Letter from the Regional Commissioner Well, I will be returning for one more year as Regional Commissioner, as will twelve of the current Board Members. We owe all of them and their families a great deal of thanks for their service on the Board and in other key jobs over the years. The returning Board Members are Manny Cappello [Head League Commissioner], Larry Cowles [Safety Commissioner/Purchasing Co-commissioner], Neeru Mehra [Treasurer], Mark Chapman [Regional Coach Administrator], Dianne Depositar [Registrar], Abe Kaabipour [Consultant], Peter Fletcher [Consultant], Tony Marsh [Special Programs Commissioner], Barbara See-Wilde [Snack Shack Commissioner], and Anne Kolb [Board Secretary]. I also want to give a special thanks to Blane Eisenberg who will continue to serve as technical advisor to the Board with respect to our database management. We will be adding some new members to the Board. These include Lori Snyder as Information Systems Commissioner, Sunee Stephens as Purchasing Co-Commissioner, and Van Nelson as Regional Referee Administrator. In addition, we have created two new board positions which will be filled by Mohammad Vahabi [Fields Commissioner] and Ernesto Marinero [MLS Camps/Quakes Commissioner]. At this time I would also like to recognize and thank the folks who will be retiring from the Board. Ram Viswanathan came in as our Information Systems Commissioner and put in a lot of effort providing reports and organizing the process. Maya Baba has done an outstanding job for two years as Purchasing Co-Commissioner responsible for uniforms, sweatshirts, and team/field equipment. Helen Tsai, as the Communication Systems Commissioner, has been providing guidance to our publicity and Kicker for the past two years. As our Regional Referee Administrator for the past two years, Kent Bossange has provided leadership, dedication, and organization to this very difficult job. Finally, Larry Fine has served four years on the Board in various capacities (Regional Commissioner, Head League Commissioner, and Assistant Regional Commissioner); his concern for the youth of Saratoga and his leadership will be missed. It is very hard to truly measure the value of their contribution to our league. Some of these folks did not even have children playing in AYSO. While on the Board, many of them have performed other key jobs, such as Coach or Referee. All of them have put in an incredible amount of time and energy to make your region one of the best in all of AYSO. As you see them on the field, in a store, at school, or anywhere else, please be sure to express your thanks. I certainly do appreciate their leadership, commitment, and service in making this a great organization for our kids. Mark Linsky In Memory of
Gerry Babb, Our community has recently lost a long-term member of Saratoga AYSO, Gerry Babb. It is easy to list the positions that Gerry held: Coach, Assistant Coach, Referee, and Chief Referee. However, this list does not capture the true impact that he had on our kids, our volunteers, our families, and our organization. Gerry was a wonderful person who always seemed to have a smile. There are many people who get involved in AYSO, but the most valuable members are those who truly give of themselves, without ego and without expectation of benefit or power. Gerry did not just meet his commitments and do the job, he did it in a way that was meaningful to those who depended on his leadership. He was not only a fine Coach and Referee, but he was an AYSO parent first. He did all three jobs with the same level of quality, fun, and commitment. He got involved with an outlook that was always positive. As Ernesto Marinero shares, "Gerry, you will indeed be missed! Together we coached the Saratoga Rangers (U-16B) this past season and the memories are still fresh in my mind of the good times we had helping our growing boys to learn, through soccer, life skills and ethics that will serve them well for the rest of their lives. I offer readers my son Steven’s unsolicited comment to help them understand the kind of a fella you were: ‘Dad. I have only met Mr. Babb a few times, but the way he smiles tells me he is a very good man.’ Goodbye Coach!" We will greatly miss him as a role model. It is a big loss; however, we have his memory to energize us as we try to be the kind of person he was. Thank you Gerry. The City of Saratoga is going ahead with an initiative to improve the fields at Congress Springs Park. The details and schedule are now being worked out. To do a quality job which will last for years, it is highly likely that the fields will be unavailable for one season. Alternatives are being researched and will be in place to allow our program to proceed during the work. At the current time, it is expected that our fall 2001 season will be impacted. The following are the key objectives for play field improvements when considering the needs of Saratoga families and children.
While this planning effort is proceeding, your region is also busy trying to address the temporary loss of practice fields due to the remodeling of our schools. This coming fall, we are expecting partial to full field losses at Saratoga School, Foothill School, Argonaut School, and Redwood Middle School. We will do the best job we can to find alternatives, however coaches and families will need to be flexible as we try to work with very limited practice field space. MLSC Saratoga AYSO will continue to work with MLS Camps to offer summer camps, coaches and player clinics, and coach mentoring programs this year. The MLS Camps are an integral part of our Saratoga AYSO soccer development program. We strongly encourage our players, coaches and soccer aficionados to take advantage of the opportunity to learn soccer skills from this talented group of young professionals. Registration for our two summer camps (August 7 - 11 and August 21 - 25) will be available at our Registration Days, as well as on our website. This year we will have a waiting list for those families interested in hosting one of the MLS Camps coaches. The coaches require very little except a place to sleep and shower. However, many of the host families have made the coaches feel like "a member of the family". Some families offered meals, use of the washer and dryer, and swimming facilities and so on. Although the coaches are quite busy. hosting families did find the experience enjoyable and educational. Communications Commissioner Board Position Available The Saratoga AYSO Board is looking for a Communications Commissioner. Get involved in helping Saratoga AYSO organize their publicity, notifications, advertising, photography, and mailings. Use your planning and organizational skills, as well as your creativity to ensure our Registration Days are well communicated, our newsletter The Kicker is developed and distributed, and articles are published In the Saratoga News. in addition, as a Board Member, help to make Saratoga AYSO the best youth sports program available. The position does not require knowledge about soccer, rather strong planning and organization skills. For additional information, please contact Mark Linsky, Saratoga AYSO Regional Commissioner, 741-1725. Thanks go out to Zacky foods for their very generous donation of delicious turkey hot dogs to the Saratoga AYSO Snack Shack. This season we sold 738 hot dogs! Stretch those end to end and you could go from Congress Springs Park to Gene’s Quito Market. Next time you are in the grocery store, remember the aroma and flavor of the Zacky hot dogs and support this generous donor. Anybody missing a soccer ball How about a jacket or a clipboard or even a set of car keys (with remote keyless entry)? You can call Barbara See-Wilde to make on appointment to look for your belongings among all the goodies. The city of Saratoga has asked us to try to recycle the plastic water bottles and soda cans more frequently. So, in an effort to respond to the City’s request, we have placed 3 more big blue recycle bins out on the fields for your use. So, next soccer season, PLEASE try to recycle more often. Teach your children the value of recycling. Get them involved in ensuring a declining need for landfill space. For more complete information about recycling in California, call the State of California and ask for the Recycle Rex program, a child-focused educational awareness program WANTED:
ONE GOOD LOOKING, CLEAN RUNNING ENERGY EFFICIENT REFRIGERATOR The snack shack refrigerator is on its last legs. The bottled water doesn’t even get cold enough anymore for your enjoyment on those hot September Saturdays. Are you in the process of remodeling? Are you planning on upgrading your refrigerator? The snack shack is looking for a newer model refrigerator/ freezer for the upcoming 2000 soccer season. We’d love to take it off your hands sooner, if you need us to. Call Barbara See-Wilde if you have just the right ice-box for the soccer snack shack These are some key dates for our Fall 2000 program. Dates/times/places are subject to change. please check the Saratoga AYSO website (http://www.saratogasoccer.org) for up-to-date information.
VOLUNTEER NOW FOR 2000 SEASON JOBs! How would you like to know before you go into register that there is a job waiting for you? No lines no pushing no disappointment Sound too good to be true? We can make it happen! In this mailing you can find a list of each job available for advance selection. You may request up to four positions, in order of preference. Some jobs are very popular, so we’ll need to have random selection if too many people request them, but if not, …it’s yours! We’ll send you confirmation of the job assigned, and if you bring it to registration a job form will be waiting for you. Please select only jobs you reasonably believe you can commit to. If you want more information about a particular job, feel free to call the chair of that area from last season. Phone numbers are listed in the 1999 Season Roster Handbook You do not need to call board members: the committee chairs have more first hand Information. Remember All jobs are a minimum of 16 hours commitment Some are scheduled by shifts, others by dates printed on the calendar, and others cars be completed on your time within the schedule. When we all work together, so much can be done! Volunteer Job Application Form has expired and was removed.
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