Just about everyone knew that freshmen making the team would have limited playing time. That didn’t keep players away
Long before the first basketball was dribbled, preparations were underway to form a boys’ freshman team. The money needed to have a team, about $7,500, was raised. Kevin Ochoa, who grew up on the Coastside, was named the coach.
 Kevin Ochoa, standing, serves as Half Moon Bay'€™s first boys' freshmen basketball coach. The lack of gym time forces the team to practice and play some of its games at Sea Crest School. |
After dropping their first six games, the Cougars won two straight, with their most recent win on Dec. 15 against San Lorenzo Valley.
The creation of the new team resulted in gym time issues. With four teams and one gym at the high school, the freshmen team has to look for other places to practice and play.
The Cougars hold some of their practices at Sea Crest School, paying rent to do so. Ochoa understands. When he was a freshman at Serra, his team practiced outside.
Half Moon Bay has played two home games at Sea Crest. Three other home games will be played at Half Moon Bay.
Ochoa was approached about coaching the team last spring when he heard from Rich Forslund, a longtime Coastside resident and retired coach at Riordan. At the time, Ochoa was an assistant coach at Westmoor.
“The coach there (Herb Yaptinchay) was OK with me leaving for this,” Ochoa said. “I knew there could be a program here because of the numbers.”
Numbers have never been an issue for boys’ basketball. John Parsons Sr. never cut players when he was the coach of the frosh-soph boys’ basketball team at Half Moon Bay. One year, he had 23 players on the team.
The numbers are not a problem and will not be a problem for a while.
“I get a lot of signups and I don’t even advertise for the teams,” said Joe Hagarty, the athletic director for the Catholic Youth Organization program at Our Lady of the Pillar.
CYO offers basketball for players from grades 3-8, with each team having about 8-10 players. Despite the lack of publicity, each grade has about 30 players, with Hagarty creating three teams per grade.
“If we had more signups, it would be challenging to get gym time,” Hagarty said.
Forslund also knew it would be a matter of time before the boys’ team began. An insurance man in the real world, Forslund hosts some basketball camps in the summer.
“There have been more and more kids who have signed up for the camps,” Forslund said.
Creating a new team was more challenging because the school budget continues to get tighter. This year, the athletic budget at the Cabrillo Unified School District was cut by more than 40 percent.
“We were able to get clearance from the school and the district,” Forslund said. “But we are getting no funds.”
Parents put up some of the money, and a fundraising event last month raised more than $4,000.
The players still have to pay the $125 fee to play, as do all the other school’s athletes.
“We want to give them a chance to play,” said Chris Dobbrow, whose son is on the team. “It’s also good for the future of the program.”
The players are just as happy to have the opportunity to play.
“I didn’t think there would be a freshman program,” said player Tom Howell. “About half of us have played on the OLP teams.”
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