A week ago I asked for your take on the upcoming high school football season. Some of you posted your predictions on the blog and others e-mailed me what they thought. Thanks for your comments.

Since we're gearing up for the fall season, I thought I'd post a little reminder that the South Sound's leagues have taken on dramatically new looks since the spring.

Here's a quick rundown:

-- North Kitsap has left the Narrows League for the Olympic League and Shelton has joined.

-- Auburn and Auburn Riverside have been reclassified as 4A schools and are the newewst members of the SPSL North.

-- To even out the SPSL North and South, Decatur is now part of the SPSL South.

-- After losing Auburn and Auburn Riverside, the SPSL 3A added former Western Cascade Conference schools Lakes and Clover Park and ex-Olympic League member Peninsula.

What do these changes mean for the leagues? Can Auburn's football team go to state for the fourth year in a row? Will Lakes' football squad dominate the SPSL 3A the same way it did the Western Cascade Conference? How will the new league alignments affect volleyball and girls soccer teams?

The Franklin Pierce American Junior Legion begins play Saturday at the Washington Junior A Legion baseball tournament at University High School in Spokane Valley.

The Division III champions will meet host University on Friday afternoon as part of a double-header after the Lake Stevens-Lewis & Clark contest in the double-elimination tournament.

Here's the roster:
Bryce Carter, Devin Kaaiwela, Jonathan Deck, JT Dempsey, Kyle Rodriguez, Mickey Lyons, Patrick Dahlby, Ryan Hogan, Dempsey Wheelock, Davyn DeGraw, Travis Hoberg.

Head coach: Tyler Robertson
Assistant coach: Todd Deck
Manager: Jim Dempsey

Andrea Geubelle continues to win champions by leaps and bounds -- literally.

The Curtis senior placed first in the long jump last week at the USA Track and Field National Junior Olympic Championships in Omaha, Neb. Geubelle, who claimed Class 4A state titles in the long jump and triple jump, won the event with a leap of 19 feet, 8.25 inches in the Young Women's division, the highest category of competition. She also placed sixth in the triple jump.

Geubelle was joined at the meet by a few of her teammates from the Flying AJ's Track Club, along with other local teams, High Voltage and Seatown Express.

Here's how they fared:
Flying AJ's
Michael Okoro (Clover Park) was second in the Intermediate Boys 200 meters and fourth in the 400.

Spencer Marr (Clover Park) was eighth in the IB long jump.

Zach Smith (Kentlake) placed second in the Young Mens long jump.

Stephan Scott Ellis (Curtis) strained his hip on his first attempt in the triple jump and was unable to complete his jumps.

High Voltage
Germe Poston (Franklin Pierce) was third in her 200-meter heat and fifth in her 100-meter heat in the Intermediate Girls division.

Kelly Jacka (Bellarmine Prep) took second in her 200-meter heat and fifth in her 100-meter heat in the Young Women's division.

Seatown Express
Ariele Reeves (Lakes) finished fifth in her heat in the Young Women's 100 meters.

Paddling to Russia
Next week, three members of the Gig Harbor Canoe and Kayak Racing Team will compete at the Moscow Junior World Test Team Trials in Oklahoma City, Okla. If Cedric Bond, Abbie Barber and Katy Hill qualify, they will travel in September to Russia to compete in a test regatta for the 2009 Junior Worlds competition.

Bond, Barder and Hill will be joined in Oklahoma City by GHCKRT teammates Katarina Batina, Makenzie Sousle and Zac Johnson, who are racing in Nationals. Hill is going for her fourth straight victory in the 500-meter K-1. Bond, ranked No. 1 in the country, is competing for the first time as a junior. Batina will race against Olympic-level kayakers for the first time as a senior. Sousle is the defending champion in the girl's bantam canoe division.

With practice beginning in less than four weeks, it's too late for high school football coaches to install a new offense, but I'd like to see a local team use the A-11 offense.

The A-11 offense brings eight-man football to the 11-man game and renders offensive linemen obsolete. Two tight ends line up on both sides of the center. Two groups of three receivers are spread on both sides of the field. In the backfield, two quarterbacks wait for the snap seven yards behind the line of scrimmage in a shotgun formation.

Breaking it down, it's like running a fake punt on every play.

Put down those penalty flags, this formation is completely legal. It meets the criteria for a "scrimmage kick."

Piedmont (Calif.) High School unveiled the offense last season, going 7-2 and reaching the playoffs.

Is the A-11 gimmicky? Of course it is. But I can see this working well in small classifications, like 1A, 2B and 1B.

What do you think? Can this offense work?

Two local coaches will today be inducted into the Washington Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

They are:

Lyle McIntosh, Gig Harbor
The Tides current coach has a 25-year record of 395-244. Gig Harbor won the Class 3A state title in 1996 under McIntosh.

Jim Clifton, Puyallup, Sultan
Long-time Puyallup coach Jim Clifton compiled a career record of 290-206 in 20 seasons, split between leading the Vikings and Sultan.

The state of Texas tested more than 10,000 high school athletes for steroids and found only two that were using "unauthorized substances."

Is drug testing high school athletes worthwhile? Is it right? I think these results show that taxpayer money can be better spent elsewhere.

Click below for the story.

=> Read more!

The Carly Stowell Foundation for Education in Athletic and Music Performance is taking its first big, public step this weekend when it hosts the Field of Dreams fundraiser.

The event begins at 6 p.m. Saturday at Grimstad Farms in Kent. The RSVP date has passed, but people can attend by paying the $75 fee at the door. There will be a silent auction, which includes trips to Africa, Mexico and British Columbia.

The gala's aim is to show that the 1-year-old foundation is intent on reaching its goals and to secure donations to help it realize its ambitions, which includes building a facility for its athletic and musical endeavors.

"Our grand vision is that someday we will be able to run the types of programs we want to without being beholden to school districts or stuck waiting in line for gym time," said Chuck Stowell, father of the foundation's namesake, Carly.

Carly Stowell was a 14-year-old freshman at Kentlake High School when she died suddenly in April 2007 of arrhythmia at a basketball tournament in North Carolina. She excelled at basketball and was the only freshman member of jazz band at Kentlake.

Chuck said he and his wife, Elena, Carly's mother, wanted to do something that Carly would like.

"This just seems right," he said.

Since it was formed a year ago, the foundation has sponsored one volleyball and six basketball teams, in addition to offering jazz classes twice a week. Chuck said the number of teams will double in the next year, with the organization adding two lacrosse teams. Most of the kids are from the Kent area, but kids from Renton, Issaquah and Puyallup also participate.

When Gravin Kralik became Bethel's head coach at 27 years of age, he thought leading a football team was about schemes, strategies and sets. Four years later, he understands it requires much more than a playbook.

"I had no idea how much it was about building a program," he said, "and not offensive or defensive sets."

His mistaken assumptions spurred him to learn more about what it takes to build a winning program from coaches at some of the nation's top football programs. So, Kralik traveled the country during the offseason and put what he gleaned into a book. Gridiron Dynasties is scheduled to be released Aug. 29.

"I'd go to coaching clinics and as a young coach it was frustrating," he said. "Coaches would talk about their offense or defense, but I wanted to learn more. I wanted to learn how to build a program."

Kralik, who financed the book himself, said Gridiron Dynasties touches on a variety of subjects, including how facilities and booster clubs affect programs.

"It was a fun deal," he said. "I got to pick the brains of some of the best coaches in the country. If I wasn't writing this book, there's no way I would have had the chance to talk to some of them."

A familiar name has been hired as interim head football coach at Lincoln High School.

Ben Cochrane, a running back on the 1999 NCAA Division III national champion Pacific Lutheran University team, will lead the Abes. Cochrane takes over for former coach DJ Dobbins, who resigned this month to pursue a career in law enforcement. He begins at the Tacoma Police Academy later this summer. Dobbins coached Lincoln to a 6-4 record in 2007, his third season leading the Abes.

Cochrane, who graduated from PLU in 2002, coached at Ford Middle School from 2002-06. He also volunteered for a season at Stadium High School and coached at Franklin Pierce High School in 2000.

The head coach position will be opened after the 2008 season, Tacoma School District officials said.

The accolades for Tumwater graduate Ashley Andrews continue to pile up. The News Tribune's Female Athlete of the Year was named to the EA Sports Softball All-America Second Team. Andrews will play softball at the University of Tennessee.

Here's a link to the First Team.

Since we're on the topic of highly-skilled prep athletes, the quarterbacks at the final Elite 11 camp have been revealed. No Washington quarterbacks this year. This guy is the last Evergreen State quarterback to make the cut.

Here at The News Tribune, we've started planning our prep football section. The season doesn't officially kickoff until August 20 when practice begins, but, hey, is it ever too early to talk football?

Didn't think so.

Like we do every year, we will include a preseason all-state team, class-by-class top-10 rankings and predicted order of finish for the leagues in our coverage area. This is where you -- the fan, player, coach, classmate, parent or friend -- come in.

Give us your picks. Who are the top 10 teams in each class? What teams will win the Narrows League; SPSL North, South and 3A; Western Cascade; Nisqually 2A and 1A; and Evergreen Conference? Who are the best players in the state?

We've got our opinions. We want to know yours.

Renado Parker signed a letter of intent to play basketball at North Idaho College, the school said in a press release on Wednesday.

Parker, a two-time selection on The News Tribune's All-Area team and four-time first-team all-SPSL North pick, graduated as the Chargers' all-time leading scorer. The 6-foot-6 forward averaged a double-double in the 2007-08 season, scoring 21.6 points and grabbing 10 rebounds per game.

Renado Parker going up for a dunk against Prairie in the 2007 state tournament.

Not even at the basketball state tournament can you see this much talent in one place.

Plucked from YouTube, here's a highlight video of the Northwest Panthers-Seattle Rotary AAU game that included a Who's Who in Seattle-Tacoma hoops scene: Abdul Gaddy, Avery Bradley, Peyton Siva, Josh Smith, Tony Wroten and more.

Enjoy.

*Yes, at 3:29 in the video, that is Texas coach Rick Barnes.

This article should not come as a surprise to anyone here, but ESPN.com's Ted Miller, formerly of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, wrote a piece on Seattle still being a hoops hot-bed, despite the Sonics moving to Boomer Sooner-land.

Also not surprisingly, Bellarmine Prep's Abdul Gaddy and Avery Bradley are mentioned, along with Franklin's Peyton Siva and Garfield's Tony Wroten.

There was no word in Miller's article on Kentwood's Josh Smith, but according to WashingtonPreps.com, he's getting plenty of interest from the basketball blue-bloods.

"Some of the schools that have offered me are Louisville, Duke, UCLA, Georgetown, Texas, U-Dub (Washington), Washington State, Gonzaga, Tennessee, all of the Pac-10," Smith told the recruiting Web site. "I know I'm forgetting some of the schools. The list just keeps getting bigger. Indiana, Kentucky and Kansas are also showing a lot of interest."

P.J. Bolte, a 2008 graduate of Franklin Pierce High School, will play basketball at Rice University this year.

The 6-foot-6, 190-pound Bolte has enrolled in summer school at the Houston college, the Houston Chronicle reported in this story.

Bolte averaged 14 points per game for Franklin Pierce in the 2007-08 season.

Brandon Mueller, a member of The News Tribune’s 2001 all-area football team died July 8 in a Nevada hospital.

UPDATE, July 17: There will be a service for Mueller at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Mountain View Valley Chapel in Lakewood.

Mueller, a 2004 Wilson High School graduate, died from massive head trauma suffered in a cliff-jumping accident on Saturday at Lake Havasu. Mueller was a kicker on the all-area team in 2001.

According to the San Bernardino County Sherriff’s Department, Mueller leaped off a rock in Copper Canyon and disappeared under nearly 30 feet of water for several minutes when he was rescued by a scuba diver. An off-duty fireman and off-duty registered nurse administered CPR until paramedics arrived.

Mueller was transported to Lake Havasu Regional Medical Center in critical condition. He was later flown to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas where he was removed from life support on Tuesday evening.

Here's a photo of the 2001 all-area offense. Mueller is in the front row at the far right in the white Wilson jersey.

This article is a month old, but it should still be interesing to basketball fans who have not seen it.

Abdul Gaddy impressed at the NBA Players Association basketball camp in Charlottesville, Va., last month. Here's what Sports Illustrated college basketball writer Seth Davis had to say about the Bellarmine Prep point guard:

"Gaddy was the best guard at the camp. He doesn't so much run as glide, and he has a very savvy way about creating space for his shot. He's a clear floor leader and a natural scorer. Reminds me a little of Mike Bibby."

You can read the entire article here. The tidbit about Gaddy is on the second page.

Here's the story, courtesy of Mike Vlahovich of the Spokesman-Review in Spokane.

The East scored in the final seconds to beat the West, 17-14, Thursday night at Central Valley High School. Mount Tahoma receiver Geno Munoz, who somehow was placed on the East roster, had a few big catches. He caught a 20-yard touchdown pass with 28 seconds left in the first half. Then the Oregon State-bound Munoz made grabs of 38 and 37 yards in the East's game-winning driving.

Happy Fourth of July, folks. Be safe.

High school athletes searching for college scholarships have a new resource: JumpForward.

The self-described "sports relationship management" Web site has a database filled with information on 2,580 universities and colleges and contact information for more than 50,000 coaches in a variety of sports.

"We've streamlined the recruiting process," JumpForward president Adam McCombs said. "We've put the power and decision-making in the hands of the athletes and parents. You must be pro-active. You're a needle in the haystack and have to make yourself noticed."

According to McCombs, the process works like this:
-- Users create a profile, allowing them to log-in and search for information on schools.

-- Once users find a school they are interested in, they can contact the coach in their sport via e-mail or click a button that initiates a phone call between the user and coach.

JumpForward also has lists of questions athletes and parents might want to ask prospective coaches. It also lists the core classes high school students must complete to meet NCAA eligibility requirements, as well as NCAA recruiting rules and calendars.

Here's a video JumpForward posted on YouTube that describes the process.

I decided to post this information about JumpForward, essentially giving it free advertising, because the company does not charge users. McCombs said the company makes money off advertising, not subscription fees. This differs from most other recruiting services.

McCombs said the service has been in beta-testing for five months and has
about 500 users, but he expects that figure to rise.