Meet the CHS Basketball Coaches and learn about the Coronado Holiday Invitational Tournament
Basketball is a winter sport and even here, where the weather is beautiful and conducive to playing outside, basketball is an indoor sport. Winter sports start before Thanksgiving and don’t end until after Valentine’s Day. So, when their peers are traveling, CHS basketball players are practicing. The sounds of hard work emanate from the gym, filled with enthusiasm and encouragement from coaches, whistles, shoes moving across the floor, balls bouncing off the backboard and floor and, even sometimes, screams of discomfort or frustration. Echoes of preparation fill the air.
The CHS Basketball program has hosted a holiday tournament for over twenty years. The girls’ tournament was over Thanksgiving and the boys’ was after Christmas. This year, for only the second time, the boys’ and girls’ teams will combine efforts for a tournament before the winter holiday break. Girls’ head coach Toler Goodwin noted that the timing of the event “allows the team to have a little bit of a holiday. The tough part of playing basketball is that you lose half a dozen holidays. We can’t go two weeks without practice because that would result in a loss of conditioning.”
Planning the tournament together streamlines the efforts of both head coaches and their staffs. “We are able to get parent volunteers from both programs and having eight teams on both the boys’ and girls’ side of the tournament allow for a full gym all day”, said boys’ Head Coach JD Laaperi. Coach Goodwin added that planning a home tournament has many benefits including repetition of games and the ability to make adjustments day after day without practices in between. “It exposes the players to different styles of play and helps develop their overall understanding of the game. It is also the number one fundraiser for both basketball teams.”
There will be eight teams for each gender competing in the Coronado Holiday Invitational Tournament. Games will take place December 19-23, 2014, and for the first time the teams are creating a Tournament Program together. Boys’ coach JD Laaperi shared that “Coach Toler Goodwin came up with the idea for the program. With the participating teams coming from all around San Diego County, it will help familiarize the fans with the players and also allow local businesses to advertise. I think it’s a great idea and should be implemented well.” Goodwin is excited about the program because it will represent all teams competing, but also provide the opportunity to share information about local businesses. “Businesses in town have done a great job of supporting all sports at CHS. High schools sports here survive from extra donations, whether directly to our program or through the Islander Sports Foundation.”
Businesses or individuals interested in being part of the inaugural program can purchase ads of various sizes: full page, half page, quarter page and business card sizes. Ads range in price from $75.00 for a business card space to $345 for a full page. To purchase an ad for the Coronado Holiday Invitational Tournament program, contact either head coach, Toler Goodwin at [email protected] or JD Laaperi at [email protected].
Girls’ Basketball
Head Coach Toler Goodwin has been at the helm of the Girls’ Basketball team for over a decade. He embarks on this season, his 16th, knowing that this group of girls is full of potential. “I like what I think we are capable of,” says Goodwin. “We have to come together as a unit on the floor and understand what each person’s responsibility is. Continuity on the defensive end will be paramount to how the offense comes together.”
The girls all like each other and personality wise, get along very well. There were major successes last year and no seniors, meaning no loss of players to graduation. There is a good core of people back this year and their familiarity with each other is a positive, though, he notes that “sometimes the girls tell me who the starters are and don’t include themselves.” Junior Yenny Lozada, who played JV her first two years at CHS says “being part of the basketball team is fun! We are so close it’s like family.” Maribel Kastlunger, mother of senior players Jordyn and Tayler, who have both played for the Islanders all four years says, “It’s nice that the girls really connect and get along. I enjoy basketball and like going to the games.”
Goodwin has been a coach for a combined 27 years and has spent most of it coaching girls’ basketball. He shares that his very first season of coaching taught him “it’s about each individual team’s journey. You have consistency if people stay in the program, but the interaction is different. Seeing the talent and skills of a team come together is exciting. Every year is different!” He adds that he believes the way the girls respond to the different physical, mental and emotional aspects of their team helps build their character. “I am here to challenge them, treat them fairly, develop them, give them positive aspects, but still help them improve with critique of their game.”
Starting back row from left: Kyla, Clare, Katie, Amelia and front rowTayler, Jordyn, Kristiana, Sarah, Ashtyn, Ellie and Yenny all played for the Islanders last year and are returning for another season.
Goodwin, having coached both boys and girls says that the biggest difference with girls is “they don’t come in with a preconceived idea of how the game should be played and what their role is. They are malleable, like clay and he feels he can have much more of a signature on the team.” His biggest challenge coaching teenage girls, he teases with a laugh, is keeping their focus and helping them understand where they are in the season. “Where we are now is so far advanced from where we were last year at this time. I can see what they are capable of, but often they don’t understand the picture I see.”
Goodwin is thankful to have Assistant Coach Jordan Bucklew as part of the program for the second year and commented “working with good people makes a huge difference.” The girls like Coach Bucklew and he is a great addition to the program. He motivates the girls and expects a high level of discipline, commitment and concentration.
Katie, Emma, Alana, Jamie, Charlotte and Imani are gearing up to play for the Junior Varsity this year.
The girls’ program also has a Junior Varsity team, coached this year by Tony Dickerson. Coach Dickerson has ten years of coaching experience in San Diego and has coached both boys and girls. He is a CHS grad and his dad was a coach here as well. His experience is important, noted Coach Goodwin, because “understanding how to coach girls is an important aspect. A coach has to be capable of challenging and teaching. Fundamentals are key, but it’s also important to make the game interesting so they want to keep playing.”
Boys’ Basketball
The boys’ basketball team is lead by Head Coach JD Laaperi. Coach Laaperi has been coaching basketball for eleven years, all in Coronado. He has worked his way up the coaching ladder, starting at the middle school, spending four years with JV, and now starting his sixth year as the Varsity Head Coach.
Coach Laaperi shares that he has always enjoyed the strategy of the game of basketball. “Even when I was in grade school and high school, I would watch the games looking at plays and schemes, not just watching the ball.” After graduating from UCSB, he started coaching.
The Varsity assistant coaches this year include Sandy Dillon, Greg Johnson, Teddy Taylor and Drew Zeller. Coach D (Dillon) brings years of experience and a defensive mind to the staff and also coached Laaperi in high school. Coach Johnson, Laaperi shares, “is the best scout in the county. He gives of his time to scout every team we play and every team we might play in the playoffs.” Teddy Taylor is a former JV player and assists with play calling and at practices. Coach Zeller was a Varsity player when Coach Laaperi was an assistant and is “primarily the coach I scheme offense with,” says Laaperi.
The biggest challenge of being the Varsity Head Coach is the time commitment. Coach Laaperi “loves being at the gym” and admits that he would practice even more if it were allowed, but it’s also very difficult to be away from his two young children (ages 3 and 1). He coaches, though, because “for me, it’s the closest thing to playing. There is a definite adrenaline rush when playing and coaching a solid game with a great plan that works is as close as I have found to my playing days.”
(Pictured at right is the Coronado High School gym, where both teams spend lots of time during the season for practices and games.)
Coach Laaperi predicts, with five players returning, the boys’ varsity team should be competitive in the Central league. “This year’s group is quite talented and basketball knowledgeable. Our practices have been sharp and competitive and we have eight or nine guys vying for meaningful playing time. The coaching staff is excited about what we have seen so far.”
Coach Laaperi added, “We hope that many Coronado residents and students will attend our games this year and we will do our best to entertain and play hard basketball.”
Girls’ and boys’ Varsity double header league games will be played in January and February. The first home game is Friday, January 9 with the girls playing at 6pm and the boys scheduled for a 7:30pm start. Come cheer on both Islander basketball teams!
