Polk County
Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • August 5, 2015 12A
QUICK HITS
Esquivel steps up to head Panthers on the pitch
Local team
moves to state
Central High alumni hired to lead soccer team into 2016-17 season
INDEPENDENCE — The
CYS Senior Junior Baseball
team won the Valley
League tournament July
23.
The team went 4-0 to
clinch the championship.
The squad advanced to
the JBO State Tournament
and placed fourth.
By Lukas Eggen
Registration for
DHS fall sports
DALLAS — Fall sports
registration for Dallas High
will take place Aug. 10-13.
Fall practices begin Aug.
17. Those not registered
by Aug. 13 will be unable
to practice on Aug. 17.
Cost is $150 for all
sports except cheer, which
costs $75.
Those qualifying for free
lunch must provide the
letter received from the
District Office for a re-
duced fee of $35.
Paperwork is available
o n l i n e a t w w w. s i t e s .
google.com/a/dsd2.org/da
llas-high-school-athletics/.
Forms will also be avail-
able outside the athletic
office beginning Aug. 10.
I ncoming freshmen
must have a sports physi-
cal.
CHS fall sports
sign-ups to open
INDEPENDENCE — Fall
sports registration for Cen-
tral High School will open
Aug. 10-13 from 6 to 8
p.m. in the main office.
Fall sports practices
begin Aug. 17.
All athletic registration
paperwork must be com-
pleted before practice be-
gins.
Central High will offer a
sports physical clinic on
Aug. 12 at 1:30 p.m. in the
main gym.
Sports physicals are re-
quired for incoming fresh-
men and are due every
two years.
For more information:
503-606-2228.
Central to host
football camp
INDEPENDENCE — Cen-
tral High School will host a
non-contact football camp
Aug. 10-14.
Cost is $15 and is open
to students in grades 3-12.
Th e c a m p fo r 9 t h -
through 12th-grade stu-
dents will run from 3:30 to
6 p.m.
The 3rd- through 7th-
grade camp will go from
6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Registration will take
place 30 minutes prior to
the start of camp.
For more information:
Shane Hedrick, 503-606-
2227.
Central volleyball
camp coming
INDEPENDENCE — Cen-
tral High School will host a
volleyball camp for stu-
dents in grades 4-12 Aug.
10-13.
Cost is $30 and registra-
tion will be taken 30 min-
utes before the camp be-
gins.
The camp for partici-
pants in grades 4-8 will run
from 4 to 5:30 p.m. with
players in grades 9-12 fol-
lowing from 5:30 to 7:30
p.m.
For more information:
Claudine Mendazona, 503-
838-2709.
www.polkio.com
The Itemizer-Observer
I
NDEPENDENCE — Carlos Es-
quivel always thought he’d be a
high school soccer coach one
day. Turns out, that day has come
sooner than he thought.
Central Athletic Director Shane
Hedrick announced the hiring of Es-
quivel, a 2009 Central High gradu-
ate, as the Panthers’ boys soccer
coach.
“Carlos will add to the already up-
and-coming soccer program at Cen-
tral High School,” Hedrick said. “We
are very excited to have him return
home to CHS and guide our boys
soccer program on and off the field
of play.”
For Esquivel, this opportunity is a
chance to help leave an even bigger
mark on the high school than when
he played.
Esquivel was among the Panthers’
top varsity soccer players during his
high school career, but he had his
eyes set on the coach’s job.
“I’ve honestly al-
ways felt the want
to coach at the
high-school level,”
Esquivel said.
“There are a lot of
things I feel I can
bring to the soccer
field that I can in-
Esquivel
corporate. Rather
than things like
getting into shape, adding things
like getting into the weight room,
things we didn’t do as much (when I
was in high school) but that will
make them better soccer players
and better athletes.”
His plan was to try and become
an assistant coach and work his way
toward head coach — that is until
former coach Mike Lynch stepped
down.
“Originally, I just wanted to see if I
could get my foot in the door,” Es-
quivel said. “When this opportunity
came up, I thought I’d give it a shot.”
Esquivel has volunteered as a
middle school coach, but this fall
will mark his first high school coach-
ing experience.
If one thing is clear, it’s that Es-
quivel isn’t afraid of the moment.
“I’m up for the challenge,” Esquiv-
el said. “It’s important for me to un-
derstand all the players. I need to
make sure that every player is treat-
ed equally and that I get to know my
players on and off the field.”
Esquivel will get to know his play-
ers’ abilities over the coming weeks,
and he’s not shy about his long-term
goals for the Panthers.
“I’m excited to push my team to
be a team that can not only com-
pete, but be a threat to really any-
body in the state,” Esquivel said.
He knows the Mid-Willamette
Conference is a challenging soccer
league to compete in.
He’s viewing his first season with
modest expectations, but he’s confi-
dent that he can lead the Panthers to
be a perennial contender.
“I’m a new coach and I’m young,”
Esquivel said. “I’m aware I’m going
to get a lot of criticism because of
that aspect. I’m going to ask some-
thing not only from my team, but
from my coaching staff and my
community as well.
“I am asking for patience. This is a
learning year for me and it’s a
process. Patience is the one thing I
ask for. We’ll get there.”
Rodeo makes a comeback to county fair
Hell on Hooves promises nonstop, fast-paced action on Thursday at fairgrounds
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
POLK COUNTY — It’s
been more than 15 years in
the making, but it’s finally
happening: the rodeo is re-
turning to the Polk County
Fair.
The Hell on Hooves
Roughstock Rodeo will hit
the fairgrounds Thursday at
7 p.m.
“Wayne White from Wild
West Events has been bug-
ging us to put on a rodeo for
a long time,” Fair Manager
Tina Andersen said. “But we
just couldn’t afford it in the
past.”
That all changed in 2015,
when White sponsored
about $8,000 to help make
the rodeo a reality.
“I got together with the
fair board and we talked
about it,” White said. “I told
them we would come in and
help them and put on a
rodeo to help increase atten-
dance. We haven’t had a real
rodeo here in forever.”
The rodeo promises to be
one of the fair’s highlights
with bareback riding, saddle
bronc riding, bull riding,
barrel racing and mutton
bustin’.
“Instead of roping events,
we have bareback riding,
saddle bronc riding and bull
Rough
and ready
What: Hell on Hooves
Roughstock Rodeo.
When: Thursday, 7
p.m.
Cost: Free with paid
fair admission.
Of note: The rodeo
will feature bareback rid-
ing, saddle bronc riding,
bull riding, barrel racing
and mutton bustin’.
riding,” White said. “We
added barrel racing because
everyone likes barrel rac-
ing.”
The rodeo is for one night
only, so don’t miss your
chance to see the cowboys
competing, though Ander-
sen hopes this leads to a big-
ger rodeo in future years.
“It depends on the cow-
boys,” Andersen said. “The
reason we have it on Thurs-
day night is because it’s hard
to get on that (rodeo cir-
cuit).”
It’s been more than a
decade and a half since the
rodeo last came to the Polk
County Fair.
But this year’s fair hopes
that the triumphant return
of the rodeo will lead to
HELL ON HOOVES ROUGHSTOCK RODEO/for the Itemizer-Observer
The Roughstock Rodeo Hell on Hooves is free with fair admission Thursday night.
smiles and fun for people of
all ages.
“Historically, the first day
of the fair is the weakest
day,” Andersen said. “We’re
trying to increase atten-
dance there.
“People should come and
watch and see what this is
all about. It’s fast paced and
has nonstop action the
whole time.”
Dallas serves up friendly game of tennis
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — When
the city of Dallas ap-
proached Jordan Soll-
man about running a
tennis tournament, he
didn’t take long to an-
swer.
“I told (David
Brautigam) that I
would make it a tradi-
tion and that I would
hold it for him as long
as I’m still here in Dal-
las,” Sollman said.
Dallas will host its
first tennis tournament
Saturday and Sunday
at the high school
courts.
This year is Soll-
man’s first experience
running a tournament,
but the Dallas High
girls tennis coach
didn’t have to far too
look for inspiration.
Sollman talked to
Ron Warkentin, the
longtime organizer of
the Monmouth-Inde-
pendence Tennis Tour-
nament, for tips.
“They had good ad-
vice for future advertis-
ing and finding out
what tournaments are
on what days so we
aren’t trying to double
dip,” Sollman said.
Sign-ups for the
tournament are avail-
able through Thursday.
There are multiple
brackets available
based on skill level.
“We want to have
players taking part in
evenly matched con-
tests,” Sollman said.
“We want to get people
playing locally and
have a good time while
they play.”
The tennis tourna-
ment is part of the city
of Dallas’ plans to ex-
pand its adult recre-
ation offerings.
“Tournaments like
tennis and things along
the lines of dodgeball
tournaments are things
you will begin to see
more of,” Brautigam
said.
Sollman said he will
be happy with 30 to 40
entrants.
He hopes to see a
Ball’s in your court
What: Dallas Tennis Tournament.
When: Saturday and Sunday.
Cost: $15 for singles, $25 for doubles. Regis-
tration deadline is Thursday.
Of note: Playing times will be emailed after 7
p.m. on Thursday. Forms are available online at
/www.dallasor.gov/DocumentCenter/View/393
9.
For more information: Jordan Sollman, 503-
686-8120; email to jordansollman@dsd2.org.
large contingent of
high school players
from Dallas and Cen-
tral.
“My goal for this
year is to be extremely
happy walking away
with the way the tour-
nament is run and start
www.facebook.com/pages/Polk-County-Itemizer-Observer/205062686252209
to get the word out
about the tour na-
ment,” Sollman said.
“I’m not expecting a
whole lot in terms of
large numbers.”
More importantly,
Sollman said he hopes
this tournament helps
introduce tennis to as
many new players in
the community as it
can.
If this tournament
can become the com-
munity tradition that
Sollman desires, he’ll
be more than satisfied.
“Tennis has never
really been a huge
deal,” Sollman said. “…
This is a good way to
get the sport out there
and help tennis grow.
“We hope encourag-
ing younger players
might influence them
to take part in a camp
or get involved in the
sport when they’re
older. Tennis is a great
sport that you can play
for many years.”
www.twitter.com/PolkIOSports
Mon -Fri
8am - 6pm
Saturday
8am - 5pm
www.LesSchwab.com
DALLAS 121 Main St • 503-623-8155 • INDEPENDENCE 1710 Monmouth St • 503-838-6340