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For some high school football players, practices are enough for them to progress and advance in their skills of the game, others choose to push their limits and take the extra time to advance themselves. Men In The Trenches Lineman Academy (MITT) is a 2 hour, 14 week long camp that costs $25 and specializes in training high school linemen that want to excel and to reach the next level of success as a linemen. When asking former NFLer, Jesse Sapolu, why he decided to start a lineman camp, Sapolu expressed that, “Lineman have technique that needs working on and they’re usually taught during training camp and high school.” Sapolu felt that an extra 14 weeks would help change their game and help increase their skill. Men In The Trenches Lineman Academy was introduced in 2013 and is instructed by Jesse Sapolu. Sapolu was born in Samoa, yet grew up in Honolulu, HI. He actually started out playing football as a quarterback on his high schoolfootball team in Honolulu and moved his way up from there. He played both center and offensive guard on the San Francisco 49ers team. Sapolu is also a 4-time Superbowl Champion, he won all 4 Superbowls on the 49ers in the years 1984, 1988, 1989, and 1994. Not only is he a 4-time Superbowl Champion but he also earned Pro Bowl honors in 1993 and 1994. Sapolu retired from the NFL in 1997. In the next year the camp will actually be expanding its territory and moving to different states as more states are asking for the camp. The Men In The Trenches camp is also improved by the many coaches that help train their incoming football players. When asked about the process in choosing coaches to help coach the linemen, Sapolu said, “I just throw my coaches gas money, they're pretty much here because they want to make a difference in the kids' lives. When we see the kids get a college education it's worth it for us.” The coaches that are present at the camp practices are established a certain teaching and are split up in different stations, especially the defense coaches. Sapolu walks around and hopes to observe and coach in all of the stations, but he is mostly working with the younger group who he says is the “foundation of the camp”. MITT will soon be traveling to Detroit and New England, and where Sapolu will bring qualified trustworthy coaches to travel with him to the different states to help coach and instruct their next set of linemen. MITT will also be changing their program from a 14 week program to a 10 week program Sapolu says, “I think 10 weeks is good quality work for the kids here.” See the link below for any further questions or if you are interested in registering to attend the Men In The Trenches Lineman Academy. Reporter: Nessa Osso
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The Association of Volleyball Professional (AVP) is back! The 2019 campaign kicked off last weekend with the annual Huntington Beach Open, which went from May 3-5. The weather was sunny, providing crowds all around, food and beverage vendors everywhere, and people waiting anxiously for the tournament winners. After two and a half days of competition, the finals were set. The women’s final was played first and featured top-seeded April Ross and Alix Klineman, who have won the four previous AVP tournaments dating back to last season, against fourteenth seeded Melissa Humana-Paredes and Sarah Pavan. Ross and Klineman lost the first set 18-21, and battled back in the final two sets and won 21-12 and 17-15. In the third and final set there was a 23 serve “freeze” meaning that neither team won a point because once match point is reached, one must serve in order to get the point. The women’s match was the climax of the day, as the men’s final was much shorter lived. It was the first tournament played by Parades and Pavan, as they became teammates over the offseason, and they battled throughout the tournament and made it to the finals. Ross, a Newport Harbor alumni and two time Olympic medalist, won her fourth Huntington Beach Open win and 34th AVP win overall. The men’s final was a little different. Taylor Crabb and Jake Gibb, the number one seeded team, had to battle out of the losers bracket after losing early in the first round on Friday. Crabb and Gibb went up against the sixth seeded squad Chase Budinger and Casey Patterson, who went undefeated throughout the tournament. The first set of the men’s final was tied up 24 times, with both sides having set point numerous times, with Crabb and Gibb finally winning the set 27-25. They won the next set 21-14. Gibb, the 43 year-old three time Olympian, won his third Huntington Beach Open and 30th AVP title overall. The next stop on the AVP Tour will be the Austin Open, which will take place at Krieg Fields in Austin, Texas on May 17-19. The AVP will be back in California on July 26-28 at the Hermosa Beach Open next to the Hermosa Beach Pier. Reporter: Myles Witte
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