Photo by Monique Schoenfeld, Town Crier
Pitcher Cory Montalbano is the ace of the staff for this year's St. Francis Lancers softball team. Montalbano, a junior, has compiled a 16-4 record thus far for the first-place team. The softball squad is typical of the excellent St. Francis sports program that has garnered numerous championships across a variety of sports.
Town Crier Staff Writer
Coaching and a large pool of talent give MV Catholic school's sports teams an edge
St. Francis High School is facing a dilemma: overcrowding. It's not a problem of too many students, but too many trophies.
The Catholic school in Mountain View has won so many sports awards over the years, it's running out of room to store them all.
"Storage can be a problem because we have limited space," said St. Francis athletic director Steve DeMaestri. "But it's a nice problem to have. We're not complaining."
St. Francis has more trophies than Dennis Rodman has tattoos. The school has collected 74 Central Coast Section team titles, six state championships and more than 140 league crowns.
There are 111 high schools in the CCS, which spans from San Francisco to King City, and none of them have more section championships than St. Francis. League rival Bellarmine College Preparatory of San Jose is close behind with 67 titles, but no other school has reached 40.
Last fall, St. Francis had the most successful season in the 24-year history of the CCS, winning six championships. In the 1990s, St. Francis has nabbed 50 CCS crowns in 15 sports.
So what's behind St. Francis' dominance?
It's a combination of things, according to those in and around the athletic program. The three factors mentioned most: coaches, athletes and tradition.
While athletes come and go, the coaches stay the same at St. Francis. The average coach has more than 10 years of experience, DeMaestri said, and all of them teach on campus.
Tom Tuite has the longest tenure, now in his 33rd year as a track and field coach. Baseball coach Chris Bradford has been around for 29 years, the last 26 as head coach. Softball coach Barry Ivers is in his 25th year.
"Coaching is a big advantage for us," said DeMaestri, in his 10th year as athletic director. "We have talented and dedicated coaches who are teachers first and coaches second. We have long-term coaches, and we can maintain continuity."
Consistency is harder to sustain at other schools - especially public ones. Mountain View High School has gone through five volleyball coaches in five years. Gunn High School is on its fourth softball coach in as many years. At Los Altos High School, the girls basketball team has had three coaches in four years.
This coaching carousel has a lot to do with relying on walk-ons, coaches who are not part of the school faculty and often don't stick around too long.
That's not a problem at St. Francis.
"St. Francis hires teachers and coaches at the same time, and they're all on staff," said Los Altos athletic director Monica Lodge. "We have three coaches on staff. Our walk-ons are very good, but being on campus is different. You have much better communication with the kids."
And communication is key, according to St. Francis boys basketball coach Steve Filios.
"Our coaches have contact with the kids throughout the day and not just at practice," said Filios, in his 21st year at the school. "We spend more time getting to know the athletes."
There are a lot of athletes to get to know. Close to two-thirds of the school's 1,460 students participate in sports, DeMaestri said.
The school's winning tradition has a lot to do with the number of students who go out for sports, according to tennis player Vincent Tsai.
"Most kids want to play for school pride," the senior said. "You feel honored to be a part of it."
St. Francis has been blessed with quantity and quality when it comes to athletes. The school, which opened in 1955, has inducted 114 players in its hall of fame. The list includes one-time National Football League stars Doug Cosbie and Tim Rossovich, plus former pro tennis players Steve and John Stefanki and Brian Garrow.
Others surely headed for the hall include recent graduates Senque Carey (boys basketball), John Gall (baseball), Niki Hartley (girls volleyball) and Anna Kraus (girls soccer), who are making names for themselves at the college level.
At St. Francis, the athletes just keep on coming. But where do they come from?
The majority of them are products of Catholic grammar schools in Los Altos, Mountain View, Sunnyvale and Palo Alto, according to DeMaestri. Some have longer commutes, traveling from San Jose, San Mateo, Gilroy and even Santa Cruz.
Being able to draw students from all over is a luxury public schools don't have.
"Private schools like St. Francis shouldn't compete against public schools because they can pull in anyone they want," Lodge said. "It's like an all-star team because they can pick and choose."
And they have a lot to choose from.
DeMaestri said "enrollment is busting out" at St. Francis, as 1,100 students applied for 400 freshmen spots next fall.
But school officials insist it takes more than athletic ability to get into St. Francis.
"They have to qualify academically to get in here," Filios said. "They just can't show up on our doorstep and get in."
Grades and test scores are part of the admission process, DeMaestri said. Being Catholic improves a student's chances, as does having a sibling or parent who's attended the school.
While St. Francis' athletic superiority is a main attraction for potential students, DeMaestri said it's not the only reason for the school's popularity.
"I don't think students should choose a school for just athletics, they should choose it for the complete package," he said. "We think we offer a good combination of education, campus ministry and after-school activities."
The athletic program, however, has garnered the most notoriety. Few - if any - high schools in Santa Clara County get more media coverage than St. Francis.
The football team, which owns 13 CCS titles, has its games broadcast on commercial radio. The football and boys basketball teams have been featured on BayTV, a San Francisco cable station. ESPN last fall did a story on the state champion girls volleyball squad. Newspapers - weeklies and dailies - routinely cover St. Francis sports.
"The publicity can't hurt us," Filios said. "Kids look at the paper and read about us, and they want to be a part of (the program). It's not just the wins and losses, but the way we play. It's the competitive spirit; it's fun to be involved in."
But as the saying goes, everyone loves a winner.
"St. Francis has had a lot of success," said Joe Schram, who's been following St. Francis sports since 1971, "and success breeds followers."
It also breeds trophies, which St. Francis simply doesn't have the shelf room for. And before too long, there won't be any more space in the gym to hang those championship banners.