Kelly Sopak has established himself as one of the leading figures in Northern California girls basketball over the past 16 years, the last 11 of which at Miramonte.

Now he is ready to embark on a new challenge after agreeing to be the next coach of Carondelet High School.

“I don’t think there is ever a right time to leave a place you coach and love in Miramonte. I’m a Lamorinda resident. It was an honor to coach in my community” Sopak said on leaving the Matadors’ program.

In Carondelet, Sopak will get to coach at what he called, “the pinnacle of girls basketball in Contra Costa County.”

“What came clear to me was being able to grow the game more at a place like Carondelet,” Sopak said of his thought process.

Sopak, who also runs the Cal Stars basketball club, is 398-45 in his career at Northgate and Miramonte, where he won the NorCal Open Division title in 2016.

At Carondelet, he inherits a program with a championship history and Open Division berths in six of the eight years. However, the program has fallen back from the sustained power seen under Margaret Gartner when it ranked among the top teams in the state and produced numerous ranked prospects.

For Miramonte, the search for a new head coach begins. They return to league affiliation this year and return a strong squad led by Mia Mastrov (Cal) and Jordan Allred (Idaho).