THIS LITTLE CITY
OFF THE CHARTS
It is a connection that defies imagination.
A city that in 1950 stood under 20,000 in population that, by year 2000, was in excess of 60,000, developing a remarkable distinction for producing top-flight athletes, coaches and those connected to major sports. There was no master plan. Children were born to parents living in that city, and those kids grew up, learned, trained, educated, eventually forging a place for themselves in the highly competitive world of sports.
They hail from Redlands, California, which is located along Interstate 10 somewhere between Los Angeles and Palm Springs.
There is a good chance that many of Redlands’ top athletes will not be featured on this website. In fact, count on it. Most won’t even be listed. There are great soccer midfielders, water polo goalies, football fullbacks, along with some catchers and pitchers, hurdlers and pole vaulters, gridiron and diamond hitters, rebounders, shooters and great glove men, plus swimmers and tennis stars who haven’t made it to this site. Apologies all around.
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Redlands East Valley softball star Savannah Jaquish, a four-time All-American at NCAA powerhouse Louisiana State University, came so close to making Team USA for the 2021 Summer Olympics. Cut at the last moment. Sad, right? Except she stuck with it, playing and perfecting her game – making the 2024 Team USA roster.
Then there was Krista Vansant, a four-time All-CIF, Southern Section volleyball star – another from REV – who was named USA’s National Gatorade Athlete of the Year in 2011. At the University of Washington, she was a two-time Honda Player of the Year – barely missing the 2016 Team USA Olympic squad.
Both Jaquish and Vansant played against the best athletes in the world.
Then there’s Landon Donovan, arguably USA’s greatest soccer player, whose overall athletic resume — Olympics, World Cup, U.S. and European pro levels, you name it — exceeds anyone else from Redlands. While on Redlands soil, Donovan’s frosh season included a CIF-Southern Section playoff match at the corner of Citrus and University – an old football field that no longer exists.
Alta Loma High, a side whose football team won a CIF title a few months earlier, was Redlands’ opponent that day. On that Braves’ roster was a senior, Carlos Bocanegra, who was headed for UCLA, the Premier League, MLS Defender of the Year, you name it – an eventual Olympian and Team USA World Cup member.
Donovan and Bocanegra would eventually surface as teammates in the building of USA’s soccer program. Say what you will, despite America’s lack of success during those years, Team USA was in solid contention for plenty of international duels.
Major League Soccer play, Olympics, World Cup and other varied world-generated competition needed the likes of Donovan and Bocanegra to create today’s further climb into global contention.
Kelly Bocanegra, Carlos’ mother, stood on the sidelines of a massive crowd (there was no seated bleachers), pointing out that many of Alta Loma’s soccer players played on that CIF championship football team and would probably win this match.
It was not to be. Donovan & Co. went up against Bocanegra & Co. in regulation, overtime and, finally, the Terriers winning on penalty kicks – all on the corner of University & Citrus.
Redlands High? That was Donovan’s frosh season. A few months later, REV opened. That’s where Donovan showed up, playing less than a full season. As a sophomore, he took off for Europe to train his way into soccer’s highest level.
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In over 100 years of Redlands High School and well over a century of athletic competition at the University of Redlands, some of sports’ most cherished and respected names have touched the lives of local spectators. Their accounts might even have been published in the local newspapers – Redlands, Riverside, San Bernardino and sometimes beyond.
You could also add REV and Citrus Valley high schools, plus private campus Arrowhead Christian Academy, into that mix.
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Meanwhile, Brian DeRoo might be among the best examples of a Redlands native who connected.
Megastar commentator Howard Cosell once described DeRoo on an ABC-TV Monday Night Football halftime highlight – a 66-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Greg Landry to the former Terrier and Bulldog player known to his pals as “Nipper.” There was, of course, Cosell’s signature catch-phrase:
“HE … COULD … GO … ALL … THE …. WAY!”
DeRoo, outrunning Bucs’ defenders, could be seen by millions en route to the end zone, escorted by Cosell’s narrative. In DeRoo’s three-year NFL career, that was likely his most significant moment.
Funny thing was that DeRoo’s team, the Baltimore Colts, were playing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That game came a day earlier. A spot on the Bucs’ roster was taken up by another former Redlands player, No. 64, left guard Greg Horton.
Imagine that: A pair of football players from a small community winding up playing against one another in an NFL contest. Who could recall that Horton, once drafted by George “Papa Bear” Halas with the Chicago Bears, was ejected by NFL officials early in that contest?
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There are Redlands connections to Olympics, various NCAA championships, Major League Baseball championship games and pro football’s Super Bowl. From golf’s major championships to soccer’s World Cup. NASCAR, NHRA, pro bowling, college basketball, plus tiny touches of NBA and NHL, even horse racing, amateur golf and other NFL connections that defy imagination.
Throw in names like basketball’s Jerry Tarkanian, a connection to football legend Vince Lombardi, part of local connection to the Indianapolis 500 that includes its milk-drinking tradition, even an early visit from future golf legend Tiger Woods — and plenty more.
For a smallish city the size of Redlands, it’s a showcase.
Folks, you expect athletic connections like these from far bigger cities – Dallas or Los Angeles, Boston or Chicago, Seattle or New York City, Boston or Orlando, even some of the smaller big cities – Riverside, Salt Lake City, Tallahassee, you name it.
But Redlands?
Showcasing stories from my website – www.obreybrown.com, once dubbed A Redlands Connection, eventually changed by Danny, my son, who runs it. There are some very interesting connections between Redlands and a top-flight sports world.
I really hope you enjoy it.
