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Sports briefs

Valley AYSO teams on to sectionals

In the tournament playoffs held in San Luis Obispo recently, several Santa Ynez Valley AYSO teams advanced on to the sectional playoffs in Bakersfield.

In the U14 Boys Division, Vaiete took first place. Viva la Pink in the U14 Girls also took first place. Placing second in the U14 Girls was Charlie’s Angels. The U12 Boys team, Ninja, placed first as well. The U10 Boys Strikers won third place and may have a wild card berth.

The teams will represent Region 180 and Area Q in the Sectional Tournament in Bakersfield on Feb 27-28.

SYHS grad leads semi-pro squad

Santa Ynez High graduate Greg Gandolfo has been hired as the head football coach for the Magic Valley Bulldawgs, a semi-professional football team playing in the Rocky Mountain Football League which encompasses teams from Oregon, Idaho, Utah and Montana. The Bulldawgs play out of Twin Falls, Idaho where Gandolfo and his family currently reside.

After graduating from Santa Ynez High School in 1995, Gandolfo attended Allan Hancock before transferring to Boise State University where he received his BA in Education. After graduation he moved back to the Santa Ynez Valley and started coaching at Bishop Diego under Tom Crawford.

Gandolfo was with the Bulldawgs last season, but as the team’s starting quarterback.

“Until last year I hadn’t played contact football since 1997, at Allan Hancock, and the last time I started at QB was my JV season at Santa Ynez,” said Gandolfo. “Mentally I could have played this upcoming season, but physically I was ready to coach.”

The Bulldawgs went 7-1 last season making it to the AA playoffs before losing to the eventual champions in the semi-finals.

More information can be found at MVBulldawg.com or RockyMountainFootball.com.