After a busy start to the fall, I had the chance last week to sit down with Ben Campopiano, the new principal at Miramonte HS. He took over for Julie Parks, who stayed in the community as the superintendent of Moraga School District.
Ben has a long background in sports, which is why I was excited to talk athletics as it pertains to the high school district, and specifically at Miramonte. His background ranges from starting Bronco Baseball Academy in Walnut Creek in 2001, to coaching Baseball at Northgate High School and holding a position as Director of Baseball Operations with UC Santa Clara Baseball. More info about Ben can be found here.
Our discussion was broad in terms of topics, but the general theme was that there is incredible demand for sports in the Lamorinda community, where ~70% of students in the district play a competitive sport. The intertwining of academics and athletics is in the fabric of our daily lives from elementary through high school, and providing the resources, staff and facilities to support both school-based and outside programs benefits everyone.
The systems in place for public high schools make it difficult to attract quality coaches, as the time committment relative to salary is a huge challenge. Almost exclusively, high school coaches either need to be retired, work a morning job (often teaching), or supplement their high school coaching with club or travel teams. This is a challenge that isn’t going away, so finding and keeping quality coaches who run a great program from top to bottom will always be a priority.
One topic that has special significance for both Ben and I are field space in the area, particularly artificial turf fields which can be utilized throughout the year by multiple sports and groups (and require very little maintenance). Miramonte, like every other school in the district, has so much field space that is underutilized. Each school has raised funds and installed turf for their football fields, but putting in turf on baseball, softball and multi-use fields would be supported by so many student-athletes at each school.
Overall I was happy to have the opportunity to talk with Ben and open up an ongoing dialogue about working together to provide great programs for our local athletic community.