A mixed bag

Sports Editor

Over the years, people have asked me what the hardest part of my job is. Well, let me tell you.

The hours are kind of sucky, but that’s just the nature of the sports business. I essentially work a swing shift.

The hardest part is not covering a game and then writing the story for next day’s publication. In fact, that might be the most fun part of the job. I love the deadline pressure — especially on a football Friday night.

Laying out the sports section is no picnic and putting the baseball boxes page is tedious, but that’s not it, either.

No, the hardest thing is coming up with column ideas. For the better part of 22 years (the 2023-24 high school sports season is my 23rd on the Peninsula) I’ve had to write two columns a week. Sometimes the ideas just flow; other times, it keeps me up at night when I have nothing and shower and drive time are two of my favorite thinking times.

It’s not always so much ideas, the real dilemma comes in trying to flesh out an idea. Many times, it’s just a kernel of an idea that I then turn into a column. But many times, that kernel remains just that — a tiny fragment that I just can’t seem to build out.

This is one of those columns. It’s still so early in the high school season that makes it difficult to have a lot of column ideas. Granted, I’ll write about professional Bay Area teams in this space, but I always feel like I’m just like any other sports fan pontificating on pro sports. Anyone can do that, but not everyone has the depth and breadth of experience I have covering high school athletics on the Peninsula.

So in this edition of the Sports Lounge, I’m going to “borrow” from former longtime East Bay columnist Carl Steward — I’m going to dart here and there.

***

If you follow professional golf with more than a passing interest, then you’ve undoubtedly heard the phrase “grow the game.” It’s become a buzz phrase for LIV Golf to justify the schism it created in the world of the professional game.

Well, maybe those that have been tasked to grow the game should check out the game at the lower level, specifically high school golf, because it’s kind of a golden age for girls’ golf, with the number of quality golfer seemingly increasing every year.

Girls’ golf has grown by leaps and bounds at the high school level. In a West Bay Athletic League tri-match between Mercy, Notre Dame-Belmont and Crystal at Burlingame Country Club Tuesday, NDB’s Daniella DeMera had the shot of the day, acing the par-3, 75-yard ninth hole.

I’m not here to argue — an ace is an ace, no matter the course or the distance.

Crystal, however, would go on to win the match with a score of 220.

***

Staying in the world of girls’ golf, for the last three seasons I’ve been intrigued by the name of a NDB golfer. Her first three seasons, she went by Savvy, Savvy Sweet. I thought that was the one of the coolest names ever.

Now I find out “Savvy” has just been a nickname for her given name of “Savannah.” Call me slow, but it never dawned on me that it was just a nickname.

***

One more girls’ golf note: the Valley Christian girls’ squad blitzed Mitty in their West Catholic Athletic League opener. Not only did VC post a sub-200 round — the line of demarcation for an excellent round — the Warriors went way low in posting a 187-224 win, with Varsha Ramachandran setting a WCAL record with a 29.

It was the 50th straight WCAL win for Valley, dating back to the 2017 season.

***

It looks like the Mitty girls’ volleyball team is ready to take back the title of best team in the Bay Area after the Monarchs took down rival St. Francis in four sets Tuesday — 25-21, 25-16, 21-25, 25-22.

The win snapped a six-match losing streak to the Lancers, who took the mantle of best team in Northern California last season by going undefeated in winning the WCAL title, taking the Central Coast Section and Northern California championships before falling in the Open Division state championship match.

The Lancers and Monarchs faced each other six times last season, with St. Francis winning all six meetings.

***

According to a press release from the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), participation in high school athletics is at its highest levels in six years.

More than 7.8 million athletes played high school sports during the 2022-23 season, up more than 3% from 2021-22 and the highest since 7.9 million played during the 2017-18 season.

Football continues to be the boys’ sports with the most participation, which is not surprising considering the size of high school football rosters.

On the girls’ side, basketball is the leader.

The sport with the biggest growth? Boys’ and girls’ wrestling. Boys’ wrestling saw a jump of nearly 10%, giving the sport the most athletes since 2014-15.

Girls’ wrestling, however, exploded from year to year. More than 17,000 more female wrestlers joined the sport in 2022-23, a whopping 55% increase from last year. The report said there were fewer than 10,000 female wrestlers 10 years ago. Last year, there were more than 49,000 participants.

Nathan Mollat can be reached by email: [email protected] or by phone: 344-5200 ext. 117. To report scores or tips, email [email protected].

Sports Editor

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