In just two weeks one of the top college football teams in the nation might start a true freshman at quarterback.
USC won’t lose confidence either if Matt Barkley is starting under center against San Jose State. He’s the real deal, the Trojans believe.
USC Coach Pete Carroll realized that when the Newport Beach resident starred at Mater Dei. That’s mainly why Barkley went to the private school in Santa Ana, for the national exposure.
He lived in the Corona del Mar High boundary, but never attended there after being a standout in the Newport-Mesa Junior All-American program.
Aside from reasons for national attention, why did this happen? One of the best football players in this area never attended the high school in his community.
Last week, I wrote a story about the mentor program that Costa Mesa Pop Warner is instituting for its young players. The high school players from Costa Mesa and Estancia help coach the youth.
Yes, it takes a community to help the young players stay local. But it doesn’t guarantee they will stay. Some players are always going to leave. The local coaches relatively accept that, but to their credit they are still willing to work with the local youth football programs and hold out hope.
Yet in Newport Beach, some Newport-Mesa Junior All-American coaches want a better relationship between their program and the local high schools, Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar.
“We would like to see them to at least participate in a visibility standpoint,” said John Genova, the head coach of the Junior Pee Wee team of the Newport-Mesa Junior All-American program. “Come out. See the kids. Let the kids know their program. Our kids have no connection to those schools, if they don’t have an older brother or sibling at those schools.
“My oldest son [J.C.] is going off to Mater Dei and he had no connection to CdM whatsoever. He didn’t even know about their program, didn’t follow it because no one was around.”
Genova, also the athletic director of the Newport-Mesa youth football program, didn’t sound completely upset when he told me this at the Dick’s Sporting Goods at Fashion Island last month. I was there to cover the grand opening that featured Ronnie Lott. Genova was there to peddle his program, sitting in front of a table, trying to get kids to sign up for the Seahawks.
