Here’s what some coaches said about all-league and all-area

I can do this because I have the sources. Here’s what some of the top coaches in the area think about the legitimacy of all-league and Tribune all-area teams.

Because this ended up being such a hot topic on another thread, I decided to get the opinions of some local coaches because I have access to it.

If any other coaches want to post their opinions, then please leave your name with your post. Start with all-league voting opinion and then Tribune All-Area. Please be honest, there will be no hard feelings whatsoever.


Greg Gano, Los Altos football

All-League: “I’ve been in some meetings, when I was at Northview, where you’d ask a guy ‘What films have you been watching?’ And you can quote me on that. I’ll give you a story – We had a kid at Northview named Marcel Perez. He was probably the best football players to go to Northview. A coach voted him a zero at linebacker and gave him an eight for MVP. What does that tell you? I really think our (Miramonte League) coaches do a good job. Overall, I think we do a good job because we have guys who know what they’re doing. Our league, with Podley, Lou and Oviedo, we talk about it. A lot of it is honest opinion.”

Trib All-Area: “To be very honest, I can look at the all-Valley teams for the past couple years and say they’ve been right. I take your word for it because you’ve seen all these guys live. You take the kid from Covina (Mike McDonough) and see what he did and he had some of the best statistics in the Valley in some time. And it’s not because they didn’t play anybody. They played some good football. I might be the last guy you should ask about this because we’ve had some great players. But last year we had one kid make all-Valley. Three years ago we had six, but we were loaded. There’s reasons why. You could say ‘Did Los Altos deserve six on the all-Valley?’ But at the same time, we had the best six kids in the Valley (at their positions) and they deserved it.”

Mike LeDuc, Glendora basketball

All-League: “I think the all-league voting is legitimate. I think they do what they feel in their hearts is right. There are disagreements, but I don’t think there’s anything unethical. I would say over the years that 90 percent of the time, in my personal experience, ethics is involved and everybody does what they think is right. And there are no grudges or paybacks. I would say 10 percent of the time, and I have been to probably 30 meetings, I would say three times that I felt that (grudges and paybacks).”

Trib All-Area: “In my experience, and I happen to know you, your predecessor, his predecessor and his predecessor, you take a lot of pride in your jobs and I think you do what you can to get it right. I may not agree with every selection, but that means nothing. I think you’re very ethical and you do everything you can to get the very best team. Most often, you do. The more interesting argument is whether you should have them or not? You spend 11 months a year telling kids ‘It’s about team,’ and then you spend a month figuring out individual awards. I don’t agree with that. I don’t understand why we even give out MVP awards. If you go to our banquets, the best player gets the same award as our 15th man.”

Darryl Thomas, Covina football

All-League: “I’ll tell you what I tell the kids: People are always going to be upset. That’s one of the things we talk about as athletic directors – what’s the best way to get kids recognized and make sure it’s fair? The top tier kids will always get recognized. It’s the last few kids who often get left off because of the coaches. It can go either way. Sometimes a coach will score a kid lower just so his own kids get in.”

Tribune All-Area: “I think you guys do a pretty good job. You’re not going to go 2-8 and be on there. I think you do a good job of getting out there. I know you’ve talked to me and asked about players. Whether you do it right or wrong, somebody is always going to be unhappy. It was interesting to see four girls from the same basketball team make it. What I really like is that it gets people talking.”

Jim Singiser, Arroyo football

All-League: “I think it’s probably, at least in football, the most honest indication of a kid’s achievements – nine times out of 10. No matter what, you’re going to get a general consensus of the coaches. It doesn’t mean games can’t be played. I think last year was an anamoly for us. It’s a Catch-22. The all-league thing had some issues, but by the same token there were some other things going on. The relationship and cooperation between coaches wasn’t what it should’ve been. I would more go with your all-Valley thing than a coaches opinion on who should get it. It’s an unbiased opinion. If you’re going to have people vote, they ought to be informed. They should know what’s going on. I think it all works out in the end. In terms of all-league things, there is politics involved.”

Tribune All-Area: “It’s not freakin’ AYSO, so not everybody has to get an award. I have to suck a little gas this year because I thought Dominic (Salmon) deserved some things and he didn’t get in. A lot of it has to do with you have kids from South Hills getting a lot of ink. But they’re winning a lot of games. It’s like how many games does South Hills have to win before they deserve it? If you put five South Hills kids on there and they didn’t win a CIF championship, I’d say you’re a homer. But they won a CIF title. If you go to the semifinals like Covina, then you deserve to have a bunch of guys get awards.”

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