We begin our 2017 Football coverage by revealing teams #20-11 in our NorCal Preseason Top 20 in a daily countdown to Aug. 24 when #10-1 are revealed in our 2017 Football Preview Special. If you need to catchup, here are links to previous entries: | No. 20 Foothill (Aug. 14)... Read more

We begin our 2017 Football coverage by revealing teams #20-11 in our NorCal Preseason Top 20 in a daily countdown to Aug. 24 when #10-1 are revealed in our 2017 Football Preview Special. First up: Foothill-Pleasanton.   NO. 20 FOOTHILL-PLEASANTON   2016 REVIEW: 6-5 and unranked in our final rankings  COACH:... Read more

Examining CIF’s Shift To A Competitive Equity-Based Playoff System • Story by CLAY KALLAM | Illustration by MIKE DECICCO It used to be so simple: How many students a school had attending once determined what division it played in. But now it’s a brave new postseason world for high school... Read more

University of Washington quarterback Jake Browning and USC linebacker Cameron Smith have more in common than being All-American candidates and coming from high schools in the Sacramento area who were on teams that won CIF state championships. “We played against each other for the first time when I think we... Read more

Well, there’s summer in the rearview mirror. It’s shorter every year. But unlike some of you athletes who may be groaning at a return to the books, the calendar’s turn to August fires us up. Now is when we get to really dig in to the upcoming football season and... Read more

Welcome to the fifth annual Bay Area 75 — SportStars’ countdown of the top 75 Bay Area athletes from the 2016-17 school year. The only criteria used in generating the list were that the athletes must be from one of the nine Bay Area counties, and they must have played... Read more

You’re at the third of four segments. If you haven’t seen the previous entries, find them at the following links (or skip ahead to end, if you must): Nos. 75-51 / Nos. 50-26  / Nos. 5-1 25. NATE LANDMAN Monte Vista-Danville – Football – Senior The SportStars NorCal Defensive Player of the Year... Read more

It’s not until the hot days of August that Northern California football teams will start official practices, but for us at Cal-Hi Sports the kickoff of preseason for many years has been the annual Nike-sponsored camp for Northern California’s top college prospects that is now known as The Opening Regionals.... Read more

Elk Grove Continues Its Mastery Of Playing Its Best Baseball In Late May And Early June • Story By JIM MCCUE | Photos By JAMES K. LEASH Most numbers mean little to Elk Grove baseball coach Jeff Carlson, especially in March. The wins and losses only matter in late May... Read more

Story by Marti Blum. Photos Dan Bandoni Rugby NorCal leagues are in its Summer Sevens series. The 15s season ended May 6, at the High School Championships in Stockton, so now it’s on to Summer Sevens. “Sevens” is a tournament every weekend throughout June and July. All tournaments are strict tournament-style,... Read more

The NorCal Rugby Season Comes To A Close With Championship Matches On May 6 In Stockton By Mark Carney Special To SportStarsOnline.com The 2017 Rugby NorCal HS Championships are the pinnacle of the high school rugby season. Northern California is known for having some of the best high school rugby... Read more

CIF Open Division runner-up Woodcreek was never budging from the top spot, but deciding what to do with state-champions St. Patrick-St. Vincent and Mission-S.F. was a bit tougher. We had the Bruins one spot ahead of the Bears before the state finals, and chose to keep it that way —... Read more