JJ SAYS: Schedule is a key for prep teams

Coaches make a choice with their scheduling|

Win or learn. It is a dilemma that faces all coaches long before the first ball is dribbled, the first swing is taken or the first goal is scored. It begins with scheduling.

When they consider their upcoming season, they must decide if they are going to schedule hard, taking on the toughest competition they can find, or schedule soft, facing teams their own size or perhaps smaller.

The trade-offs are significant. A hard schedule can lead to significantly fewer wins that could be counted against a team in the North Coast Section playoffs or even cost them a spot in the playoffs.

A soft schedule can make a team’s record shine brighter, and a good record might ultimately have more weight with the NCS seeding committee than strength of schedule.

Playing teams within the same division can also be a path to qualifying for postseason play, since a criteria for qualifying is a break-even or better record against teams in the same division. Two years ago, the Casa Grande football team qualified by this method and went on to win a playoff game.

On the other side of the coin, playing strong teams and teams from higher divisions does have weight with selection committees, but perhaps the biggest benefit of scheduling tough is that it makes a team better.

The Casa Grande girls basketball team is a perfect example of a team that dramatically improved over the course of the season. Of course, Casa players were talented and they worked hard, but they were also hardened by the fire of intense competition.

Very early in the season, the Gauchos were beaten by Miramonte, 70-19. In their very first Vine Valley Athletic League game of the season, they lost to Vintage, 40-26.

There were similar tough foes along the way to an 18-10 season.

The really impressive part was that Casa Grande won its four final games before entering the North Coast Section playoffs. Included in the run were two wins in the Vine Valley Athletic League postseason tournament, including a 41-37 victory over league champion Vintage in the playoff championship game.

Veteran Casa coach Dan Sack called his team the most improved he had ever coached from start to finish.

St. Vincent’s softball team has long played almost all larger and more highly ranked teams in its non-league games. A Division 5 school from the North Central League II, St. Vincent will open its season with games against Casa Grande, Santa Rosa, Terra Linda and Cardinal Newman. All are Division 2 or 3 teams. Also on the agenda are Montgomery and Rancho Cotate.

The Petaluma softball team is another that takes on all comers, and the tougher the better. Petaluma is a Division 3 team, but as long as I’ve been around has always played Division 2 in the North Coast Section playoffs.

I don’t think it is just coincidence that season after season, St. Vincent and Petaluma softball teams and the Casa Grande girls basketball team reach the NCS playoffs.

There are numerous other examples of local teams scheduling the toughest teams around. Casa Grande and Petaluma baseball teams all face loaded schedules this spring.

There is nothing wrong with playing teams your own size, but the teams that end up extending their seasons into the playoffs are generally those that continually challenge themselves during the regular season.

(Contact John Jackson at johnie.jackson@arguscourier.com)

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