The Oct. 4 event invites prospective members to learn how the organization advances equity for women and girls through scholarships, STEM programs, and community engagement.
Health officials anticipate a challenging flu season and urge residents to get vaccinated early. Redlands clinics and pharmacies are now offering no-needle options.
Free Oct. 4 event focuses on wellness and substance use prevention for ages 12–18
Sports Notebook
REDLANDS – “Citrus Valley Blackhawks” it says in huge black letters on the side of the gymnasium wall.
Except that the team in the CVHS pool on Wednesday was cross-town rival Redlands East Valley.
Coach Ryan Williams’ team uses the CV pool to practice and is playing its games on the road this year while REV’s pool is renovated (it will eventually be replaced).
“It’s not a problem playing away,” said senior Ryder Imbriani, a returning All-CBL first-team player. “It just gives us more bonding time. Citrus Valley is nice enough to let us use their pool. We practice here but we’re still REV Wildcats and we’re proud to represent the school.”
REV has a losing record but has played a typically difficult schedule. The team is led by its only seniors Jackson Kane and Imbriani, as well as high-scoring junior Joe McMillan.
The Wildcats hope to challenge a more experienced Yucaipa team for the CBL title. The Thunderbirds are the defending champs.
Asked if he has a guiding philosophy about coaching, Williams said, “I was always taught by my dad and my grandfather that the team with the most talent doesn’t always win. Sometimes the team that wins is the one that shows up and works the hardest.”
Observing practice Wednesday and hoping to one day become a head coach is Williams’ assistant, former REV player Nick Sadowski.
“I started playing for (Williams) in fourth grade,” Sadowski said. “I love the guy – he’s a great coach. He’s probably the most successful coach in the area.”
Williams was the 1993 CIF-Southern Section Division 3 player of the year after leading San Bernardino High to the section title. He has coached at SBHS, Redlands High, Cajon, and REV.
Williams has won 10 league titles and one section championship at REV, as well as finishing second for a section and regional title.
More impressive than the winning is Williams’ lineage. His father Dennis, 84, coached water polo at San Bernardino High and San Bernardino Valley College. His mother Leslie Williams was the SBVC athletic director.
Williams’ grandfather, Clyde Williams, coached football at San Bernardino High and led SBVC to a national football title in the 1950s.
Williams, 49, has three daughters – Alexis, Ashley, and Ryenn. Alexis played at Citrus Valley, Ashley at Citrus Valley and Fresno State, and Ryenn is a student at Beattie Middle School and a future Blackhawk.
Once Ryenn graduates from high school, don’t be stunned if her dad steps down. He’ll want to watch Ryenn play in college, as well as keep tabs on a grandchild or two. It will be a well-deserved respite.
The Azusa Pacific University football program has hired Mark Speckman as its offensive coordinator. That’s significant because Azusa Pacific joins the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference that includes Redlands and other schools next year.
Speckman is a well-traveled high school, college, and professional coach.
Spoiler alert: I covered Speckman about 45 years ago when he was a young coach at North Monterey County High in Castroville.
Speckman is known as a guru of the fly offense. Also known as the “mosca” (fly in Spanish), the offense emanated from California in the late 1970s.
Former Coachella Valley High coach Phil Maas learned the offense from a custodian and brought it to struggling North Monterey County High in 1979. The Condors had immediate success and Speckman picked up the nuances under Maas and Condor offensive coordinator Roger Sugimoto.
Speckman was born with no hands. Unfazed, he starred in football at Carlmont High and Menlo College in the Bay Area. The lack of hands did not prevent him from intercepting a pass, nor – rather humorously – once getting called for holding.
The University of Redlands football team scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns to defeat host Whitworth of Spokane 34-17 on Saturday in a non-conference game.
The Bulldogs took the lead for good with 12:18 left in the game on a 34-yard touchdown pass from Luke Colemen to Trevor Cadam.
Then Redlands’ defense then stepped to the fore. Laurence Williams’ 20-yard interception return for a touchdown with 4:14 left put the Bulldogs firmly in control, 27-17.
The Bulldogs (2-0) cemented the win over the Pirates (1-2) with 2:40 left on a 10-yard TD run by Taylor Bowie.
Redlands is at home at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27 against Cal Lutheran.
It was a tough week for area high school football teams as only Arrowhead Christian Academy won.
Citrus Valley fell to Norco 52-21, Yucaipa lost to Palm Springs 22-14, ACA routed Jurupa Valley 49-19, Cajon fell to San Jacinto 23-13, Beaumont lost to Vista Murrieta 21-14, Redlands East Valley was topped by North of Riverside 39-36, and Redlands in its homecoming game fell to Palm Desert 50-35.
This week, Cajon is at Permian of Odessa, Texas on Thursday. On Friday, Citrus Valley hosts Shadow Ridge of Las Vegas and ACA hosts Bellflower.
The name of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ new Class A affiliate in the California League is the Ontario Tower Buzzers. The announcement was made Thursday.
The team’s mascot is Maverick, a bee that will wear aviator glasses.
The Tower Buzzers replace the Modesto Nuts, who played their last season in 2025.
The Ontario team will play at a new, 6,500-seat ballpark named ONT Field, a nod to the nearby Ontario International Airport.
And there are other changes around the league.
The Inland Empire 66ers, the Low-A affiliate of the Angels, will relocate to Rancho Cucamonga in 2026.
The Modesto Nuts, the Low-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, will move from the Central Valley to San Bernardino and will play at San Manuel Stadium.
Rancho Cucamonga will become an Angels affiliate and will continue to
play at LoanMart Field.
Thus, San Bernardino becomes a Seattle affiliate for the second time in its history. Old-timers might recall that Ken Griffey Jr. played for the San Bernardino Spirit in 1988.
Redlands’ Hank Stickney was the Spirit’s first local owner, buying 25 percent of the team after it moved from Ventura. The Spirit’s attendance of 161,511 in 1987 was the highest in the league in a half-century.
“We always promote as if the team won’t win a single game,” Spirit general manager Bill Shanahan said at the time. “All we can do is make sure we provide a return for the fan’s entertainment dollar.”
The Spirit’s playbook of non-stop games, loud music, and fun mascots (who can forget the Spirit Bug?) was copied around the league. More than 40 years later, the script is the same – it’s just being followed in different places.
New REV girls volleyball coach Shelby Dawson got her first league coaching win on Tuesday, sweeping Citrus Valley. But there wasn’t much time for celebration as host Redlands swept REV on Thursday.
It was the ninth consecutive win for Redlands against REV. The Terriers are ranked 38th in the state, 23rd in the section and second in CIF-Southern Section Division 3.
Beaumont continues to lead the CBL flag football league with an unbeaten (4-0) record. Cajon and Redlands East Valley are tied for second place at 3-1.
Beaumont’s Oct. 30 date with host REV looms large.
“We need to stay positive and keep moving forward and get our momentum back,” REV coach Andrew Saibene said. “We need to finish out the season (in style).”
The Redlands High girls golf team defeated rival REV on Thursday, led by Arianna Azurin with a 48 over nine holes.
The Terriers had 269 as a team which was a season low.
Beaumont will be tough to beat, though. The Cougars defeated Redlands 246 to 293 last Tuesday.
Your intrepid reporter got hit in the head by an errant shot at a REV water polo practice last week and my SF Giants’ ballcap wound up in the drink. Dodger fans would have smiled.
Reach John Murphy at berdooman@gmail.com and follow at @PrepDawg2.
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