While the U.S. National soccer team played against Brazil this weekend, one of the top teams in the world, Malibu High was doing its share to put the United States on the soccer map.
Malibu High School’s fourth-seeded Sharks (15-4-4) won the California Interscholastic Federation Division V championship on Saturday, 5-0, against the unseeded Ontario Christian Knights in Cerritos.
The team won the first CIF championship in the history of the school, making it the top team for the Southern Division, which covers half of the high schools in Southern California.
And to top it off, this was the biggest margin of victory in the CIF championships since 1964.
“Nobody ever won this way in any division,” said Mike Doyle, one of three assistant coaches for the team. “They really played solid.”
The championship was not a sure shot. In a semi-final championship match against Pasadena Poly on Feb. 28, the Sharks were down for most of the game, until they made up for lost time at the very end of the second half.
To win the CIF semi-final, the team had to play for an extended period of time in heavy rain.
The Sharks were down 2-0, with about five minutes left in the game, when they scored a goal at the three minute mark and another one soon after, which tied the score. The game went into overtime and Malibu won with the penalty kicks, said head soccer Coach Frank Page.
“The game the other night was the most exiting game I’ve ever been involved in,” said Doyle of the Feb. 28 match.
“To come back and score two goals in the last three minutes and play two overtime sessions of 15 minutes and two more of 10 minutes over and above the regular game and then take the penalty game is quite a feat,” said the British soccer enthusiast who grew up playing soccer in Liverpool.
“Considering the conditions, there weren’t that many mistakes, it was a really well played game. The standard of soccer was excellent.”
And the Sharks outdid themselves on Saturday at Gar High school in Cerritos in the final championship match.
“The team was built from the back and you could see it in the results,” said Malibu City Councilmember Jeff Jennings, whose son, Miles, 17, plays on the team.
The team did not give up many goals during the season and they gave up none at all during the finals because all the players were in place and each knew exactly what to do, he said.
“We were very fortunate,” said Page, as he spoke about this year’s team. “I have a number of club players on the team and these kids play year round and at a high level.
“They not only have experience and talent but they also know how to play the game well,” added Page.
High school soccer is composed of teams blended with players who have varying skill levels and the team has to function as a whole.
While this year’s 16-member team includes three sets of brothers, as well as eight players who took part in club soccer before, and four who are on the Olympic Development Team, it also includes players who have not had as much experience.
But this is not an impairment for the team because every player does his part. The team trains every day for an hour and a half, allowing each player to gain as much experience as possible.
The season started after Thanksgiving and the dedicated team had to struggle through injuries to fight their way up to the championship, as they played against much larger schools.
Compared to most other schools who take part in the CIF, Malibu has a small population of students and this makes it difficult at times to find enough players for the team.
Last year, the Junior Varsity team folded because there were not enough kids on the team. This year the JV program made it through the season, but they had a tough year.
However, the Sharks do benefit from the support of parents and other adults who spend time assisting the boys as they work on their game.
Rob King, Walter Mehring and Doyle assist Page with coaching. They help with the tactical part of the game, said Page, who multifunctions as he works at Malibu High.
Aside from coaching the soccer team, Page is the bookkeeper for student body funds and the athletic secretary. He is also the track coach. This is his first year as head coach of the soccer team.
Malibu High sports under the gun
By Chris Wallace/Special to The Malibu Times
In the now fiercely competitive world of high school athletics, smaller schools like Malibu High, which have always had trouble fielding broad based sports programs, find it a grueling road toward success.
Facing those odds, the binds of short financial means and sparse community support, Malibu High School’s sports programs, nevertheless, fight on. The Sharks soccer team’s recent championship win in the California Interscholastic Federation, Southern Section, Div. 5, shows that hanging in there is worth it in the long run.
Malibu, with its 600 students, is the second smallest high school competing in the Frontier League, where in the bigger sports they sometimes don’t stand a chance. The Sharks football team runs with less than 40 players every year, while competing against championship squads, 65 players or so deep. Head football coach Rich Lawson saw a nightmare one Friday evening last fall when MHS went to play a colossal opponent: “They came out with over 60 players, I had 22. You know what happened.”
Principal Mike Matthews said they’re getting close in baseball. But in basketball, he said, “Well, we don’t do well.”
The Junior Varsity soccer team folded last year because of too few players, but is back on track this year, though it was a tough one.
It is also a real challenge for the coaches to operate their programs on limited budgets. Malibu High has an unique situation, in that they have only a single booster club that raises most of the money for all the sports teams. The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District only pays for the coaches and half of the bussing fees, which usually amounts to about $50,000 per year.
“Our booster club is critical,” said Matthews. “If the booster club didn’t exist, sports couldn’t exist here. They take care of equipment, uniforms, everything.”
And in this day and age of dog-eat-dog athletics (even at the high school level), even Malibu High coaches face pressure to win.
However, it may be a saving grace that Malibu is such a small, young school. “It isn’t as tremendous as it is in other schools that are more established,” said Matthews. “I’ve been there, I’ve seen that pressure.”
Even with the added sense of urgency and the watchful eyes, coaches get what they pay for. Mike Mulligan, the seven-years-straight league champion water-polo head coach, said that money creates a positive aura around a program and inspires a sense of pride in the athletes.
Coach Lawson agreed: “I think there is definitely a correlation. Money has got to equal wins on a certain level. And it also creates a pride.”
Sharks Athletic Director Brian Banducci said he sees it as definitely a case of the more the merrier in respect to numbers of players on the teams, and the money in programs’ budgets. Yet, Coach Mulligan could only realistically point out that, “right now, it’s the few doing the work of the many.”
However, Mulligan sees a window of opportunity for Malibu sports. “All it takes is hard work. Hard work equals wins.”
All the coaches said hard work and especially commitment, from players and the community, are key. Commitment could create a positive cycle, set traditions, and establish winning as a habit.
Even if “success doesn’t mean winning league championships,” as Matthews said, “success is putting a well-prepared team on the field ready to play.”
Banducci adds, “We’re building character here, and if we can do that we’ve done our job.”