April 3, 2007

Fired Westmont coach still searching for answers

Football coach Tony Santos angered over “unjustified” firing,
files grievance through union to regain his position

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Editor

Fired Westmont football coach Tony Santos said he is still searching for answers to his sudden firing on Feb. 23, and has filed a grievance through his union to regain his job.

Tony Santos

Santos, who spent six years at the helm of the Westmont football program, said Westmont Principal Owen Hege put him on notice that his job status was up in the air during a year-end meeting on Feb. 7. A little more than two weeks later, Santos said Hege fired him, but gave no reason for the dismissal, other than the school “wanted to go in a different direction.”

That response, Santos added, wasn’t definitive enough for him.

“I need cause and effect,” said Santos of possible reasons for his firing. “It just sounds like a personality conflict to me. Me being the coach for six years, I’ve invested a lot of time and sweat into the program for the kids. To be dismissed as a matter of fact is humiliating.”

When reached by the Times, Hege said he was restricted from commenting on Santos’ situation, citing school personnel privacy policies, but added, “It’s a decision we felt we had to make and we felt it was appropriate.”

Santos called the meeting in which he was fired “a one-sided 30-second conversation” and said it was done “in poor taste.”

Santos said he’s received support from several players and their families, as well as school colleagues and other high school football coaches.

“The other coaches in the district are concerned,” said Santos, who compiled a 38-25-2 record in his six years, including back-to-back Santa Teresa Division championships and an appearance in the CCS Championship game in 2004. “That’s been voiced to me by several of them. The general feeling is, if they can get rid of me for no reason, they could be next. It sets a bad precedent.”

Santos said Westmont students staged a class walkout approximately three weeks ago in protest to his firing. All told, according to Santos, about 400 students walked out of their classes throughout the entire school day. In addition, Santos added, 600 Westmont students signed a petition and presented it to the Campbell Union High School District Board of Trustees’ monthly meeting earlier in March, urging the reinstatement of Santos as the school’s head football coach.

Santos, who still holds a physical education teaching position at Westmont, said the reason he filed his grievance on March 26 was with one goal in mind – he wants his job back. Calls placed to Campbell Union High School District Board Member Matthew Dean were not returned at press time.

Still, Santos said he’s concerned about the effects to the football program because of the turmoil surrounding his firing. With spring practices slated to begin mid-May, Santos said having no one running the program in his absence would have dire consequences to the team’s performance on the field next season. As of now, Santos added, only 10 players are regularly working out in preparation for next season because of the uncertainty surrounding the program.

“I think Westmont has potentially a championship team that may be underachieving now because of the lack of consistency and a lack of direction,” Santos said of the effects of his absence from the program.

To that end, Hege told the Times he’s currently forming an interview committee as part of the process in finding a new head coach and said there’s been “plenty of interest” in the position. The head football coaching position, according to Hege, will also be included as part of a teaching position on campus. Currently, according to Hege, there are open positions for social science, special education and math. Hege added that he hopes to have the new head coach/teacher in place, along with a full coaching staff, by the first week of May so that the team can start spring practice on time.

Santos said he fill fight to get his job back and is concerned for the well being of players in his program.

“My main concern is about the kids at Westmont,” he said. “…I’m really saddened. It (coaching) is the essence of my being. To have someone take it away causes a lot of inner turmoil.”

For now, Santos said he’s keeping all of his options open about his coaching future and that he’s received ample interest in his services. Still, Santos added, Westmont is where he wants to be.

“I still have that fire in my belly to coach,” he said. “…I will coach again. You can’t take that away from me.”

Warriors best Rams 3-2 in boys’ volleyball league opener

Westmont’s Jon Ng-Parish leads with 18 kills; young Warriors
team looks to make a run at Mt. Hamilton Division title

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Editor

The Westmont boys’ volleyball team kicked off league play with a hard-fought 3-2 win at Willow Glen on March 27, improving the team’s overall record to 11-4.

The match saw the Warriors bounce back from a rough game four when the team went down 25-13 to tie things up at 2-2, before bouncing back in game five for a 15-10 win.

Westmont's Justin Sperry, left, and Martin Szczepaniak team up for a block during a 3-2 win over Willow Glen on March 27. Photos by Dan Miranda

The Warriors trailed early in game five by a 6-4 score before embarking on an 8-1 scoring stretch featuring a pair of kills from junior Brandon Beville, as well as several key blocks from junior Danny Nelson. Leading 12-7, the Warriors traded points with the Rams down the stretch before Jon Ng-Parish put the finishing touches on the win with a match-ending kill. Westmont head coach Jeff Poppinga said game five came down to a bit of luck and a change in mindset for his Warriors.

“We were lucky enough to get hot,” Poppinga said of game five. “We let game four go and I talked to my kids during the timeout and said, ‘hey, this is game five and it’ll be over in 10 minutes, leave it out on the floor. Let it all go and when you walk out of this gym, win or lose, you know you left it out there.’”

The game five win came on the heels of a comeback earlier in game three of the match for the Warriors. Trailing 21-14, the Warriors bounced back with a 10-3 scoring run to tie the game at 24-24, before going on the 3-1 stretch to take game three 27-25 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.

The win also featured a pair of perennial league MVP candidates in Ng-Parish and Willow Glen’s Tobin Chase. Ng-Parish led all scorers with 18 kills, while Chase contributed 16 kills and five blocks in the loss for the Rams. To that end, Poppinga said both players have similar skills and are equally deserving of the MVP award. Of course, Poppinga added, having his player win the award would be nice as well.

“I definitely want Jon to win it,” Poppinga said of Ng-Parish’s league MVP hopes. “…Jon can also produce. He passes, he sets, he blocks, he can do it all. He’s just an all-around great player. Tobin is a front row player who’s a great hitter, blocker and server. Maybe this year it would be nice to have a co-MVP. It would be deserving for both guys.”

Willow Glen head coach Jef Wind agreed, adding that both players are the spark plugs for their respective teams.
“I would say that the heart of each team lies in both of those guys,” Wind said of Chase and Ng-Parish. “I honestly thought both guys cancelled each other out (in the match). It was the other five guys who played ball.”

As for the makeup of the Warriors team, the current roster is filled with youth, with only two seniors on the squad in Ng-Parish and Martin Szczepaniak. Still, youth isn’t necessarily a bad thing, Poppinga said, pointing to the team’s 11-4 record following the Mt. Hamilton Division opening win over the Rams. While prognosticators may be down on the Warriors because of the team’s youth, the team is stacked with talent at every position and is poised to run steadily with the league’s best teams, Poppinga added.

Westmont's Martin Szczepaniak goes up for a hit during a 3-2 win over the Willow Glen Rams on March 27.

“Willow Glen was projected to be the No. 1 team in our league, and we were expected to be No. 3 or No. 4, but I think we’re going to surprise a few people this year because of our well-balanced team,” Poppinga said. “…If somebody goes down, another guy picks it up. I’ve never had that in the past.”

The team’s depth can be seen in young players such as Beville, who will compliment Ng-Parish to give the Warriors another strong hitter at the net, Poppinga said.

“This is his first time hitting fourth,” Poppinga said of Beville, a left-handed swinger. “He was a middle hitter and a right side hitter, but you want your best players to usually be on the left side, because that’s where they’re going to get the most sets and be powerful. He’s powerful out there.”

Still, Poppinga admits, having a young team requires some patience and understanding at times as intangible aspects of the game, such as late game composure and other nuances, develop in his young Warriors.

“It’s a roller coaster ride at times,” Poppinga said of coaching his young squad. “They’re always fired up and energetic, and a little crazy. Sometimes I have to realize that they’re young and crazy, but they don’t mean anything bad by it, that’s just their personalities. They keep me young too. I have to be not so strict with this group and just let them have their personalities.”

One of the keys, Poppinga said, has been his team’s overall commitment to improvement during the off-season. This past year, several of Poppinga’s players chose to play club volleyball in order to get the game experience needed for Mt. Hamilton Division play in 2007.

“That helped out our program immensely,” Poppinga said of the decision by several Westmont players to play club volleyball during the off-season. “In the past, it was only Jon (Ng-Parish) playing club ball, and that’s why he’s such a great player. We talked a bunch of the players in going to play club and now they’re starting to love volleyball. When you touch a volleyball all the time and you’re playing all the time, you’re only going to get better. That’s what these guys have done and they’re starting to see it now.”