City College has many chartered clubs that meet throughout the course of a semester all across its campus. But the fencing club is the only one that will make you think you stumbled into some sort of medieval fight club where duels are settled with swords.

Each Friday in the South Gym, the club meets to practice and hone their skills under the guidance of their head coach, Professor Brian Gillespie and the club’s president, Taylor Valmores.

“We give you three free lessons then if you want to stay on with us you would pay club fees, which is only 20 dollars for the whole semester,” says Valmores, who is also president of City College’s Student Associated Council.

“We teach you to how to fence and you can go with us to compete against other schools,” says Valmores.

Others join to club simply for a fun and different way to keep fit.

“It is an extremely good workout,” says Coach Gillespie. “It’s really good for development of leg muscles and core muscles; it definitely keeps you in good shape.”

One of the founding members of the club, broadcasting major Stephen Crane, 23, was already a trained fencer when he helped…» Read More

City College quarterback Ron Beverly, 20, has been around the game of football since he was just 2 years old, having grown up in a football family.

“I was around it every day,” he says. “That’s all I was around.”

His father, Ron Sr., was a coach at Solano Community College, where Beverly played last season before the school’s football program was cut. He was always at his father’s practices and when he became old enough, he worked as a ball boy.

“My biggest influences are my brother, [Joseph] and my father [Ron],” he says of his football backround.

After the program was cut at Solano, Beverly, a criminal justice major, said he weighed his options and decided to move to Sacramento to play football for City College.

He has only lived in Sacramento for two months, but his coaches and teammates say he is already helping to turn around a team well known for its football program.

“He’s still growing right now and has some things to learn but for the most part he’s helped this program out a lot,” says head coach Dannie Walker.

On the field, Beverly says his main inspiration is Brett Favre.

“He’s an iron…» Read More

A booming voice announces that the Sacramento City Panthers scored a touchdown. When the crowd cheered to drown out the volume, the man in the booth excitedly proclaimed their team just took the lead. They didn’t think about who that man was.

Sports Information Director Steve Gill, 35, says he announces home games for almost every City College sports team just because he wants to.

“[My coworkers and I]do it for the love of the game,” he says.

After attending Christian Brothers High School, the Sacramento native went to City College in 1996 to play baseball. That year he was a redshirt, meaning he could practice with the team, but not play in games, thus extending his eligibility another year. That was also the year he first spoke into a microphone as an announcer.

“One of the assistant coaches at that time brought me and the other kid up to the press box and gave us a microphone and said ‘OK, go ahead and talk,’” Gill says explaining his start as an announcer.

It was customary for the redshirts to help out the team in some way, he explains, and he says the assistant coach found the proper avenue for…» Read More

If you’re an NHL fan, Sept. 15 had to be an especially tough day.

On that day, a collective bargaining agreement stemming from a player contract dispute expired and the National Hockey League announced to the world that it would enter into a lockout less than a month before the beginning of the 2012/2013 season.

That decision led to the entire pre-season being canceled as well. Now here we are, three weeks later. The chains are on, the lights are off in the arenas and 82 scheduled games have been canceled, as well as the purchase of my San Jose Sharks hat I wanted before the season.

To add to the frustration, the NHL lockout is becoming more and more severe with every passing day. It’s the fourth time in less than 20 years that the NHL has had regular season games canceled, with the last time coming when the entire 2004/2005 season was cancelled.

So what caused all of this unrest in the league?

Some key issues that the owners brought up have to do with the players’ contracts, setting a maximum five-year contract term on all new players, as well as wanting to eliminate signing bonuses, eliminate front-loaded…» Read More

The Merced Blue Devils had to succumb to the power of the Panthers at Saturday night’s football game, which was the first Mid-Empire Conference game of the season.

The City College Panthers beat the Merced College Blue Devils 41-15.

The Panthers were ahead at halftime with a score of 20-12, but it was the second half of the game when City College turned up the heat. Keivaughn Barrett, No. 9, defensive lineman for the Panthers, was a powerful mover in the third and fourth quarter, clearing room so the plays called on the sidelines could become a reality on the field. He showed a knack for being in the right place at the right time.

A wide receiver for the Panthers, Anthony King, No. 4, scored after catching a 26- yard pass from quarterback, Ronald Beverly, No. 1, moving the score from 27-15 to a fan pleasing 34-15.

The Panther’s goal post was decorated by a row of men with clipboards by the middle of the third quarter witnessing interceptions, fumbles and a serious fight over the possession of the ball.

The Blue Devil’s made great stride in the second quarter

…» Read More

On Saturday, Sept. 22 City College quarterback Ronald Beverly led the Panthers to victory over the Reedley Tigers 27-20, improving their record to 2-2 for the season.

Early in the first quarter Tigers’ kicker Dennis Gallo kicked a 31-yard field goal to put the Tigers up 3-0, but their lead wouldn’t hold through the quarter.

With two minutes left in the first quarter Beverly threw a 21-yard pass to wide receiver EJ Jones, followed by a successful field goal by Aaron Novoa, to put the Panthers on top where they would stay until half way through the fourth quarter.

Going into the fourth quarter the Panthers were up 20-13, until Tigers’ quarterback Sean Stell Jr. landed a 27-yard pass to wide receiver Terrance Tatume for a touchdown. Gallo’s successful field goal for the extra point would tie the game, but the Panthers were far from done.

The Panthers fought back and with a little over four minutes left in the game Beverly launched a 33-yard pass to Jones, clinching the win.

…» Read More

City College women’s soccer lost to Consumnes River College on Sept. 25, by the score of 2-1. This loss puts the soccer team at 0-6 according to the City College website, while CRC has moved their record to 3-4-2. Head Coach Jang-ha Oh discussed his goals for the year regardless of the current losing streak.

“I haven’t changed my goals since 2002,” Oh said. “Team GPA 3.0 or higher, that’s my first goal. Second goal, try to reach the playoffs every year.”

After an early shot off the crossbar just 15 minutes into the game, CRC was able to piece together the first goal of the game. Within five minutes of that goal, City College responded with a deep goal from Freshman striker Casey O’Connor. She dribbled down the left sideline and took a chip shot from about 15 yards out that flew just above the scrambling CRC goalie’s head. The first half did not go as planned according to CRC Head Coach Cesar Plasencia .

“(City College) played well. They sat back and tried to counter,” Plasencia said. “Second half we made some adjustments and got in behind the defense. We’ve been hurt. Even today we had five (players)…» Read More

“Football is back, you bet.” – Al Michaels.

As many know, the NFL has returned for its 2012 season. Let’s look ahead to the upcoming season. I’ll start with the division represented by the Lombardi Trophy winners from last season.

The NFC East consists of defending champions New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles. My favorite to win this division, even after an ugly loss to rival Cowboys, is the Giants. I like their defense and think Eli Manning has proven to be a top five quarterback. I see this division being very close, and although Dallas added a couple top-notch cornerbacks, they aren’t the headline here.

What to Watch:  Redskins starting quarterback and former Heisman trophy winner from Baylor, Robert Griffin III.

Now I’ll move to the AFC East. This division contains the New England Patriots, New York Jets, Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins. I, as well as many others have a clear-cut favorite: the Patriots. The opposition pretty much consists of Jets fans, Jets players and Jets’ head coach Rex Ryan. With Tom Brady still playing and Bill Belichick still coaching, it sounds like the ninth AFC East title in 10 years to me.

What…» Read More

City College’s soccer team played the first game on the new turf directly following the Hughes dedication ceremony on Sept. 7, ending the game in defeat against De Anza with a 4-1 loss in their first game of the season.

“We were ready,” said Coach Jang-Ha Oh, “No chance to practice, it was the first time on the new field.”

“Soccer players love grass fields over synthetic,” said Oh.

Oh also explained how their cleats gripped the synthetic field differently. Oh said that the new field “absolutely,” affected the team’s performance.

“My team is better,” Oh said. “Much better than last year’s team.”

…» Read More

WATER POLO With every new season comes new obstacles for City College sports teams to overcome, including a strong conference schedule, according to Head Coach Steve Hanson.

Hanson is the women’s water polo coach, and believes this season might bring a better opportunity for the team’s success. This is because they play some of the their top Big 8 conference rivals on home turf at Hoos Pool.

“DVC (Diablo Valley) and American River College are always, always top of our conference,” Hanson said. “It’s nice to have them in our pool. We’ll be playing in a smaller (pool). That might benefit us and might mitigate some of their speed, With the (San Joaquin) Delta match-up, I like to circle that game every year because it’s one of those teams we should be beating, that’s our next level up.”

Women’s Soccer Home field advantage is something that the women’s soccer Head Coach Jang-Ha Oh, says that the new and improved Hughes Stadium has given his players a true home-field advantage coming into this season. The new artificial turf has given the soccer team an opportunity to practice and play as much as possible.