By KEITH POWER for KPA ELITE Having been involved with elite level youth sports for 25 years, it is clear the expectations today for our young athletes have never been higher. Parents and kids alike feel the pressure to navigate this hyper-competitive, pressure-filled, make-it-or-break-it world of youth sport.    As... Read more

Powered by Trucks : Anthony Trucks    Like everyone else this year I made it a point to kick up my physical training.     In fact, I dug out my original training program from Oregon when I used to play football for the Ducks. In the back of my... Read more

GET MENTAL : Erika Carlson     A growing trend in youth sports, especially female youth sports, is early commitment to college. In 2014, the New York Times ran a story about Haley Berg a 14-year-old 8th grader who, just a few weeks before her first day of high school,... Read more

   Just like that we’re already at our first awards season. And, in addition to naming our Fall SportStars Athletes of the Year in both the Sac-Joaquin and Bay Area regions, we’re excited to be revealing our 2nd Annual SportStars All-NorCal Football Team. For the first time, too, we’re... Read more

   Coaches put a lot of stock in their seniors, but it’s not personal. They have good reasons.  Behind the Clipboad: Clay Kallam    All my coach does is talk about seniors. “The seniors have to step up,” “The seniors are the key to the team,” and he says things... Read more

   As it’s our final issue of 2014, we feel the need to reflect. This is truly an original idea. We’re quite certain we’re the only publication that indulges in year-end lists to commemorate all the good things of the previous 12 months. We’re not? Well, good luck finding... Read more

Our head coach left, and now the assistant from last year is taking over. I think it’s great because the assistant coach was really easy to get along with, and the head coach could be a jerk sometimes. My dad says I shouldn’t count on the old assistant being... Read more

   Three days before its first official day of practice, the Richmond High basketball team’s 2014-15 season began in tragedy.     Fixing a bike on his grandfather’s front lawn, 16-year-old Rodney Frazier was fatally shot in what has been reported as a gang-related case of mistaken identity. It was... Read more

Why don’t water polo players get more respect? It’s a really hard sport; it’s got tactics, and there’s plenty of action. But other sports get more coverage, and it seems like water polo is something no one cares about but the players and coaches. A.N., Orinda    Everything you... Read more

   We’ve already reached November, which means two things: 1) We all have friends and family who are already Christmas shopping (and this annoys us), and 2) The 2014-15 school year has already reached its first championship season.     It’s true. The next six weeks should be quite eventful,... Read more

I love playing a lot of sports and I’m pretty good, I guess. I would like to try to play three varsity sports in high school, but my dad says I’m crazy. He says I’ll be trying to do way too much and I won’t get that good at any of them.... Read more