Clay Kallam, Author at SportStars Magazine

Laguna Creek Flash Flood | Youth Movement Skyrockets Girls Basketball Program

High School Basketball Sac-Joaquin Section February 7, 2020 3

Lured By Academic Programs, A Dynamic Group Of Young Players Has Elk Grove’s Laguna Creek Rising At A Rapid Rate • There’s a lot of loose talk about student-athletes and the importance of academics. But for most elite athletes, and most elite programs, sports come first, second and very... Read more

St. Joseph Girls Basketball: Pilots Ready To Fire Afterburners

High School Basketball North Coast Section November 15, 2019 0

Alameda’s St. Joseph Notre Dame Has Reached A North Coast Section Final In Each Of The Past Five Seasons — And Is Ready To Add On • We’ve all been there: Ms. Grunion’s English class, and it’s time to write a book report. Ms. Grunion, who settles for no... Read more

Play Sports! — BEHIND THE CLIPBOARD: Don’t Be Exclusive

LEVELUP INSIDERS October 24, 2019 0

Columnist Clay Kallam Details Why Playing More Than Just One Sport Is Healthy — And Likely To Make You A Better, More Well-Rounded Athlete • I love to play sports. I especially like basketball, but everyone tells me I’m a much better baseball player. My coaches want me to... Read more

Bishop O’Dowd Volleyball: Dragons Look To Set NCS Ablaze

North Coast Section VOLLEYBALL — Served by NCVA September 5, 2019 1

POWER TRIP: A Senior Core Stocked With Heavy Hitters Looks To Lead Bishop O’Dowd Volleyball Back To The State Finals • Aggression. Intimidation. These are not words usually associated with girls volleyball — after all, there’s a net separating the two teams, and contact is not only infrequent, it’s forbidden. But it’s... Read more

Acalanes Baseball: Young Dons Make The Leap

High School Baseball/Softball North Coast Section May 24, 2019 0

A Talented, Young Acalanes Roster Delivered A Breakout Season That Included A Top 25 State Ranking And The Baseball Program’s First Division I Playoff Win • The dark clouds rolled in over the hills that hover past right field. Though the wind did not howl — as it sometimes... Read more

Haley Jones: ’18-’19 NorCal Girls Player Of The Year

Central Coast Section High School Basketball April 5, 2019 0

Archbishop Mitty’s All-American, Haley Jones, Cements Her Legacy Among NorCal’s Greatest Girls Hoops Talents With Another Do-It-All Season • It’s no surprise that Haley Jones is the SportStars’ Girls Basketball Player of the Year for the second straight season. Coming into the season, she was widely considered the top... Read more

Clipboard: Navigating Teammate Turbulence

LEVELUP INSIDERS February 26, 2019 0

What To Do When Teammates Don’t Get Along • The two best players on the team are seniors, and even though they’re captains, they don’t get along. In fact, it’s getting worse all the time, and it’s really a problem in the locker room. I don’t think the coaches... Read more

Angel Jackson: Salesian’s Steady Force

High School Basketball North Coast Section February 21, 2019 0

Her 6-foot-4 Presence Is Half The Battle, But The Salesian Star Has Developed Into A True Girls Basketball Talent • Angel Jackson has always been the tall girl. So it wasn’t a problem for her to have her way with basketball opponents in the paint. At the same time,... Read more

Clipboard: Balance On The Courts

LEVELUP INSIDERS February 5, 2019 0

Gym Time Isn’t Always Easy To Come By, Nor Fair. Make The Best Of It • Our freshman boys basketball team would beat our girls varsity by 20 — at least. But the girls get better practice times and more publicity than our boys varsity even though they... Read more

Behind The Clipboard: Rankings Are Only Numbers; Just Go Win

LEVELUP INSIDERS January 4, 2019 0

All Rankings Are Subjective But You Need To Control What You Can Control And Not Worry • Who is MaxPreps? Is Max some guy who makes up numbers that say how good teams are? Our coaches said our MaxPreps’ rankings has a lot to do with our postseason seeding,... Read more

Bishop O’Dowd Girls Basketball: Dragon Territory

High School Basketball High School Sports Features North Coast Section November 19, 2018 0

A Young, Talented Roster Has Bishop O’Dowd Girls Basketball Poised To Maintain Its Reign On The North Coast Section • “Here be dragons.” The ancient mapmakers didn’t really know what was lurking outside the boundaries of the known world, but they figured it wasn’t going to be too pleasant... Read more

Behind the Clipboard: Coaching is Teaching, Really.

High School Football LEVELUP INSIDERS September 17, 2018 0

When Slow Is The Way To Go! R.G. of San Jose asks, “We have a young coach for our position group, and he’s really smart, but he talks really fast and tells us a lot in a hurry. He’s always rushed because he says he has so much to... Read more