Women's Basketball Coach Clarence Morgan

With a tumultuous coaching predicament during the offseason, Las Positas College Athletics Director Dyan Miller had a lot to think over.   After several interviews and an hour long business lunch, she made her decision.  The decision in which Miller made seems to have steered to Lady Hawks basketball program in the right direction.

After a 0-10 conference record last season, the Lady Hawks basketball team was looking for a change, presumably any change.  In new head coach Clarence Morgan they may have found the best kind possible.  Morgan has spent a 30 year career around basketball from building youth basketball camps and clinics, to helping send a multitude of young athletes to division-I schools.

“I nitpick” said Morgan.  “I’m picky, but just to make them better.  You can score 25 points in a game and if a coach is scouting you and your fundamentals are off, they’ll walk on out.  But if you’re fundamentally sound, you can miss every shot and they’ll walk out thinking it was just an off night.”

Fundamentals seem to be a cornerstone of Morgan’s teachings, with an emphasis on footwork and basic ball handling skills. 

“At the next level, they don’t have time to teach fundamentals,” he said.

Morgan’s demeanor while speaking of the game screams experience and knowledge and with former Oregon State University center Tiffany Ducker rendering a helping hand as his assistant, the pair look forward to the possibility of multiple winning seasons.

The team is heavy with freshman guards, something that Morgan sees as a potential challenge during the early parts of the season, but one that can be overcome with experience.  A big part of the game-plan for the Lady Hawks this season will be controlling the clock and making sure the ball gets to the right players at the right times.

“Are we playing to our strengths or to our weaknesses,” he said referring to his style of play.  “You can get a real athletic player that looks really good on highlight reels, but tons of mistakes or you can get a player that never makes a highlight film but doesn’t make a mistake, that doesn’t turn the ball over.”

In practice, the teachings of the new coach shine through in comparison to last season and players seem to feed off of his resume and knowledge, especially with assistant coach Ducker.  While playing for Oregon State, Ducker was fifth in conference during her junior season for shooting percentage and ended her career there in the school’s top 10 all time for rebounds. 

What Morgan brings to Las Positas beyond the court is that he has aided several athletes to move onto bigger four year schools to continue their education. 

“I want to make sure we can get them in her, and move them out so they can be self-sufficient, continue their education and not have to depend on anybody,” he said.  That’s the goal.  Where they go, it doesn’t matter, same books are everywhere.  Just as long as they can further their education and go on and get a decent job.  That’s my goal with the program.”

From the books to the court, the one word that remains in the rhetoric with Morgan is ‘smart.’  He wants smart players, he wants to play smart and he doesn’t care if there is no LeBron James-type finesse to his team as long as they can do that.  The only other thing he requires of his players is that they want to work hard in order to play the game better.

“You gotta want to be here to make it work for you,” said Morgan.  “As a player you never have to tell me to come to practice, I want to be there.  Being on a good basketball team really makes your college experience that much better.”

LPC Music professor traveled with BB King, Ray Charles

It has been said that those who cannot do, teach.  That could not be more untrue when it comes to, Las Positas College music professor, Timothy Devine.

           

            Prior to his teaching career, Mr. “D” played a plethora musical instruments; from the saxophone and trombone to the guitar and piano, an assortment that has been growing precipitously since his childhood in San Francisco, his college learning’s at Washington State and his touring career.  This touring career is what gives him his “chops” as a musician; it is a career that has included playing alongside people the likes of Ray Charles.

            While so many young adults choose to attend community college because it is a cheaper alternative to Universities, it is not expected to learn from teachers who have accrued the wealth of knowledge equivalent to that of Mr. D. 

            Mr. D has had a touring/performing career as a musician for more than two decades, that career has been full of, what he calls, “a great experience.”  And the experience is more than impressive; with a list of musicians that includes Ray Charles, B.B. King, Joan Baez and Huey Lewis and the News among others.  His career has also included playing in a blues band that has traveled the world “opening” for an equally impressive list of entertainers.

            Another impressive list that Mr. D has accumulated is the list of stamps on his passport; along with America, he has toured England, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, France, etc. giving him an idea of Political Geography and World History comparable to that of many professors from these fields.

            A product of the Bat Area, Mr. D accredits his success to the public school system, most notably his high school music teacher who he says “treated us like a professional band,” with performances containing “Vegas-style review shows” followed by “a two-hour dance.” 

The musical upbringing is what brought Mr. D back to the Bay Area, as a teacher.  It has now been 20 years in the Las Positas/Chabot College district.

While it is his belief that he “has been lucky to do some things,” like “”recording a record with B.B. King,” it is my belief that we (the student body of Las Positas College) are lucky to have minds like Mr. D at our beck and call. 

We owe it to ourselves to soak up the knowledge of this faculty, as in the case of Timothy, what they have to provide truly is Devine.

Sissi Do Amor- LPC Women's Soccer Coach

Sisleide do Amor Lima (born 6/2/1967), commonly known as Sissi, is a Brazilian footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. She last played for FC Gold Pride of Women's Professional Soccer and is a former member of the Brazil women's national football team. Sissi was part of the EC Radar club team who represented Brazil at the 1988 FIFA Women's Invitation Tournament in Guangdong and finished in third place. She was unable to take part in the inaugural 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup because she was not released by her club team.

She is also the women's soccer coach at Las Positas College.

Sissi brings years of playing and coaching experience to LPC. She has been apart of several world cup championships, Olympic games and is widely accepted to be the best female soccer player in history.


Sissi was born in Esplanada , Brazil, and at the age of six was already kicking the soccer ball around with her older brother Paulo and her father.  When Sissi couldn't find a soccer ball to kick around, she started using the heads of her dolls, which made her mother worry.

Finding anything available to use as a soccer ball was common in their Brazilian neighborhood, but it was usually boys doing that and not girls!  In Brazil soccer was a men’s game and meant for men and not women.  Even with this prejudice, Sissi wasn't deterred and played as much as she could and had no problem finding boys to play soccer with.  Even with her mother’s worries, Sissi found support from her father, who told her to follow her dreams just as long as she finished school.  At the age of 14,  she played in her first real games, playing for a number of women's teams and even making some money at the same time.  By trade, Sissi was a school teacher, but that practical profession soon gave way to her passion and love for soccer.

Sissi was chosen to play on the Brazilian Women's National Team for both World Cup and Olympic competition.  Her trademark shaved head prior to the 1999 Women's World Cup was a result of a promise she made to God to provide housing for her family in Brazil .  That promise was realized in June 2001!  When the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was formed in 2001, after all of the buzz surrounding the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, the Foreign Allocation Draft sent Sissi to the San Jose CyberRays.

While Sissi was still going to be playing the game she loved, she now found herself in unfamiliar waters with many different and difficult challenges.

"The language was the hardest by far!"  Sissi said.  "I almost went back home three weeks into my stay because I missed home so much," Sissi went on to explain.  "I walked off the plane and didn't speak a word of English.  Slowly I learned, but I was homesick for quite some time."