 | | | 2011 team Photos Tod Fierner
| | | | | | When the Campolindo High School football program packs into Pleasant Hill's Back Forty BBQ for the 5th Annual Hall of Fame Dinner, guests will experience the huddle firsthand.
That's because ticket sales are booming for the Saturday, May 12th event, according to head coach Kevin Macy. After a NCS Championship-winning season, fans are excited to celebrate.
"Typically, ninety percent of the ticket sales happen in the last three weeks before the dinner," he explained. "This year, ninety percent happened in the first 20 days."
Finishing the season with a 13-1 record and a huge victory at the O.co Coliseum during the NCS Championship, caused Macy to break with tradition. Instead of inducting three individuals from past teams and three individuals from the present team at the dinner, the entire 1986 and 2011 teams will be honored.
"We were such a long shot, just like the team in 1986," Macy said of his decision to induct two entire teams. "It was just a perfect fit for this event."
In 1986, the Cougars were 10-3 for the season. Challenged by their coach, they built a rock solid defense that helped them earn the NCS Championship title, to the surprise of many.
"We never gave up or threw in the towel at the beginning of the season. We were supremely confident in our ability to shut down our opponents' offense. If we could give our offense enough chances with the ball, they would score for us," said Brad Schoenberger, co-captain in 1986.
The annual dinner originated five years ago, when Macy, dissatisfied with the timing of a season-ending banquet and realizing a simple award ceremony wasn't adequate, came up with the Hall of Fame idea.
"It's a way to acknowledge past players and our present kids and to kick off spring practice, to send off the seniors. It energizes the new families and kids."
Seated behind a desk piled high with math papers, Macy is willing to talk about organizing the dinner, but he's far more eager to speak about his core principles in leading student athletes.
"I don't do anything fancy, I'm just around more than anybody else," he said, downplaying his straightforward approach to the game and 17 years at Campo. "You want to guide, but it has to be kid driven. They're not going to make those big plays, if you don't have the buy-in."
This year, Macy called for all the buy-in his Cinderella team could muster and they came through. Establishing a buy-in began at practice.
"First, we set up our practice so we're not in that environment where we're trying to have our kids beat up on each other to prove who's tough," Macy said. "There's the kids that can supply some energy during the week of practice, then there's kids that can bring something different that other kids can't on game day. Those leaders elevate the team...and it's not always the best athletes."
Macy said the game has changed, with finesse reigning over bulk and solid, strategic planning leading to wins. What hasn't changed, he insists, is what the players learn in the locker room.
"It's the one sport that takes a while to get out on the field. There's a natural debriefing time when there's three different levels suiting up and they have to move en mass. Nowadays, with so many things to isolate them, they have to put everything away and create their own sense of entertainment."
Schoenberger remembers that same, determined camaraderie from his championship season. Overcoming bruises, smashed fingers, split chins and fatigue formed an unforgettable bond, according to Schoenberger.
"It took a good five to ten years to come down off the high from that football season," he joked.
Macy believes the deferred gratification of a football season turns the clock back and establishes old-fashioned values like hard work, team effort and respect for process.
He laughs, admitting that he's always said there are no Cinderella stories in football.
"You can have an upset, but you can't pull out the magic week after week," he suggested, adding, "now that there's a story out there-ours-I guess I have to change what I say."
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA