Initial Bonsall High School athletic schedule made public

The first-ever Bonsall High School athletic schedule was made public Aug. 21.

The obstacles encountered by the second-year school, which this year has ninth-grade and tenth-grade students, included information technology issues which prevented the athletic schedule from being viewed from computers outside the district infrastructure.

"We've had it up forever and we couldn't get it to show," said Bonsall High School principal Lee Fleming.

Fleming entered her own calendar rather than using the district format on the bonsallhs.com/bhslegionsports Website. "It seems to be working fine now," she said.

If the starting time of a sporting event is known, that time is also included on the Website. "Not all of them have a time," Fleming said.

Bonsall High School was admitted to the CIF on April 22. The Legionnaires will play in the Apollo League. The application for CIF membership included CIF athletic programs expected to be offered during the first year and listed five fall sports: boys cross-country, girls cross-country, girls golf, girls tennis, and girls volleyball. (Volleyball, tennis, and golf are fall CIF sports for girls and spring sports for boys.)

"We're super excited. Our kids are coming out in big numbers we weren't expecting," Fleming said.

In high school golf, six players from each team play a nine-hole round. The scores of the top five players are added to determine the team score and the high score is discarded. During 2015-16, the boys and girls golf teams will be combined and will play during the spring; the Fallbrook Golf Club has offered the use of its course for Bonsall High School home matches and practices.

If the fall 2015 girls tennis team comes to fruition, the first-ever Bonsall High School athletic contest will take place Oct. 3 at Gompers High School in San Diego. "We'll see if we can have that happen," Fleming said.

In a high school tennis match, each singles player contests a set against each of the other school's singles players while each doubles team plays against each of the three opposing doubles teams. The Legionnaires are unsure whether they will have the minimum nine players because the Sullivan Middle School campus which is currently also being used for Bonsall High School does not have a tennis court. The school is searching for a site for practices and home matches.

The Apollo League will adjust its schedule if the Legionnaires can't field a team in a specific sport. "The league was super supportive," Fleming said.

The Apollo League includes Gompers, Chula Vista Learning Community Charter, Coleman Tech (San Diego), O'Farrell (San Diego), and River Valley (Lakeside) as well as Bonsall.

The first scheduled home tennis match, which is also the first scheduled home Bonsall High School sporting event, would take place Sept. 8 with High Tech High Chula Vista becoming the first team to travel to Bonsall.

The Pala Fitness Center offered the use of its facilities for Bonsall High School volleyball. An Aug. 20 volleyball meeting was attended by 25 girls. "We were really surprised by that," Fleming said.

Bonsall's junior varsity, although not the varsity, is scheduled to travel to Imperial Beach for a Sept. 18 volleyball match against Mar Vista. The varsity volleyball team will make its debut Sept. 24 at San Pasqual Academy. On Oct. 6, Coleman Tech will be the first opponent in a Bonsall High School home volleyball match.

Cross-country team scores for both dual meets and meets involving all league teams are determined by adding the positions of a team's first five finishers. A school's sixth and seventh finishers are not scored but can add points to opposing team's scores. The boys and girls teams participate in the same meet but run separate races. Although a school with fewer than five runners can not win a meet, individuals from such a team may compete and are eligible for all-league recognition if they finish high enough.

Bonsall expects to have both boys and girls cross-country teams in 2015. "We've got a lot of additional interest," Fleming said.

The first scheduled Bonsall High School cross-country meet is a multi-school storm time trial Sept. 10 at Liberty Station in San Diego. League cluster meets will also be held at Liberty Station, as will the Nov. 12 league championship meet.