The California State Soccer Association - South (Cal South) is a 501c(3) California public benefit corporation & the official youth & adult state soccer association of the U.S. Soccer Federation & U.S. Youth Soccer. 230 leagues; over 160,000 members.
(Los Angeles, CA) – It seems last weekend was a busy one for award shows in Los Angeles. One day before a series of shiny, gold statuettes were handed out to the Hollywood set, over five hundred attendees packed into the main ballroom of the L.A. Wilshire Grand on Saturday, February 21 for the 2009 Nike Awards Banquet.
Produced annually in conjunction with Soccer Nation Expo, the Nike Awards Banquet is Cal South’s opportunity to say “thank you” to its best and brightest, from players to coaches to administrators to, in a first this year, a pair of Cal South alumni who have gone on to great professional and international success and renown.
Scanning the crowd would have brought glimpses of several soccer world luminaries amongst the mix of Cal South board members, staff, volunteers and award winners: United States Adult Soccer Association Chairman Brooks McCormick, US Futsal Chairman and CEO Alex Para, LA84 Foundation Vice-President of Education Wayne Wilson, US Youth Soccer Assistant National Coaching Director Dr. John Thomas, International President of Youth for Human Rights Dr. Mary Shuttleworth, California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce Chairman Joel Ayala, and Raul de Quesada, Fox Soccer Channel’s Senior Vice President of Marketing and On-Air Promotions. Representatives from Cal South sponsors and partners such as Nike, Northwestern Mutual, Chivas USA, Los Angeles Galaxy and Velocity Sports Performance filled the tables of the happily dining crowd as well.
Cocktails, dinner, keyboard accompaniment by Mark Kelly, and a robust version of the National Anthem sung by Dominic Domingo, Cal South player and grandson of world-famous tenor and conductor Placido Domingo, kicked off the evening’s festivities. This was followed by a three-song dance performance by Kids on Stage for a Better World, a group representing Youth for Human Rights, a Cal South partner, and then a newly produced Public Service Announcement featuring Chivas USA player and Cal South alumnus Jonathan Bornstein was debuted before the banquet crowd.
Then it came time for the awards themselves. Nearly three dozen Cal South members were honored during the show, included the first two Cal South players inducted into the Cal South Hall of Fame: Cobi Jones, former U.S. National Team mainstay and L.A. Galaxy player and current assistant coach, and Joy Fawcett, winner of a pair of Olympic gold medals and World Cup titles with the U.S. Women’s National Team.
Other awards of note included the Fox Soccer Channel Team Spirit award, handed out this year to the Crusaders Soccer Club Spirit Girls U14 Red team, the L.A. Galaxy Volunteer of the Year award given out to Maria Lenhoff, and the Chivas USA Parent of the Year award, won this year by Don and Eleni Maurer. The Maurers were recognized for establishing TOGA: Temecula Outgrown Game Attire, which provides used soccer gear to underprivileged players. (For more information regarding TOGA, please contact donald.maurer@yahoo.com.)
Cal South would like to thank the sponsors of this year’s show: Nike, Fox Soccer Channel and Sport Pins International, for helping to bring about such a grand show. Cal South would also like to congratulate all of this year’s winners, and thank everyone who attended the 2009 Nike Awards Banquet.
2009 NIKE AWARDS BANQUET WINNERS AND HONOREES Chivas USA Parent of the Year - Don & Eleni Maurer L.A. Galaxy Volunteer of the Year - Maria Lenhoff District 2 Honoree - Toni DeCarlo District 3 Honorees - Antonia Toledo & Robert Trenton District 4 Honorees - Karen Evans, Craig Mues & Carlos Tellez District 5 Honorees - Cindy Daniels & Mike Vandereb District 6 Honorees - Matt Barnes & Dr. Graig Stainer District 7 Honoree - Christie Paulson Cal South TOPSoccer Buddies - Daniel Acevedo & Dawn Zavala Fox Soccer Channel Team Spirit Award - Crusaders SC Spirit Girls U-14 Red Cal South Player of the Year Female - Kendall Romine Cal South Player of the Year Male - Christian Ramirez Nike Recreational Coach - Michael Vandereb Nike Developmental Co-Coaches - Ali Diba & Vince Neale Nike Competitive Coaches - Ziad Khoury, Scott Murray, Juan Manuel Olivares & Juan Sanchez Cal South Referees of the Year - Nicole Barrows & Kyle Kazmer President’s Award - Franke Conroe & Gary Emerson Cal South Hall of Fame - Joy Fawcett & Cobi Jones
L.A. CONVENTION CENTER ROCKED THROUGHOUT THE WEEKEND
(Los Angeles, CA) – Surely, as a soccer fan of the first order, you were at the Los Angeles Convention Center recently for Soccer Nation Expo 2009. What’s that? You weren’t? Well, we’re sure you had some pretty pressing business that kept you away, but we should clue you in on one clear fact: you missed one great party!
Soccer Nation Expo, Cal South’s annual celebration of the beautiful game, landed in the L.A. Convention Center’s South Hall on Saturday, February 21 to kick off two amazing days of high-spirited soccer action, education, shopping, networking and just plain fun, at the biggest free family soccer expo in the country. Over 24,000 rabid soccer fans – 14,000 on Saturday and 10,000 more on Sunday – attended the family-friendly and fan-interactive exposition, which featured a little something for just about any area of interest within the world of soccer.
Attendees were treated to autograph sessions with famed soccer players such as Brazilian superstar and 3-time FIFA Player of the Year Marta, U.S. National Team scoring phenom Abby Wambach, former Mexican National Team players Jorge Campos, Ramón Ramírez, Claudio Suárez and Martín Zúñiga, Chivas USA players Justin Braun, Alecko Eskandarian, Zack Thornton, Atiba Harris, Jim Curtain and Shavar Thomas, the L.A. Galaxy’s Edson Buddle and Chris Klein, and several players from the new Los Angeles Sol professional women’s team (with whom Marta recently signed). Marta also took part in a special 4v4 “Kingman” game on Saturday, February 21, with a team of young Cal South players, while a couple of lucky fans won a chance to shoot PKs against Martín Zúñiga, popularly known as “El Pulpo” (The Octopus) for his tenacity in the net.
Coaching clinics were taught on Soccer Nation Expo’s “Center Pitch” area, featuring such world-class coaches such as North Carolina Women’s head coach Anson Dorrance, former Northern Ireland National Team head coach Lawrie Sanchez, Chivas USA head coach Preki, Everton FC’s Tony Farrell, L.A. Galaxy assistant coach Dave Sarachan, U.S. National Staff Coach Rene Miramontes, UCLA Women’s head coach Jillian Ellis, and Jeff Tipping, Director of Coaching Development for the NSCAA. Coaches who signed up online or at the door for the VIP Coach Pass received badges which gained them access to special VIP seating for the clinics, as well as entrance to exclusive VIP classroom sessions and panel discussions featuring many of the coaches named above, along with USC Women’s head coach Ali Khosroshahin and Abner Rogers, the recently named head coach of the Los Angeles Sol.
For fast and furious soccer action, there were a host of great 5v5 games on hand at the Nike Five 2009 Southwest Futsal Regional Championship. Teams in each bracket – 5 boys’ brackets, 4 girls’ brackets and one adult men’s bracket – played a series of preliminary games through both days of Soccer Nation Expo, and then the top two teams in each bracket faced off in a deciding championship final. (To see results from the 2009 Southwest Futsal Regional Championship, click here.)
The Nike Shoe Trial area was a popular hangout for those wishing to try their gear out before they bought it, but there were also ample opportunities to expand your shopping experience even further with over 100 exhibitor booths featuring the latest in soccer gear, fashion and a wide array of products.
And if you were one of those proverbial early birds, you would doubtless have been one of the first 500 attendees in line each day who received a special Nike goodie bag. It certainly does pay to be early at Soccer Nation Expo!
So, if you love soccer, you’ve just got to join us at next year’s Expo! Soccer Nation Expo 2010 has already been announced for the L.A. Convention Center on the weekend of February 13-14, 2010. Coaches, clinics, special guests, exhibitors and contests will be announced throughout the year leading up to it, so please keep checking www.SoccerNationExpo.com for updated information.
Soccer America released its annual rankings of the top 30 clubs for both boys and girls today, and ten highly successful Cal South Clubs – four boys, six girls – were named to the lists. Soccer America annually selects the top 30 clubs based on their overall success in national youth championships over the previous three years, as well as any national recognition the players from these clubs received during the last year.
Four Cal South boys’ clubs made the list, including two in the top 10: Arsenal FC at #4 and Real So Cal at #6. Los Angeles FC (LAFC) was named the #12 boys team, while West Coast FC came in at #20. On the girls’ list, six Cal South Clubs were touted, which also included two in the top 10: So Cal Blues at #3 and Slammers FC at #4. San Diego Surf (#12), Eagles SC (#17), Real So Cal (the only club to make both lists, #20) and the Irvine Strikers (#23).
Here is what Soccer America said about these Cal South clubs in their rankings:
2009 Top 30 Boys Clubs
4. Arsenal FC - The Alta Loma, Calif., club celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2008. Its best finish at the National Championships was second in the U-14 division, but it marked the fifth straight year it had at least one team reach the final. Arsenal (with no direct affiliation to the English club of the same name) finished second in its U-17/18 division in the Development Academy.
6. Real So Cal - The Southern California powerhouse is one of only three teams to win three straight U.S. Youth Soccer national titles (2005-07 in U-14s to U-16s). Its best performance in 2008 was a second-place finish in the U-16 division.
12. LAFC - Los Angeles FC swept both Development Academy divisions - the U-17/18s finished second and the U/15-16s were sixth at the championships - and has partnered with Chelsea. The coaching staff is headed by former MLS pros Dan Calichman and Ted Chronopoulos.
20. West Coast FC - West Coast was alone among Southern California clubs with two players in U-17 residency last fall: midfielder Jonathan Canales and forward Jaime Gutierrez. More prospects are on the horizon. West Coast's U-13s are one of the nation's up-and-coming teams.
2009 Top 30 Girls Clubs
3. So Cal Blues - The club began almost a quarter a century ago with one team, the U-19 Harbor City Bluejacks. The Blues have become a national powerhouse, winning national titles in 2000, 2005 and 2007. Program director Tab Bobak is the U.S. U-15 national team coach. Rising Stars: Haley Rosen, 15, is the Blues' hot prospect. The high school sophomore is a member of the U.S. under-16 national team and helped the Blues reach last year's under-15 final at the National Championships.
4. Slammers FC - The Slammers, another Southern California giant, sent six teams to the '08 Region IV championships and came away with three regional titles, one more than they won in 2007. Four seniors are ranked among the top 30 recruits in the country: Courtney Garcia (USC), Mariah Nogueira (Stanford), Zakiya Bywaters (UCLA) and Kylie Bono (Tennessee).
12. San Diego Surf - The Surf has been a force on the national girls scene for more than a decade, producing Olympic gold-medalist Rachel Buehler and Notre Dame star Carrie Dew among other defenders. The program's top young defender is Maya Theuer, a member of the U-15 national team.
17. Eagles SC - The Southern California club won its second national title when it captured the 2007 U-17 Laura Moynihan Cup. Six months later, 15 Eagles signed letters of intent to play college soccer in the fall. Rising Stars: Christina Murillo was a key member of the Eagles U-16 team that won the annual "North vs. South Premier Tournament" of California teams and was called into the combined U-17 and U-15 mega-camp in late January in Florida.
20. Real So Cal - The Southern California club sent teams to the Region IV U-15 and U-16 championship games in 2008. Sam Johnson represented the USA at the 2008 Under-17 Women's World Cup.
23. Irvine SC Strikers - The Strikers won their first girls U.S. Youth Soccer title in 2006 when they captured the U-14 division. By September, 16 girls from the Southern California club had committed to D1 programs for next fall or the year after.
Soccer America's Top 30 Boys Clubs 1. Baltimore Bays 2. Dallas Texans 3. Andromeda 4. Arsenal FC 5. Chicago Magic 6. Real So Cal 7. FC Delco 8. Solar FC 9. Michigan Wolves 10. Schulz Soccer Academy 11. CASL 12. LAFC 13. PDA 14. Concorde Elite 15. Chicago Fire 16. FC Milwaukee 17. Javanon SC 18. Real Colorado 19. Carmel United 20. West Coast FC 21. Sockers FC 22. NJSA 04 23. Columbus Crew 24. Vardar SC 25. St. Louis Scott Gallagher 26. Blau Weiss Gottschee 27. Bethesda SC 28. Colorado Rush 29. D.C. United 30. Kansas City Wizards
Soccer America's Top 30 Girls Clubs 1. Dallas Texans 2. Eclipse Select 3. So Cal Blues 4. Slammers FC 5. Sting SC 6. PDA 7. McLean Premier Soccer 8. Colorado Rush 9. Force FC 10. San Juan SC 11. Albertson SC 12. San Diego Surf 13. Carmel United 14. Scorpions SC 15. Real Colorado 16. Michigan Hawks 17. Eagles SC 18. FC Pennsylvania Strikers 19. FC Stars of Massachusetts 20. Real So Cal 21. Pleasanton Rage 22. Crossfire Premier 23. Irvine SC Strikers 24. Internationals SC 25. Challenge SC 26. Lonestar SC 27. Mustang Soccer 28. Bethesda SC 29. Vardar SC 30. D'Feeters
The California State Soccer Association - South (Cal South) is a 501c(3) California public benefit corporation & the official youth & adult state soccer association of the U.S. Soccer Federation & U.S. Youth Soccer. 230 leagues; over 160,000 members.
before a series of shiny, gold statuettes were handed out to the Hollywood set, over five hundred attendees packed into the main ballroom of the L.A. Wilshire Grand on Saturday, February 21 for the 2009 Nike Awards Banquet.
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