College Division : Coach Has a Philosophy on Winning

As a soccer coach, Steve Davis of Claremont-Mudd College has written the book on success at the Division III level in the National Collegiate Athletic Assn.

In his 19th season as coach of the Stags, Davis has guided his team to 11 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles, 12 National Assn. for Intercollegiate Athletics or NCAA playoffs--including a second-place finish in Division III in 1983--and a career record of 218-85-33.

But the 47-year-old coach has written a success story off the field, too.

A full-time philosophy professor at Claremont, Davis has written five books on philosophy and religion and has two more in the works. There are also the 28 articles he has written on metaphysics, Christian thought, social ethics and education.

“I’ve been very fortunate to be able to maintain a two-track career,” Davis said. “Twenty years ago, when I first started doing it, faculty members who coached were a lot more common, but it’s been getting less and less over the years.”

The coach’s multi-track career does not afford him a lot of free time but Davis says that may be a benefit.

“I think one of the secrets of my success is that I get bored easily,” he said. “When I get tired of doing one thing, it’s nice to know that I can walk away from it for a while and go after something else.”

Davis said that during most of the year he divides his work among soccer, teaching and research for books and articles, although he does not do much writing during the season.

At the moment, the coach’s attention may be focused more on soccer--and with good reason.

The Stags, who were ranked No. 7 in Division III in a recent poll and have a 12-3-1 record, have a 55-game unbeaten streak since 1983 in the SCIAC and are trying for an unprecedented seventh consecutive SCIAC title.

Going into the last week of the season, Claremont leads the SCIAC at 9-0-1 and La Verne is second at 8-0-1. The teams, who tied, 1-1, in their first meeting Oct. 10, will play for the title in the last game of the season Sunday at La Verne and the winner will receive an automatic berth in the Division III playoffs.

As for the team’s winning ways in the conference, Davis said: “Obviously, as a coach I’d like it to last forever but I know that’s not realistic.”

He also realizes that his coaching career will not last forever. “I don’t have any present plans to coach soccer for another 18 years but if I had to guess, I’d say I’ll probably coach for another four or five years,” Davis said.

When he does decide to leave coaching, Davis will at least have the luxury of having career options.

It is not unusual for some college basketball teams to hold their first workout of the season at the stroke of midnight on the NCAA’s first legal day of practice in October.

But the Pomona-Pitzer women’s basketball team might have taken the tradition to an extreme recently by holding its first practice at midnight on an outdoor court behind a campus dormitory.

Under normal circumstances, the team would have practiced in Pomona’s Memorial Gymnasium. Unfortunately, the gym has been demolished to make way for an $8-million facility that is expected to be completed in November of 1988.

So, the Sagehens were forced to hold practice on the only place available on campus--an asphalt half-court covered with eucalyptus leaves. For lighting, the team used the headlights of their cars.

Fortunately for the Sagehens, the rest of their practices will be in gymnasiums.

Pomona-Pitzer, which has won seven straight SCIAC conference titles and has reached the NCAA Division III playoffs seven years in a row, will split its practices between nearby Claremont-Mudd and Webb High of Claremont, and will play its home games at Claremont-Mudd until its new facility is completed.

To say the least, it has not been the best decade for the Cal State Bakersfield men’s soccer team in California Collegiate Athletic Assn. play.

The Roadrunners, who enter this week’s play with an 0-5-1 record in the conference and are 4-12-1 overall, have not won a conference game in six years. But there was cause for a minor celebration recently when they tied Cal State Dominguez Hills in a CCAA game, 0-0.

That marked the first time that the Roadrunners had not lost a conference game since Nov. 5, 1983, when they tied UC Riverside, 0-0. The winless streak figures to continue, however, against NCAA Division II power Cal State Northridge Wednesday but Bakersfield has a rematch with Dominguez Hills on Saturday.

College Division Notes Cal Poly San Luis Obispo saw its undefeated record vanish in a 21-13 loss to Western Football Conference rival Cal State Sacramento last week. The Mustangs, 2-1 in conference play and 6-1 overall, have a crucial game against conference title favorite Portland State (3-0, 6-1-1) at 2 p.m. Saturday at San Luis Obispo. . . . Running back Chris Dabrow of Claremont-Mudd is the leading rusher in the NCAA Division III with an average of 148.5 yards a game. He has rushed for 891 yards and 9 touchdowns. . . . Senior safety Rod Pesak of Whittier intercepted three passes in a game for the second time this season in his team’s 17-12 win over La Verne last Saturday. Pesak returned one of the interceptions 78 yards for a touchdown.

Freshman forward Chris Palm of The Master’s may be the top men’s soccer scorer in the Southland with 30 goals and 10 assists. The Master’s (14-4) defeated Biola Saturday, 3-2, setting a school record of nine straight wins, but lost to La Verne, 2-0, Monday night. . . . The Biola women’s volleyball team may have scored its most impressive win of the season when it defeated UC San Diego, the top-ranked team in the NCAA Division III, in a nonconference game last week. Biola is 18-6 overall and ranked No. 8 in the NAIA.