A mere six days after the Palisades High football season came to an end in November, defensive coordinator Perry Jones was already thinking of ways to make the Dolphins’ program better. He set up a daily weight room schedule on campus, not knowing, but hoping he would be back with the team in 2010. Not only is he back, now he is running the show. Jones was hired as head varsity football coach on December 18, just before the start of Winter Break, and priority No. 1 is solidifying his staff by the end of this month. He could not be more excited about his first head coaching opportunity. “This program is ready to take the next step and my goal is to create the same ideology for football that academics has,” said Jones, who inherits a team that was 7-22 in three years under Kelly Loftus, who resigned at the end of the 2009 season. “I want to create a culture where excellence is expected. We have a group of kids who don’t know how good they are and my job is to help them realize their potential.” An initial list of more than 50 applicants was narrowed down to 12 candidates who were interviewed for the position. Of those 12, five more were asked back for a second round of interviews. Through it all, Jones was confident that, if he was given a chance, his enthusiasm and passion for the game and his painstaking attention to detail would serve him well in whatever capacity he served. “I know I was up against a lot of worthy candidates, several of whom had more experience than I have,” said Jones, 44, who grew up in Ventura County but spent eight years in Oklahoma before moving back to Southern California and joining Loftus’ staff last year. “One thing that might have factored into [their decision] is that I’m also a P.E. teacher here on campus and I think coaches need to be available to their players.” Russ Howard, the school’s Director of Student Activities, Athletics & Discipline, was hoping to find Loftus’ replacement before Christmas in order to give the new coach enough time to get a conditioning program in place. Thanks to Jones’ proactive nature, that was already being taken care of. “We were not offering a teaching position with it–this was strictly a football job,” Howard said. “I was impressed with the way Perry got those kids motivated and the fact that he has been here working with them all this time might have given him a little bit of an advantage.” One of the candidates Howard said was strongly considered–and certainly the most experienced to apply–was former coach Ron Price, who piloted the Dolphins to a 44-15 record from 1996-2000. Price, however, dropped out of the running before the second round of interviews. “Ron was one of my top choices going in because of what he did previously but he had some tough decisions to make,” Howard added. “I was very disappointed that he pulled out because definitely would’ve been one of the finalists.” Jones played basketball, football and track at Santa Clara High. After graduating he played wide receiver and was a high jumper on the track team at Ventura College. He earned his bachelor’s degree at UNLV after which he and his wife, who is in the Air Force, moved to Midwest City, Oklahoma. He started out as a volunteer coach for the Midwest City High freshman football team in 1992 and eventually worked his way up to varsity receivers’ coach. “That was a great experience because I worked under three different head coaches and that program underwent a complete turnaround, just like we’re doing here,” Jones said. “They take football so seriously over there but the talent here is every bit as good.” One person who believes Jones is the right man for the job is Ray Marsden, who guided the frosh/soph squad to the Western League title last season and also applied for the head varsity job. “Perry is a great guy and a great teacher,” said Marsden, who will continue to head the frosh/soph team as well as take an expanded role with the varsity on Friday nights. “I’m glad I can keep coaching the younger kids to make sure he is fed players who are fundamentally sound.” Asked to describe his coaching style, Jones described himself as “strict but enthusiastic.” He also admitted that he learned a valuable lesson from his predecessor: how to keep the game fun. “The main thing is for the kids to have accountability to each other and to us as coaches,” said Jones, who will also run the track program with Ron Brumel this spring. “What was so great about Coach Loftus was that he took time to smile. He didn’t get so caught up in the Xs and Os that he couldn’t enjoy himself.”

Winter Break has been anything but relaxing for the Palisades high boys’ basketball team, which hosts Dorsey in its final nonleague game Thursday night at 6:30. The Dolphins (10-4) are coming off back-to-back tournaments and finally get to play on their home court–something head coach James Paleno hopes will energize his team against a team that has been a perennial City contender under coach Kevin Gibson. The Dolphins lost to Lancaster 73-67 in the consolation final of the San Fernando Valley Invitational on December 23, then beat Fullerton Troy, Irvine Northwood and Santa Barbara before falling to Clovis West of Fresno 84-79 in the championship game of the Santa Barbara Holiday Tournament last Wednesday. Garrett Nevels was an All-Tournament choice in San Fernando and Kenneth Towner made the All-Tournament team at Santa Barbara. “My assessment so far is very poor defense and too much emphasis on offense,” said Paleno, who has 350 career coaching victories in 19 seasons at Palisades. “I’d like to see us play more consistently.” Palisades opens Western League play with three home games next week: Monday against University (tip-off at 6:30 p.m.), Wednesday against Venice (7 p.m.) and Friday against Fairfax (7 p.m.). “I’m worried about one team right now and that’s Dorsey,” Paleno said, not wanting to look ahead. “University’s zone always gives us problems, Fairfax is supposed to be a little down but will still be really tough to beat and Westchester has to be the odds on [league] favorite right now.” Girls Basketball Coach Torino Johnson’s squad went 2-2 at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Arizona on Christmas week and again the following week at the Oaks Christian Holiday Hardwood. “Every game we played was against a team ranked higher than us and we won half of them, so I’m pleased about that,” Johnson said. “The girls are still learning how to win but they’re coming along fine. Johnson said Ashlee Bruner, Donae Moguel and Nicole Flyer have been workhorses for us, now we just need to find out who else is going to step up.” Palisades (7-5) travels to Dorsey Thursday night and opens Western League play at University on Monday. Boys’ Soccer Palisades (4-0-1 overall, 2-0-1 in league) resumes Western League action next Wednesday at LACES and next Friday at Hamilton. Jesse Vasquez, Shane Centkowski, Max Ledesma, Alex Anastasi and Nate Cutler each have two goals for the Dolphins. Girls’ Soccer After a 1-2-1 mark at the Hart Tournament last week, Palisades hosts Western League rival LACES next Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. at Stadium by the Sea. Junior captain Kathryn Gaskin leads the squad (7-5-1 overall, 3-0 in league) with nine goals and six assists.

Perhaps no player in junior tennis is on as impressive a run as Palisadian Robbie Bellamy, who is still alive in the 16s singles and doubles divisions at the Copper Bowl in Tucson, Arizona, after impressive showings at the California Bowl and Winter Nationals. First, Bellamy lost a tough three-set quarterfinal to top-seeded Jay Billa of Folsom at the California Bowl. Then, playing with fellow Palisadian Alex Giannini, he almost took over the No. 1 national doubles ranking in the 14s, settling for seventh before “aging up” to the 16s division in January. A freshman at Palisades High who will play varsity for the Dolphins in the spring, Bellamy has already beaten players from Las Vegas, New England, Texas and Northern California to reach the semifinals at the Copper Bowl. He and Giannini have also moved into the quarterfinals in doubles, losing nine games in their first three matches. Roscoe Bellamy, Robbie’s younger brother, played “up” in the 12s and won two rounds, as did fellow Palisades Tennis Center trainee Harry Cohen. Giannini, meanwhile, had four strong singles wins at Winter Nationals, one of them over fellow PTC player Brandon Clarke. Siblings Derek, Caroline and Katie Vincent also had huge tournaments.

So far, Jamie Greenberg is showing no signs of having a “sophomore slump.” The Palisades High 10th-grader, who won the City Section frosh/soph pole vault title last spring, cleared 10 feet in her first preseason meet of the year last Saturday at Santa Monica High. The height was a foot better than her winning mark in last year’s City finals meet at Birmingham High in Lake Balboa. Her aggressive off-season training schedule appears to be paying dividends. Greenberg participates in running and pole vault clinics at UCLA and Santa Monica High several times a week. Greenberg finished first out of 19 competitors at the South Bay Track & Field Championships last April, setting a meet record by clearing 9”a height she first reached the previous June when she won her age group at the Southern California Junior Olympics.