Eagles on the rise

Patrick Laverty

Estancia High’s boys athletic program has been a model of continuity

this summer, with one exception and it’s a big one.

While other high schools have watched the revolving door of the

coaching world continue to twirl, all of the boys coaches at Estancia

have returned for the 2003-04 school year. All except one.

That one comes in football, where former USC quarterback and

Oregon State head coach Craig Fertig will coach at the high school

level for the first time while trying to lead the Eagles to their

first winning season since 2000 and their first playoff victory since

1980.

Yes, Estancia has just one new coaching change on campus this

year, but it’s an important one.

“Football is important to the whole school,” Estancia Athletic

Director Tim Parsel said. “The better the football team is, the

better money we bring in. But just a general feeling of students

being involved in something to be proud of, both athletes and

non-athletes.”

Money is a particularly important factor. Though Estancia, and the

Newport-Mesa Unified School District as a whole, hasn’t had to make

drastic cutbacks due to budget cuts, the Eagles did lose a large

income source this year when a private, anonymous donor, who had

contributed heavily in recent years, ended his charity. On top of

that, Estancia is hopeful of building an on-campus stadium in the

coming years. The Eagles now play at Newport Harbor High and at

Orange Coast College.

“There has been a plan for the last four or five years to get a

stadium on our field,” Parsel said. “That is a goal. I’m not sure how

close we are to achieving that. But, I know there has been a lot of

investigation into it. It would be a smaller stadium in the

2,500-3,000 range. That’s the last plan I heard.”

According to Parsel, those plans have already been drawn up and

environmental impact studies have also been conducted. If it happens,

the stadium would include an all-weather track.

The stadium would be another piece of the puzzle for a school that

has an expansive field area, a pool and two gymnasiums.

The floor in the main gym, which is large enough to accommodate

the practices of three basketball teams or a basketball team and a

wrestling team at the same time, has been sanded and painted this

summer, resulting in a brand-new look.

The varsity baseball diamond has also been upgraded over the last

year and Parsel expects similar improvements to the junior varsity

field as more students begin to participate in the sport under

second-year coach Jon Green.

Fertig and Green will attempt to replicate the success that other

Eagles programs had in their first season in the Golden West League

last year. After leaving the Pacific Coast League, Estancia was able

to rocket up the standings in more than a few sports.

“Our first year in the Golden West League was very good,” Parsel

said.

It wasn’t just the league championships in track, golf and

volleyball either. It was the competitiveness across the board that

impressed Parsel.

He expects that competitiveness to spread to football and baseball

in the coming seasons and a lot of that has to do with Estancia’s

increased success in the Golden West League.

“I think we’re getting some more numbers out,” Parsel said. “Kids

seem to be walking around with a little more sense of accomplishment,

a little more sense of pride.”

If Parsel can get Fertig and Green to stick around like some of

the other veteran coaches at Estancia, that should help too.

While Fertig is a walk-on coach and will remain such, Green is

finishing his teaching credential. Only one other coach, volleyball’s

Tracey Heims, who teaches at La Quinta, does not work on campus.

“We have a good percentage of coaches on campus, as high as it has

been at any time in the last 10 years,” Parsel said.

The on-campus coaches have plenty of experience behind them.

Charlie Apell has built the cross country program into a yearly

contender and has track and field coach Steve Crenshaw lead the

Eagles to a league championship last season.

Crenshaw, who coaches the boys soccer team, has been an on-campus

teacher for more than five years now. Water polo and swimming coach

John Carpenter is a longtime teacher, with 20 years of experience

behind him. Golf Coach Art Perry has also been the school’s

activities director for many years and tennis coach Rachel del los

Santos, who also coaches the girls team, is on campus. Basketball

Coach Chris Sorce is entering his third season.

“Our principal has been very supportive of trying to hire people

on campus,” Parsel said. “The more continuity you have, the more

success you’re going to have.”

If Fertig and Green can stick, it would end the carousel in

football and baseball. Fertig is the fourth head coach for the Eagles

football team since 1997 and Green is the fifth baseball coach the

school has had in the last 10 seasons.

As the Eagles enter their second year in the Golden West League,

they’ll be looking for those two coaches to add not only to their

continuity, but to their growing reputation as a school where

athletes can prosper.