June 5, 2008

SPORTS

Sporting Green win fifth straight title

The Sporting Green soccer team takes time out from winning for a photo (asterisks indicate girls from Almaden). In the front row, from the left are Cecelia Hinz*, Ashley Lawrence* and Shaelan Murison-Brown. Kneeling in the middle row are Lauren Craft*, Sierra Painter*, Erica Nakano*, Danielle Hadfield*, Erin McCoy*and Maddie Cavanna*. In the back row are Assistant Coach Jamie Berg*, Hanna Gratny*, Lauren Plesse, Regan Heslop*, Megan Wheelock, Reese Gonzalez, Stephanie Magellan and Head Coach Jim Lawrence*. Julia Houk* is not pictured.

The Santa Clara Sporting U10 Girls Select soccer team completed a perfect season with a win against the Menlo Park Strikers last Saturday, May 31 with a score of 5-1.

This is the fifth straight outdoor championship for the team. The Sporting girls won the league with a total of seven wins and two ties.

“We transitioned this season to the 11 versus 11 format, and the girls did great,” says Coach Jim Lawrence. “The competition was tough this season, and the girls played strong.”

The team is currently preparing for its summer tournament season, which kicks off the end of June with the Cal Cup in Sacramento. This tournament attracts teams from all over California and out of the state.

Vandals force Pioneer swimmers to Gunderson High

Move doesn’t hinder team’s success

By Dena Noble
Special to the Times

The Pioneer Swim team was in the middle of its best season ever when vandals came over the fence one weekend and threw paint, newspaper and other debris into the pool, thus rendering it off limits to the swimmers for the rest of the season.

Coach Gordy Smith was able to move his team of more than 100 swimmers to the Olympic-sized pool at Gunderson High. Without missing a beat the team picked up where they left off and swim records continued to fall.

Junior Evan Lineberry, shown here doing backstroke, was part of the boys’ relay team that won the league championship and placed 15th in CCS. Photo by Dena Noble

“School records kept getting broken and re-broken all season long” said Smith. “The girls’ medley relay team broke the school record at our very first meet and then they broke it two more times after that. And the girls’ freestyle relay team broke the school record three times this year as well.”

In addition to the medley relay team of Cara Simpson, Sami Leonis, Tessa Williams and Kim Atala, freshman Sami Leonis broke the school record in the 100 breaststroke, Simpson broke the 50- and 100-free records at Pioneer and Zack Zlotoff broke the 200- free record. The girls’ 200-free relay of Simpson, Williams, Atala and Molly Selfridge broke the school record this season as well.

The Pioneer girls finished second overall in the top Mount Hamilton division of BVAL, being edged out by Santa Teresa by a mere three points, 472-469 in total points.

The 200-free and medley relay teams made it to CCS as well as individual swimmer Cara Simpson in the 50-free and 100-free. “And as far as we can figure, this is the first time our girls’ swim team has beaten Leland in over 25 years”, said Smith.

The boys team put up a tough fight but ended up 10 points shy of rival Leland in the league results, placing second overall. Senior Ian McAlister won the 100-freestyle and Zack Zlotoff won the 500-free. The 400-free relay of Evan Lineberry, Zlotoff, Brian Lopiccolo and Ian McAlister also placed first in league results. This same relay team came in 15th overall in CCS finals with a time of 3:19.8 and Zlotoff placed seventh overall in the 500-free in CCS in 4:42.

The girls team placed 18th in CCS overall. “Ten of the teams ahead of us were all from private schools,” added Smith.

Smith attributes some of Pioneer’s success this season to the change in their training venue after the vandalism occurred.

“Luckily, we were able to move over to Gunderson but the pool there is set up for long course, which means one lap is 50 meters long as opposed to Pioneer’s 25 yards” said Smith. “Even though a lot of kids really didn’t like to swim longer laps at first, the approach worked and I think it helped them improve their performances overall. If I had the option I would train long course and then race short course all the time. Ideally, that’s how I would have my swimmers train. And the people at Gunderson have been wonderful about this whole thing, awesome, they never batted an eye...as soon as they heard about what happened to our pool they just told us to come on over.”

Junior Kim Atala and her two relay teams broke records eight times this season. Photo by Dena Noble

When asked about his team’s amazing performances Smith claims he doesn’t have a secret but many would beg to differ. His low-key approach not only appeals to the swimmers but it’s also the key to his success.

“Gordy doesn’t come on strong, but you can feel his excitement and his belief in you,” says Pioneer junior Atala, who with her two relay teams broke records eight times this season alone. “He has this way of always getting the best out of every swimmer. When you’re competing, it’s like he’s out there with you. And he never yells when he’s mad, but you never want to disappoint him either. None of the swimmers ever want to let Gordy down. He’s just like a big papa bear.”

Smith has been coaching youth swimming for over 30 years. He had his own club team and then moved to San Jose Aquatics, which practices at Gunderson. Smith is in his eighth year at Pioneer and in 2007 he was selected as CCS Honor Coach for Swimming, a once-in-a-lifetime award for high school coaches.

Smith likes to give the credit to the swimmers themselves. “On the girls’ side, top to bottom, this is the most talented team we’ve had since I’ve been at Pioneer. Our depth and our talent all came together this year and by depth, I mean that our second and third swimmers are much better than they have been in the past. That’s improved our overall youth and experience quotient by quite a bit. The boys are one of the most talented teams we’ve had and I expect to see more records fall next year.”

Almaden resident to hold garage sale

Funds to support breast cancer walk

In spite of being in the midst of her treatment, Diana Southern is holding a garage sale this weekend and will be walking in the Three-Day Breast Cancer Walk in September.

Southern was diagnosed with breast cancer in January. By late May, she had completed four months of chemotherapy with surgery planned for next week.

Diana Southern (pictured with daughter Alexia) is participating in the Three-Day Breast Cancer Walk, which covers 60 miles during Sept. 5 - 7 from San Francisco to San Jose.

The Almaden resident is married and has a 3-year-old daughter, Alexia.

“This is my opportunity to show strength and courage. There is no option but to be positive and turn this experience positive as much as possible,” she said.

In February, prior to her chemo and hair falling out, she and Alexia donated their hair to the Pantene Beautiful Lengths program to help make wigs for cancer patients. Ironically, the two had already planned to donate Alexia’s hair prior to Southern’s diagnosis.

Her next action was to “ambitiously” sign up for the Three-Day Breast Cancer Walk, which covers 60 miles during Sept. 5 - 7 from San Francisco to San Jose. “I knew I wouldn't be in the best shape of my life, but I would be starting to head that way. That's my goal anyway to be happy and healthy. I thought what better way and motivation to get myself into shape AND to raise money to find the cure. I WANT the cure. I don't want other women to go through what I am going through,” Southern said.

Currently, one in eight women are diagnosed with various stages of breast cancer. And, although people say women don't die from breast cancer anymore, that’s not true.

“I wish that were true. One day it will be,” she added.

Her team is West Valley Moms, which includes Sandra Asher, Amber Lee-Castro (Captain) and Southern. Together they have raised more than $14,000 in about two months. “We are very proud of that. We want to fundraise as much as possible between now and September. The more money, the closer we get to the cure. “

During her week between chemo and surgery, Southern’s group will hold a multi-family garage and bake sale at 6562 Edgebrook Court (cross street McAbee Road and one block away from Castillero Middle School) on Saturday, June 7 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with lots of great items--clothing, household items, furniture and children's clothing and toys. Proceeds will go toward the Three-Day event.

Local businesses are participating in garage/bake/lunch sale: Starbucks (Santa Teresa and drive-through on Blossom Hill/Winfield), Safeway Almaden, Amato's Pizza (Meridian), Subway (1317 Blossom Hill) and others are pending.

For more information, check out the Three-Day Walk at http://08.the3day.org and type in San Francisco Bay Area.

Sports Briefs

Santa Clara Sporting '98 Girls Teams (U10 Fall 2008)
The Sporting '98G Team is looking for experienced players born after 07/31/98 to join our team as we prepare to become a U10 Class 1 Team. Club goalies can receive free keeper training with a licensed trainer.  A second Class 3 team may form if enough girls tryout. Please come to our two tryouts at Sutter Elementary School, 3200 Forbes Avenue in Santa Clara, with a ball and water (each tryout session is 2 hours long): Tryouts begin at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 3, and 5 p.m. Friday, June 6. The final/backup tryout for new players will be at 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 10.  Please contact Michael Kutney at scsportinggirls98@bigfoot.com or 644-4304 for more information.

AVYSL U12 Boys Comp Soccer Team Tryouts
Tryouts for a new U12 Boys comp (Class 3) soccer team will be held June 1 and June 7 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Pioneer High School field #1.  This team will be an Almaden Valley Youth Soccer League (AVYSL) team (www.almadensoccer.org) and is being organized for the Fall season.  The U12 age bracket is for players with birthdays between Aug. 1,1996 and July 31, 1997.  If you have any questions, please contact Frank Torres at frank.home@sbcglobal.net or 927-9219.

Go 4 Gold Soccer School
Go 4 Gold Soccer School presents its 2008 Summer Soccer Camps program. We offer week long, coed soccer camps for players age 5 - 16 in both San Jose and Los Gatos, coached by our staff of highly trained, certified professionals. Go 4 Gold also offers year round GoalKeeping & Field Player Academies every Sunday from 5 – 7 p.m.

For a camp schedule, locations or additional information, please call 997-7775 or visit www.go4goldsoccer.com.

Leland Junior Spirit Camp sign-ups
The Leland High School Spirit Squad is hosting its annual Junior Spirit Camp June 16 - 20 from 9 am to noon each day. The early bird camp registration fee is $120, increasing to $140 on June 1. The camp will offer instruction in cheers and dances along with games, arts and crafts and snacks for children entering K-8 in the fall of 2008. All campers will be invited to perform at a Leland High School football game in the fall. For more information or an enrollment form please contact lelandjsc@gmail.com or Jeanne Sommer at 472-6112.

14th Annual 5K Run and Walk for Lupus
The Lupus Foundation of Northern California (LFNC) announces its 14th Annual 5K Run and Walk to be held June 1 at West Valley College, 14000 Fruitvale Avenue in Saratoga.

Race time is 9 a.m. Wheelchairs and strollers are permitted after the runners and walkers have started, however no other wheeled vehicles are permitted in the Plaza area or on the course. Leashed dogs are welcome. Participants are welcome to register as individuals or to form teams, which are strongly encouraged to bring in at least $100 in sponsorships each. Prizes will be awarded to the three largest teams and the three teams submitting the largest sponsorships. Team Leader Packets are available at www.balf.org.

Entry fees are $20 if registered by May 22 and $25 thereafter. To register, go to www.balf.org. Onsite, event-day registration and collection of donations begins at 8 a.m. All entrants will receive a free t-shirt, goody bag (with redeemable coupons and merchandise), strawberry shortcake, and Starbucks or Peets coffee. Proceeds will benefit the LFNC.

AVYSL Registration is now open
Registration for the Almaden Valley Youth Soccer League’s Recreation Program for fall 2008 is open from April 21 to May 31. Late registration will be from June 1 – 15, and will only be accepted if space is available. A non-refundable fee of $25 will be charged for each player registered during late registration, so please register on time.

See our website www.almadensoccer.org for registration instructions and some exciting changes to our fall program. We hope to see you on the soccer field this fall.

Evergreen Valley Soccer summer camps
EVS will be offering two soccer camps this summer. Sessions begin June 22 -26, with the All Girls Academy. The Academy is designed to help players develop all aspect of their game and topics will include: Ball mastery / Beginning and intermediate technical skills / Small-sided games / Offensive and defensive team tactics / Training for speed, agility, quickness.

Eligible girls are ages 8 – 17 and the fee is $145 per person (team discounts are available). Academy hours are 4 – 7 p.m.

The “Little Hawks” Academy is designed for players age 5 – 8 and focuses on having fun while learning new soccer skills. Coached by members of the EVC Men’s and Women’s Soccer Team, campers will participate in a variety of soccer games and activities. Session one is Aug. 4, 6 & 7 and Session two is Aug. 11, 13 &14. The fees are $90 fro one session, $140 for both. Hours are 9 – 11 a.m.

For additional information or to register, call Felicia Perez at 274-7900 x6910 or email Felicia.Perez@evc.edu.

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