February 1998

This year has been a very good year for soccer in Saratoga due to the many hours of volunteer work performed by the hundreds of parents who completed their elected jobs to the best of their ability. I wish to thank each of you by way of this article. Without everyone doing his or her part my job would be much more difficult and the Saratoga AYSO Soccer program would suffer. Unfortunately, there were a few who did nothing and a few who only completed a small portion of their agreed to obligations. It is too bad that these few show their children that it is not necessary to keep commitments.

The Board will have a lot of changes this year. Those leaving the Board include Hank Coles (Safety Commissioner), Rich Mora (Communications Commissioner), Bruna Byme (Purchasing Co-Commissioner), Barbara Johnson (Purchasing Co-Commissioner), Irene Lopez (Board Secretary), Peter Fletcher (Regional Coach Administrator), and Srinivas Sukumar (Regional Referee Administrator). On behalf of the Board and all of Saratoga AYSO I wish to thank each of the above for their hard work and dedication. Without them this past year, we would not have had such a great season!

I have agreed to remain on the Board as the Regional Commissioner for another year. Mark Linsky will be retuming as the Assistant Regional Commissioner and at some time in the future, he’ll retum as Regional Commissioner. The following Board members have agreed to retum: Ann Stein (Treasurer), Blane Eisenberg (Information Systems Commissioner), and Robert Schumacher (Head League Commissioner). Also retuming in her same position, only now as a Board member is Barbara See-Wilde (Snack Shack and Related Activities Commissioner.)

I am pleased to announce that Anne KoIb has agreed to remain on the Board in the position of Board Secretary. The following people have agreed to assume new duties: Kent Bossange (Regional Referee Administrator), Helen Tsai (Communications Commissioner), Mark Chapman (Regional Coach Administrator), Roeland Van Krieken (Safety Commissioner), Robin Stoffers (Purchasing CoCommissioner-Equipment/Uniforms) and Abe Kaabipour (Purchasing Co-Commissioner-Awards/ Pictures). The Board is considering creating new positions to assist with some of the duties and responsibilities assigned to the Safety Commissioner and the Regional Referee Administrator.

"A hundred years from now It will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove.., but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a CHILD."

The following positions must be filled by dedicated individuals who will assist in putting on the best Saratoga AYSO Soccer program ever:

Last year we had just under 1200 players in Saratoga AYSO. There were about 200 other children who were unable to play because of the lack of coaches and fields. Some of these could have played had they registered on time.

The Board members have all been active in Saratoga AYSO for a number of years. Many of their children are about to leave AYSO or have already left. It is time for those parents with younger children to step up and take active roles in the running of this great program.

If we are unable to fill the vacant positions, the current Board members will have to assume their duties. Many of the Board members are already filling several positions and cannot be expected to continue to do so or take on more. As stated, these positions must be filled or the number of players next year will have to be reduced to a level that the current Board members can handle. Please evaluate your level of commitment very carefully. Are you doing all you can to support the programs that are available for the benefit of your children? If you are not doing your fair share, please consider increasing your involvement. You are truly needed.

Thanks and appreciation go to all the Division Managers who helped form these balanced teams. In addition, they helped streamline our communication process throughout the year and were great at providing answers or helping us find the right people to ask.

Division 1/2 Boys/Girls	Asna Masood
Division 3 Boys/Girls	Vance Nelson	Assistant	Larry Cowles
Division 4 Girls	Helen Tsai
Division 4 Boys	Sho Kou
Division 5 Girls	Kris Black
Division 5 Boys	Thomasina Wong	Assistant	Ken Peterson
Division 6 Girls	Carol Bertelson	Assistant	Mary Lefton
Division 6 Boys	Lisa Seago	Assistant	Pat Charles
Division 7	Mary Alexander

There are lots of volunteer positions needed for 1998 to ensure another great season of soccer. Most of these jobs do not require tremendous experience, just a desire to provide the best quality program to our youngsters. With all your help and support, I look forward to continued success within the Saratoga AYSO program.

The following profiles help us get to know a few members of our Saratoga AYSO community a little bit better!

Profile of Girl Player: My name is Amanda Burns. I am 12 years old and go to school at Redwood. I love to play left forward and center midfield in Division 3G. I am pretty good at playing goalie but I don’t like it much. My dad is a Division 4 referee and Mom brings the oranges. My brother plays soccer on Division 5B. I have played with AYSO for three years, and have always liked soccer. Soccer is my favorite sport because it’s fast-paced, you get to run a lot, and it’s a challenging activity.

Profile of Coach: Michael Cohn has been a soccer coach for 7 years. During the Fall season, he has led the Division 5B Pirahnas to an exciting first place finish. Coach Cohn believes that the key to a successful team is to develop a strong defense. Giving up very few goals means the team has to work together well and utilize everyone’s skills. If the opponent cannot break down the defense, sooner or later, you will be able to penetrate the goal. Coach Cohn has a passion in teaching young soccer players fundamental skills of the game. Seeing his players with different skills and backgrounds blend together and learn to play soccer as a unified team is a great reward for him.

Coach Cohn strives hard to teach and develop his players during practices. He takes pride in knowing that at the end of the season, his players have acquired some soccer skills that they will keep for the rest of their lives.

Profile of Referee: Philip Simmonds has been an AYSO referee for two years. He has a daughter and son playing soccer. Every Saturday, he officiates a couple of soccer games. It’s not easy being the guy in the Darth Vader outfit, of course. Phil knows his calls often make him unpopular with parents. Nevertheless, he enjoys the game and finds the most rewarding part of being a referee is knowing that he has to strive to make all the right calls at a game. When asked what his words of wisdom to spectators would be, he simply says, "just go out and enjoy the game!"

Profile of Boy Player: My name is Eric Yee and, I am 9 years old. This is my third year playing AYSO soccer. I am on Division 5B playing with the Clash. My favorite positions are goalie and halfback. I like to play soccer because I get to meet other friends outside of school. Besides soccer, I also like to play Utile League baseball. My favorite soccer player is Eric Wynalda because his first name is the same as mine and, he is also a good halfback on the San Jose Clash and the US National team. My little brother Stanley also likes to play soccer.

The Saratoga AYSO Region 27 Board realizes that there are many children who want to play soccer in the spring. We would like to run the spring program with open registration; however, there are some difficult issues to resolve.

Each year, your Regional Board discusses the Spring program and struggles to find ways to accommodate more players. The primary barrier is the tough reality of not having enough practice or game fields. Almost all the fields we use in the fall are used in the spring by the youth baseball organizations. In addition, motivated and qualified volunteers are hard to find. We have expanded the Board with new positions to simplify jobs and with new members, but we still have not been able to fill all critical positions, even for the fall program. We need the time and commitment of more parents to help evaluate options for expanding the program. It takes a lot of time and effort to operate the program at the same level of quality we have come to expect.

Please contact any of the Board members to express your thoughts regarding the spring program and to let us know if you are willing to spend time working on the issues that hinder a broader-based participation. In addition, please let us know if you would like to focus on working with the City of Saratoga to explore ideas for increasing field availability. Everyone should feel free to contact the City about the need for more fields.

For further information on Spring soccer, please visit our Website at www.saratogasoccer.org.

Contact Larry Fine at 867-7910 or email to fine14075@aol.com if you are interested in being Registrar.

BOARD POSITION:	*Registrar
NON-BOARD POSITIONS:	Assistant Safety Commissioner Assistant Regional Coach Administrator

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