle … It’s how we’ve chosen to spend our time as a family. To go to these different places (for tournaments), it’s a good variety in life.”

Eric, who recently attained a No. 2 ranking in boys’ 12 singles as well, isn’t quite finished making his mark on the tennis court this year.

Along with playing in 20 to 25 singles tournaments this year, Eric will take part in the USTA Clay Court Championships in North Carolina in July while also participating in the Zonals Tournament, reserved for the best 20 players in each USTA section, in Arizona that same month. In August, Eric will head to Arkansas to play the USTA National Hard Court Championships. All the while, Eric will also work on attaining a solid boys’ 14 ranking, which begins this weekend, when he will head to Long Beach to play in the USTA National Open.

“Some kids go and play easy tournaments and get easy points,” Eric said of getting boys’ 14 ranking. “But you also need good overall conditioning and power at that level.”

Regardless of how Eric ranks in 14’s, Allison Johnson knows her son will continue to work hard at his game, no matter what results he achieves on the court.

“It doesn’t matter if he’s No. 1 or No. 2,” Allison Johnson said. “He never thinks he’s good enough. That’s what drives him.”

Leland Spirit Squad leads the cheers at summer camp

“L-L-L-E-L-A-A-A-N-D” echoes loudly through the Leland Quad as 80 enthusiastic campers shouted out their cheer during Junior Spirit Camp last week.

The 2005-2006 Leland Spirit Squad kicked off its new season with a successful summer camp under new coach Meg Maclise. The spirit squad members led the campers through cheers, dances and many games.

In between, there was time for a spirited water-balloon fight, a good cheerleader/bad cheerleader skit and a closing performance by the Leland squad. The campers also performed a dance and cheer to their families on the last day. The camp was a great opportunity for the Leland squad to work on their leadership skills while creating a successful fund-raiser.

The squad will sponsor many more fund-raisers this year to help offset their trip to Anaheim to perform at nationals. They will finish off their summer by attending an elite spirit camp in Vallejo as well as weekly practices to prepare for the upcoming football season.

Meanwhile, there were many happy campers leaving the Leland Junior Spirit Camp with pom-poms, a goody bag, and a free Leland football ticket in hand.

National pride comes in all sizes

Almaden South Little League 8-year-old
all-star team plays for fun and pride

Special to the Times

As the Fourth of July weekend nears and with weekend preparations in full tilt, a small group of 8-year-old boys from Almaden have other things on their minds—specifically winning baseball games to honor their community and perhaps the right to extend the season a bit longer before the summer takes hold.

However, it’s not just about baseball to these lads. There’s an unspoken honor amongst Little League baseball players across the nation to participate in the sport most commonly anointed as America’s pastime.

On June 21, the first official day of summer and the second game of the District 12 tournament for the Almaden South team, the tradition of honoring America during the pre-game ceremony with the singing of the national anthem was fulfilled, this time by an enthusiastic 8-year-old from Almaden, Caden Ballard, who requested the honor of singing the anthem a’capella since it “makes me feel good.”

Perhaps spurred on by the feeling of national pride in the air, everything fell into place for the Almaden South 8-year-old team as they rallied for a last-inning victory against their opponent from Willow Glen. Led by team manager Tim Mackin and coaches John Clark and Steve Dunne, the group of all-stars has been practicing hard for three weeks in preparation for the tournament.

Fueled by resilient pitching performances by a trio of hurlers (Scott Clark, Drew Deaton, Brandon Blum), the team contributed strong fielding, led by Tyler Mackin’s catch of a fly ball in the fourth inning, and timely hitting as evidenced when Brandon Blum crushed a triple to centerfield in the final inning to guarantee victory.

Regardless of the outcome on the score sheet, rest assured that America’s pastime continues to flourish at the youth level with pride in abundance.

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