Hello, and welcome to a different version of Prep Rally. My identify is EricSondheimer. It’s time to start out previewing high groups and gamers for the 2022 soccer season. One of the intriguing is freshman quarterback Brady Smigiel of Newbury Park.
Freshman to look at
The referee for the seven-on-seven summer time passing recreation stored saying “third down.”
Newbury Park head coach Joe Smigiel stored answering “second down,” his voice rising and his frustration rising.
In the meantime, the 15-year-old freshman quarterback and son of the top coach, Brady Smigiel, acted impervious to the dispute, huddling with teammates to arrange for the following play.
It was the proper scene to think about what may transpire this fall between father and son.
“He’s extra mature than me,” Joe mentioned
At 6 toes 4, Brady has the dimensions to be a high quarterback together with the arm. Now let’s see what occurs when the pads come on.
Right here’s a profile of a teen who when he was 13 took one of many final images of Kobe Bryant earlier than his loss of life.
Peko brothers
The Peko brothers, Domata Jr. and Joseph, have been in a position to hang around and study from their father, Domata Sr., a defensive lineman within the NFL for 15 years. They’ve been on the sphere at NFL stadiums earlier than video games watching, listening and making an attempt to grasp what it takes to succeed.
Now they’re utilizing these classes at Calabasas Excessive, the place Domata Jr. is a 6-foot-4, 210-pound senior defensive finish and Joseph is a 6-foot, 245-pound freshman lineman.
Domata Sr., who was born in Whittier and later lived in Samoa, was an assistant coach at Calabasas in 2019 till he signed late with the Baltimore Ravens.
Joseph, recognized round Calabasas as “Child Peko,” is constructed equally to his father, who's 6-3, 325 kilos.
Lengthy snappers to look at
Lengthy snappers stay priceless contributors to any soccer staff, and lengthy snapping guru Chris Rubio gives his newest listing of high lengthy snappers for the approaching soccer season, led by Oaks Christian’s Tate Haver, who's dedicated to Texas.
Haver, the son of Rams common supervisor Les Snead, could be very fluid together with his snaps with no wasted motion and fast arms, Rubio mentioned.
Different lengthy snappers to look at from the senior class embrace Chase Martin from Thousand Oaks, Joshua Fuentes from Oxnard, Trent Middleton from Orange Lutheran and Jonathan Tabb from El Modena.
A rising junior is Rylan Vagana from Santa Ana Mater Dei.
DeMar DeRozan reminiscences
With each summer time, the panorama shifts, gentrification seeping into the infrastructure DeMar DeRozan calls house.
When spring melts away and the ultimate buzzer sounds on DeRozan’s season — echoing this yr after a first-round sequence loss to the Milwaukee Bucks — the previous Compton Excessive star returns to Los Angeles. It’s a metropolis, although, completely different from 15 years in the past, when his deep-sea-blue No. 23 Compton jersey rocked rims throughout the land. The Kia Discussion board was lengthy the “massive factor” in Inglewood, he mentioned. Now town has the gleaming L.A. Rams’ SoFi Stadium.
“Over time, you search for,” DeRozan mentioned, “and Inglewood goes to be like Beverly Hills.”
After talking within the ultimate occasion of Tuesday’s LA84 Basis Play Fairness Summit, DeRozan mirrored for a second on the change he noticed yr after yr in his hometown — a change he known as “loopy.” And never simply on town’s floor.
The No. 23 Tarbabes jersey and his 30-point outbursts in cramped highschool gyms are immortalized in grainy YouTube highlights. However because the years have handed, the competitors as DeRozan knew it has crumbled, corresponding with a decades-long drop in enrollment amongst acquainted public colleges.
The once-mighty soccer applications of LAUSD colleges reminiscent of Crenshaw, a couple of miles north of the Discussion board, suffered engagement so low that video games needed to be cancelled this previous season. Lengthy Seashore Jordan Excessive basketball, a Moore League rival in DeRozan’s Compton heyday, went 10-16 final season and 0-12 in 2021. Fremont, a stout 21-8 opponent for the Tarbabes in DeRozan’s senior season, didn’t win a recreation final season.
“It’s a kind of issues that’s actual sentimental, particularly with me having the ability to take pleasure in my highschool — how a lot highschool mattered developing,” DeRozan mentioned of the native decline in enrollment and competitors. “For me, seeing the place it’s at now, it’s sort of unhappy to see.”
Right here’s the report.
Praying within the highlight
Stafon Johnson has lengthy been a self-described “church boy.”
The Dorsey Excessive coach and former standout Dons working again discovered a house base in church, rising up in Compton. His grandfather was on the minister’s board there. Religion got here alongside when he began taking part in Pop Warner, when he got here to Dorsey and when he realized pregame jitters may generally be calmed by a couple of phrases to God.
He mentioned he by no means prayed earlier than basketball video games like he did soccer. It was the physicality of the sport. The information that freak accidents may occur with one misplaced cleat.
“After I obtained to the NFL and school, there’s an precise chaplain,” Johnson mentioned. “So I simply thought that was simply a kind of common issues, the place, ‘Duh.’ ”
However prayer inside public highschool soccer applications isn't so easy.
Final Monday, the Supreme Courtroom dominated in favor of a soccer coach in Washington state who was placed on paid go away after praying on the sphere’s 50-yard line after video games.
The choice blurs the road between church and state in public colleges, with the excessive courtroom holding that the coach’s actions had been protected by the first Modification. For some coaches like Johnson captaining LAUSD applications, that line has lengthy been hazy.
Right here’s a report from Lucas Evans.
Faculty baseball uncertainty
UCLA baseball coach John Savage is like many school baseball coaches today in making an attempt to determine a roster for subsequent season whereas having to attend till the center of July simply to see who is perhaps leaving as a result of the novice draft doesn’t happen till July 17-19.
“The timing is horrible,” Savage mentioned.
Including to the uncertainty, there was a Thursday deadline when coaches should let returning gamers know whether or not scholarships shall be renewed. Savage has 11.7 scholarships to present out, together with for incoming freshmen. It’s a yearly balancing act, and this yr is much more unsure as a result of there are a lot of extra gamers draft eligible due to COVID-19 redshirt seasons. What number of will select to depart? What number of shall be taken throughout a 23-round novice draft?
Right here’s a report.
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‘What the heck?’
Wyatt Becker, a sophomore quarterback at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame Excessive with 16 school scholarship gives, mentioned he realized the information about USC and UCLA leaving the Pac-12 for the Large Ten through Twitter.
“What the heck?” he mentioned was his response.
Highschool sports activities recruits from throughout California had comparable ideas of shock.
A report on the response from recruits about final week’s gorgeous information.
Notes ...
Two sophomore baseball gamers from La Mirada have dedicated to UCLA. Outfielder Maverek Russell and shortstop Aiden Aguayo each introduced commitments. ...
Keani Albanez is the brand new ladies’ basketball coach at Oaks Christian. She performed at Buena and Gonzaga. ...
Beth Bailey is the brand new ladies’ water polo coach at Huntington Seashore. ...
Colin Sahlmanfrom Newbury Park has been chosen the Gatorade boys’ state athlete of the yr in observe and discipline. Sahlman, a distance runner, is headed to Northern Arizona. ...
Freshman Sadie Engelhardt of Ventura has been chosen the Gatorade ladies’ state athlete of the yr in observe and discipline. She’s a distance runner. ...
Former Servite catcher Garret Guillemette has transferred from USC to Texas. ...
Former Mira Costa pitcher Thatcher Hurd has left UCLA for Louisiana State. ...
Former Beckman outfielder Nick McClain has left UCLA for Arizona State. ...
Santa Ana Mater Dei 6-8 ahead Zack Davidson has dedicated to Montana. ...
Former El Camino Actual guard JD Wyatt has transferred to Reseda Cleveland. He shall be a sophomore. ...
An all-star staff of California baseball gamers, many from Orange County, received the Geico highschool baseball championship in Louisiana. Huntington Seashore’s Aidan Espinoza and JSerra’s Jonathan Mendez every hit a house run within the ultimate. Orange Lutheran’s Eric Borba was head coach. ...
Mission Viejo broad receiver Jackson Holman has dedicated to Arizona. ...
Santa Ana Mater Dei received the eight-team St. John Bosco seven-on-seven event Saturday, defeating Carlsbad within the championship recreation. The very best event of the season takes place Saturday at Edison Excessive in Huntington Seashore with Mission Viejo, Lengthy Seashore Poly, Los Alamitos and Corona del Mar battling it out in opposition to the highest non-public colleges. And better of all — admission is free. Carry a garden chair and sunscreen and be good to the officers after they don’t name defensive holding. ...
Former St. Paul and Pepperdine infielder Andy Stankiewicz is the brand new baseball coach at USC. He was head coach at Grand Canyon.
From the archives: Jordin Canada
Jordin Canada is fulfilling all her desires and aspirations as a girls’s basketball participant.
She was a star level guard at Windward, went on to change into a four-year standout at UCLA and is now taking part in for her hometown staff within the WNBA, the Sparks.
Right here’s a story from 2013 explaining how when Canada is on the courtroom, “there’s magic within the air.”
Right here’s a story when she was The Instances’ participant of the yr.
Suggestions
From the Ventura Star, a narrative on no regrets for Newbury Park distance star Colin Sahlman on passing up competing in CIF occasions.
From the Fontana Herald Information, a narrative on a stadium being named after soccer coach Dick Bruich.
From the Los Angeles Instances, a narrative on the Supreme Courtroom ruling that allowed a soccer coach to hope after a recreation.
From TheRinger.com, a narrative on 17-year-old basketball standout Andrej Stojakovic.
Tweets you may need missed
Till subsequent time...
Have a query, remark or one thing you’d wish to see in a future Prep Rally publication? E mail me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and comply with me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.
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