Fore takes over as Capistrano Valley Christian football coach

Fallbrook High School graduate Chris Fore has accepted a position as the head football coach for Capistrano Valley Christian High School.

Fore, who will also be the school’s chaplain, had previously been the head football coach at Linfield High School in Temecula. He accepted the Capistrano Valley Christian position May 2.

“I’m very excited to get in and get going with Capistrano Valley Christian football,” Fore said. “It’s a great opportunity to go into a situation and help to bring winning football back to Capistrano Valley.”

Capistrano Valley Christian had a record of 0-9 in 2005, and the Eagles were 3-7 in 2004. Fore will be the fourth football coach at the school in four years.

On the other hand, the Eagles reached the CIF Southern Section semifinals in 2002. “They have some really great athletes at that school,” Fore said.

One circumstance going against Capistrano Valley Christian is its small enrollment. “It’s a challenge playing football in the Academy League having 200 kids,” Fore said. “We’re a very small school. That has its share of curveballs that get thrown your way.”

The Eagles began the 2005 season with about two dozen players on their varsity but were down to about 16 players by the end of the season. The team’s closest game was a 16-point loss to Midway Baptist of San Diego, and the Eagles lost their last four games by a combined score of 211-21.

Fore’s experience, however, includes serving as the junior varsity coach of Linfield High School. Fore began his Linfield coaching career in 2001. That year the Lions had 11 players on the junior varsity team, allowing for no substitutions throughout the season. The JV team went 1-9 that year, and Fore sees similarities between his first Linfield team and the Capistrano Valley Christian team. “By the time these kids were seniors we had one of the best teams that school’s seen,” he said. “They learned a lot, and we were able to have pretty good seasons with that group of kids.”

Fore became Linfield’s varsity coach in 2003. In 2004 Linfield finished 10-2 and reached the CIF Southern Section semifinals, and in 2005 the Lions finished 4-7 after losing the first round of the CIF playoffs. Fore, who coached the freshman team at Fallbrook High School in 1993 as a senior after an injury prevented him from playing on the varsity, also coached Fallbrook’s junior varsity team before moving to Temecula in 2001.

Linfield moves to the Academy League for 2006, and the Lions will play Capistrano Valley Christian at San Clemente High School to close out the regular season November 10. “It’s going to be a fun night,” Fore said.

Linfield currently has about 440 students. St. Margaret’s, which is located in San Juan Capistrano and which won the Academy League football championship in 2005, has about 500 students. The Academy League also includes Brethren Christian (Huntington Beach) and Sage Hill (Newport Beach). Capistrano Valley Christian’s non-league schedule includes three games against San Diego Section teams; the Lions open their season September 2 against Tri-City Christian at San Clemente High School and also host Midway Baptist on September 22 while playing at La Jolla Country Day on September 15.

Fore noted that in 2005 Capistrano Valley Christian approached him about being both the head football coach and the school’s athletic director. “I’ve always wanted to be an athletic director,” he said.

Fore liked the idea but wanted to remain at Linfield for 2005. “I had a verbal commitment to my group of seniors at Linfield,” he said. “I wanted to make sure to stick to that commitment.”

Although Capistrano Valley Christian has since hired a new athletic director, Fore was approached again in early 2006 about being the football coach and chaplain. “It’s a great fit all around there for my wife and I,” he said.

Christine Fore is currently a junior high school pastor in Pomona. The couple’s first child is due October 19, and the increase in pay will allow her to stay at home.

“This job salarywise and everything is enabling her to do that. It’s real important to us to have her stay at home to raise our kids,” Chris Fore said.

The family, who currently lives in Ontario, plans to relocate to Oceanside. “I’m real excited to get back down there to North County,” Chris Fore said.

Fore was born in Oceanside, and his parents still live in Fallbrook.

Fore was both a chaplain and a religion teacher during his five years on the Linfield faculty. At Capistrano Valley Christian he will be a full-time chaplain but will not be in the classroom.

The athletic director Capistrano Valley Christian hired was Randy Wright, who had spent six years at Santa Fe Christian. “He’s just a phenomenal basketball coach,” Fore said.

The football coach at Santa Fe Christian is Brian Sipe, who followed his Grossmont High School and San Diego State University football careers with more than a decade as the quarterback of the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League. “I’ve known Brian for about the last four years since he came on board there. He’s been a real good guy to have a relationship with,” Fore said of Sipe.

During passing league sessions Linfield has traveled to Santa Fe Christian while Sipe has brought his players to Linfield. “They’ve got a phenomenal program down there, one that I have definitely tried to copy in my coaching style,” Fore said.

Although Capistrano Valley Christian was winless in 2005, the team only loses four seniors to graduation and only two starters. “It’s a pretty young team. That’s one thing I’m excited about,” Fore said.

The Eagles’ 13 returning seniors are more than any other team in the Academy League. “It’s working out good,” Fore said of his new position. “It’s been nothing but great things that I’ve experienced up there in just the few days I’ve spent up there.”