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The East Bay Athletic League boys’ basketball league is one of the toughest leagues in Northern California, if not one of the toughest in all of California.
For years De La Salle, Dougherty Valley, and Dublin have been among the elite in the north. Last year Granada advanced to the CIF State title game, with Monte Vista and San Ramon Valley also recently among the best anywhere in the northern half of the state.
Amador Valley, Foothill, and Livermore have had their moments, and California had the best season possibly ever last season.
It’s just a gauntlet of a schedule.
For a coach to make his varsity coaching debut in the EBAL is a daunting task and could cause some sleepless nights. That is unless you played in the EBAL, then coached in the league at either the freshman or junior varsity level.
That’s where new Foothill basketball coach Tommy Cech stands.
Cech, a 2008 Foothill graduate took over this year for long-time coach Jason Wallis. Wallis followed iconic Foothill coach Randy Isaacs who Cech played for when he was a Falcon.
Having played in the EBAL, as well as coaching the Foothill freshman, then junior varsity team since 2012, Cech was aware what was waiting – and wouldn’t want it any other way, or any other school.
“I have strong ties to Foothill and knew this is where I wanted to coach,” said Cech. “If you win a game in this league, you know it means something. It’s so fun to play so many high-level teams.”
The season started well for Cech and his Falcons with his team standing 6-2 when this story went to press.
Cech got started coaching when he was a student at Cal-State East Bay and Isaacs, who was the Foothill athletic director at the time reached out in 2012.
“I was local still, so I decided to coach the freshman team,” explained Cech.
What happened next is what happens to so many when they get a taste of being a coach.
“I fell in love with it,” said Cech of coaching. “It was something new. I was a little naïve about what went into coaching. I knew as a player you were always striving to get better. The challenge got me excited.”
While getting into the coaching mode, Cech started to understand everything that goes into coaching.
“I underestimated the leaderships aspect of being a coach,” explained Cech. “I went into coaching thinking it was all X’s and O’s, but leadership is much more important than that. Learning how to hold people accountable is a big thing. It was a big learning curve for me. I wanted to get better and here we are.”
When Wallis stepped aside after last season to spend more time with his family, Cech moved into the varsity role. The learning curve kicked back into gear.
“There is a lot of stuff,” said Cech of what needs to learn to be a successful varsity coach. “It’s a never-ending journey. How do you build a program? How do you get (the freshman and JV teams) on the same program?”
Cech realized to make it work he needed to build a solid staff. Mike McGrath was a long-time assistant for legendary Amador Valley coach Don Underwood and was someone Cech met at the Bay Club (formerly Club Sport) in Pleasanton.
“When I got the varsity job, he was one of my first calls,” said Cech of McGrath. “It had been a long time since he had coached but he said he would come to an open gym and see what we had going on. He came to the first and has been back every day since. It’s been awesome to have a guy that’s been around the league.”
Cech added Jeros Domagas, an Amador graduate that runs a youth development program locally as the lead assistant to join the staff along with his father Tom Cech Sr., Tommy’s assistant for his entire coaching career.
“That’s been very special,” said Cech of coaching with his dad.
He has also been picking the brain of current and former head coaches around the league. Dublin’s head coach Tom Costello has spent time talking with Cech and has nothing but great things to say.
“That was a home run hire,” said Costello. “He was the right pick for the job. The kids like him and play hard for him. He does things the right way – he’s going to be just fine.”
Cech is also approaching things in what I feel is the right way when it comes the athletes playing more than one sport.
“There are not as many multi-sport athletes,” said Cech regarding the state of specialization when it comes to high school athletics. “How you communicate with kids now is different even from when I first started coaching.”
The era of specializing in one sport is one of Cech’s major obstacles. Understanding that has made his method of coaching different from some others.
“We’ve got to get these younger kids to play multiple sports,” said Cech. “I am open to have the kids do everything they can. I have football and baseball players that sometimes couldn’t make stuff during the summer, and I was fine with it.”
Cech is also going to be busy in the off-season.
“If we are going to build a program then we have to get kids playing hoops,” said Cech. “I am planning on running summer camps for the younger kids and get them excited to play basketball. It’s a great sport and they should enjoy playing.”
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