The Tour of California professional cycling race will pass through Half Moon Bay in February. This is so exciting. I can’t wait for more details and the chance to volunteer. I have already taken the day off work! Maybe we should print up some t-shirts - even though we are not quite on the official map.

John Hauer
Half Moon Bay

Stage 2: Sausalito to Santa Cruz (Monday, February 16, 2009)
Start Time: 8:30 a.m.
Start Location: Spinnaker Restaurant at 100 Spinnaker Dr. in Sausalito
Finish Location: Intersection of Front St. and Cooper St. in Santa Cruz

Starting on the northern side of the San Francisco Bay, Stage 2 will cover more than 100 miles from Sausalito to Santa Cruz. The stage will begin with a scenic start in Sausalito on the water and will head south over one of the most iconic structures in the country, the Golden Gate Bridge, and then through the streets of San Francisco. The route will then take the riders west down the California coastline on Highway 1, flanked by the picturesque backdrops of the Pacific Ocean on one side and Redwood forests on the other. This coastal stage will include two long, but moderate climbs on Tunitas Creek Road and Bonny Doon Road, which will be followed by lengthy and fast descents. The sprint to the finish in Santa Cruz will provide an exciting conclusion to Stage 2 of the race.

Girls in fourth through sixth grade (born after July 31, 1997) are invited to try out for a new competitive (travel) CYSA soccer team based in Half Moon Bay. Tryouts are at Half Moon Bay High School turf field, Sunday, November 23, from 1 to 3 pm. Come ready to play soccer and plan to be there the entire time.

For more information, contact Shari Steele at or 650-563-9071. The Half Moon Bay Sports Club (HMBSC) is a member of the Redwood League of the California Youth Soccer Association (CYSA).  Tryouts are for a new U11 girls select soccer team.

Shari Steele

I’m a member of the Coastside Running Club and four of us successfully completed a 50 mile race last Saturday.  The race is called the Headlands 50 and is put on by the Pacific Coast Trail Runs company. They held a 100 mile event at the same time. The results are listed here: http://www.pctrailruns.com/HH_Results_08.htm

The four of us are:
Eric Vaughan, age 48, from El Granada—9 hours 16 minutes
Ron Little, age 37, from Montara—9 hours 47 minutes
Franz Dill, age 32, from La Honda—10 hours 37 minutes
Mike Weston, age 47, from La Honda—13 hours 13 minutes

Some of us wrote up race reports and added pictures:
Ron Little—http://www.ronlittle.blogspot.com/
Franz Dill—http://dillweedrunner.blogspot.com/
Mike Weston—http://mweston.wordpress.com/

Soccer tryouts on Saturday June 7, 2008 Half Moon Bay Sports Club - CYSA

Saturday, June 7, 2008 HMB High School soccer field

1:00-2:30pm

• Cometitas, boys: class 1 team, born after July 31, 1993
• Mavericks, boys, class 3 team, born after July 31, 1994
• Waves, girls, class 3, born after July 31, 1995

2:30-4:00pm

• Mavericks, girls, class 3 team, born after July 31, 1992
• Crossfire, boys, class 3 team, born after July 31, 1996
• Jaws, boys, class 3 team, born after July 31, 1997

Bring cleats, shin guards, ball, and water bottle.

For questions call or e.Mail: 650-726-1545 or , Websites: http://hmbsc-soccer.com or http://redwoodsoccer.org to learn more about CYSA soccer.

The Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc., a national youth football and cheerleading organization, has just announced nation-wide winners of scholastics awards for 2008, including five Coastside Cougars Pop Warner players. 

The highest scholastic honor given by Pop Warner is the National First Team, which includes the top 35 football players and top 35 cheerleaders from each grade level.  Fewer than ten players from the 6000-member Bay Area Peninsula Pop Warner League achieve this recognition each year.  Joseph Lowman received this prestigious award for 2008.  Sean McCaffrey, Nathan Seaton, Neal Seaton, and Ryan Segervall were named to National Second Team. 

To achieve this recognition, players had to accomplish outstanding academic performance in school as well as demonstrate excellence in non-athletic activities and responsibilities such as honors classes and school awards, after-school classes, community service, and special projects.  Second Team includes the top 1,000 scholar-athletes from each grade level from approximately 360,000 Pop Warner participants across the United States.

The Coastside Cougars Pop Warner teams will be recruiting for the 2008 season now until practice begins on August 1.  More information is available at http://www.coastsidefootball.org/

The entire Coastside community is invited to lace up their skates and join us on Saturday afternoon, May 3, for a gala “Rock the Rink” grand opening celebration of the new roller hockey rink at Half Moon Bay High School.

Hosted by the Boys & Girls Club of the Coastside and the North Coast Hockey League, the event will feature live music (with local band “Flagged Down"), food, raffles, prizes for all kids, skills competitions, a Squirt exhibition game, and more! (And, since it’s the first Saturday in May, we’ll have a special Kentucky Roller Derby race!) It promises to be a totally fun afternoon for the entire community.

And if you enjoy Rock the Rink, kids 5-18 can always sign up for the 2008 NCHL roller hockey season, which begins Sunday, June 1 and runs through Aug. 3. You can sign up  ONLINE at http://www.coastsiderollerhockey.com http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?EVENT_ID=1553360&CHECKSSO=0 or you can click on this link for the 2008 Registration Form. http://www.coastsiderollerhockey.com/2008_NCHL_RegForm4.pdf (Or signup in person on Saturday, April 19 & 26 at Cameron’s, from 11am-2pm.)

Coastside Academy of Fencing’s Clarissa Perez and Elizabeth Jug both earned gold medals at the Super Youth Circuit fencing tournament held March 29 & 30 in San Jose. Fencers from all over the country crowded the San Jose Convention Center to fight for medals and national points last weekend. Coastside fencers, coached by Maestro Anthony Joslin, who also won medals include:

Stirling Johnson – 7th womens’ youth 10
Andrew Gleeson – 8th mens’ youth 12
Lotus Lum – 6th womens’ youth 10

The top forty percent of fencers in each category received national points. Aside from the prestige of being ranked nationally, national points help position a fencer better in future tournaments.

Gleeson, Perez and Jug, as well as Julia Garcia all earned national points.
The Coastside Academy of fencing trains athletes from age 7 to adult in the competitive sport of fencing, pairing rigorous athleticism with high standards of sportsmanship.

If you are interested in learning more about the Coastside Academy of Fencing contact Maestro Anthony Joslin at 650-219-5335 or email .

Friday’s football game at Half Moon Bay High versus Sequoia High School was marked by a number of ugly incidents that led to police escorting the beleaguered visitors out of the school as a group, reports the Daily Journal.

Sequoia High School left Half Moon Bay victorious Friday night, beating the Cougars 20-17. But the victory wasn’t so sweet with accusations of Cougar players using racial and homophobic slurs at Sequoia players; four naked youth storming the field; and eggs thrown at Cherokee cheerleaders and fans. Police had to escort Sequoia parents, players and fans from the game.

Sequoia parents and officials were not amused and there is some discussion of asking that the remaining game to be cancelled and for the two schools not to play each other again.
...
Near the end of game, after police officers walked away from the visitors side, eggs were thrown from outside the stadium at Sequoia cheerleaders and fans in the final minutes of the game, said one Sequoia parent who preferred not to be named. Parents and cheerleaders were hit with eggs.
...
Sequoia Teacher Ron Gordon attended his son’s water polo game earlier this year to hear vulgar words and homophobic phrases used by Half Moon Bay students and players. The coach dealt with the situation, [Half Moon Bay High athletic director Matt] Ballard said.

A Sequoia coach claims in the story that rocks were thrown on the Sequoia team’s bus once the team was aboard.

By Sue Lockyer

Fencers from as far away as Sonoma and Sacramento came to Half Moon Bay for the Bay Cup Fencing competition. Fencers participated in Junior mens, Y14 girls, and Y10 mixed sabre events on Saturday, and D and higher, and D and lower events on Sunday in San Francisco. As expected, local fencers took home a fair share of medals, including gold in the women’s Y14 sabre category for Elizabeth Jug.

Other medalists in that category included Clarissa Perez who tied with Carrie Gilchrist for the bronze. Miranda Guerrerro, Jenna Fontaine and Julia Garcia placed 6th, 7th and 14th respectively in a field of twenty one competitors.

In a younger category, Y10 womens sabre, Stirling Johnson took home the bronze medal. Brian Austria placed fifth after winning all of his pool bouts, and Lotus Lum placed 10th out of eighteen fencers.

The Junior Mens Sabre category saw Bennett Smooker win the gold, with Tomi Weissenberger taking fifth. Weissenberger also earned his “C” classification this weekend.

The Bay Cup organizes tournaments for clubs and fencers in the San Francisco Bay Area from as far north as Sonoma, south to San Jose and east as far as Sacramento.  These are the local training grounds for fencers of all ages, including many who compete nationally.

If you are interested in learning more about the Coastside Academy of Fencing contact Maestro Anthony Joslin at 650-219-5335 or email