Samohi, St. Monica Football Staffs To Co-Operate:

The football coaching staffs at Santa Monica High and St. Monica are planning to co-operate in building youth football programs in the city.Samohi Coach Travis Clark said the staffs are likely to combine to conduct clinics in the off-season.”In our opinion the youth football programs here are not as strong as they might be,”said Clark. “Some high schools, with Crespi as one example, benefit from having players who’ve had a strong football foundation before they reach high school. A lot of the successful high school programs benefit in that way.”As for co-operating with St. Monica, Clark said:”I root for St. Monica and Larry Muno. I think he’s going to do an excellent job there. We got together for a couple of passing league games this summer and mutually agreed on some things we can do.”Although Samohi’s football program is far ahead of the one at St. Monica currently there’s a strong connection between the schools.Samohi athletic director Norm Lacy won a CIF championship at St. Monica before he won one at Samohi. Clark was an assistant on both staffs.Last season, when St. Monica was enduring a losing streak that reached 37 games over four years, Lacy and his mentor, former Samohi coach Tebb Kusserow, coached the Mariners for one week, later saying the players were receptive and the experience was beneficial even though St. Monica lost a close game. Muno has similarly said he doesn’t consider Samohi a rival.