March Newsletter

Winning is Fun! Winning with Class is Better Still

The Boca credo asserts that we strive to use soccer to teach our children some life lessons! It is heart- warming when coaches and parents get a chance to experience that the process is truly under way with our players. This should confirm to us that we are on the right track and motivate us to continue to work hard to live up to the philosophy that we all have adopted. It is an easy temptation to get carried away in our celebrations when we win and not exercise respect towards our opponents. Similarly our disappointment in losing games should not take away from the credit that our opponents deserve. It is highly encouraging and pride inducing to hear reports of a couple of our teams' recent experiences and actions that show grace and class in winning and losing.

Example 1.

The u12 girls recently won in penalties to advance to the quarterfinals of State Cup. Needless to say Coach Melissa Cavitt was very proud of them! That was the first time they had ever won in PK's and they did it with class. An opponent's player missed her PK by hitting the crossbar and no one on the Boca bench cheered, and Coach Cavitt heard one of the girls say, "only cheer for saves." Then after they won they celebrated but quickly got back together and a player said "let's give a big cheer because remember how bad we felt last year when we got knocked out." Which they did!

Example 2.

Last year the Boca Jrs 90 girls lost in the US Clubs Regional Final by a goal to a very good team. Boca had been reduced to ten players for the last 20 minutes due to injuries. At the end of the game an opposing player told the Boca players, "You guys are overrated!" Last weekend Boca Jrs 90 had a chance to play that excellent team again and beat them soundly by the score of 3-1. At the conclusion of the game the Boca players made it a point to graciously congratulate the opponent for an excellent game and treated them with respect. This gesture was paid back by a genuinely congratulatory e-mail from their coach a few days after the tournament! The Boca team eventually advanced to the final game which they lost in penalties. Not surprisingly they proceeded to genuinely and respectfully congratulate the winners!

Grace in winning and losing does not only happen in soccer; and if our children learn it during the course of their play, hopefully they will practice it in the course of their lives in general!

As we enter the 2008/09 season, we are very excited to see the growth and improvement of our young ones in the youth academy. Tryouts will conclude this Saturday on March the 8th. Please invite your friends to come out and join us at tryouts.

The Academy will conduct skills clinics and Ice Cream Socials beginning April 7th and into late June. We are looking for a few players in the U9 and U10 Girls age groups.

We would like to congratulate the Boca Jrs 97 Girls for a successful run of indoor soccer at ISA. The girls won their championship match in Boca fashion with skill, creativity, and teamwork.

Way to go Boca!!!!!!!!!!!

• 3/1 - U8-U14 Tryouts, Rio Linda High School
• 3/2 - U8-U14 Tryouts, Rio Linda High School
• 3/4 - U14 Boys Tryouts, Cordova High School
• 3/6 - CASA Management Meeting, 11:30, CASA office
• 3/8 - U8-U14 Tryouts, Rio Linda High School
• 3/9 - Daylight Saving Time Begins
• 3/11 - Coaches Meeting, 7pm, CASA office
• 3/12 - CASA Tournament Meeting, 3pm, CASA office
• 3/12 - Boca Jrs 97 Girls Team Meeting, Mountain Mikes, La Riviera
• 3/12 - U11-U12 BOYS Uniform Try On, Off The Wall, 4-7pm
• 3/12 - U13-U14 BOYS Uniform Try On, Off The Wall, 7-9pm
• 3/13 - Boca Jrs 96 Boys Team Meeting, 7pm, CASA office
• 3/13 - U11-U12 GIRLS Uniform Try On, Off The Wall, 4-7pm
• 3/13 - U13-U14 GIRLS Uniform Try On, Off The Wall, 7-9pm
• 3/15 - U9 GIRLS Uniform Try On, Off The Wall, 10-12pm
• 3/15 - U10 GIRLS Uniform Try On, Off The Wall, 12-2pm
• 3/15 - U9 BOYS Uniform Try On, Off The Wall, 2- 4pm
• 3/15 - U10 BOYS Uniform Try On, Off The Wall, 4- 6pm
• 3/18 - Managers Meeting, 7pm, CASA office
• 3/20 - CASA Management Meeting, 11:30, CASA office
• 3/31 - CASA Town Hall Meeting, 6:30pm at Mather Sports Complex gym
• 3/31 - Youth Academy Teams Registration meeting following Town Hall Meeting

Please note that it was previously communicated that the March 31st Town Hall meeting was for the Youth Teams. However, we warmly welcome all the families within the U8-U14 age groups to attend our Town Hall meeting starting at 6:30 at the Mather Sports Complex Gym.

The Town Hall meeting is a chance for CASA to welcome new parents and players and to share our club philosophy and direction. Please note that the Youth teams still plan to conduct their registration meetings after the club meeting.

For a detailed calendar, view our website's calendar tab. To include a team event on the club calendar, submit event name and dates to Club Administrator.

Martin Vasquez who was one of our guest coaches last year at our BOCA Intensive Training program has just signed to be Juergen Klinsmann's assistant at Bayern Munich of Germany. Martin played for Berhane at Cal State Los Angeles where according to him Martin was the best player he ever coached achieving All America Honors and getting signed on the spot when he visited Mexico with his amateur team from Greater Los Angeles Soccer League. Martin played professional soccer for twelve years in Mexico and for five years in the MLS before becoming assistant coach with the LA Galaxy and later Chivas USA. Coach Juergen Klinsmann first identified Martin's excellence in coaching at the adidas ESP program and apparently had planned to hire Martin as his assistant when he was negotiating with US Soccer to become our national coach. Unfortunately that did not happen but now they are on their way to Munich. Needless to say coach Berhane Andeberhan is thrilled to see one of his former players join the Big Time of soccer coaching!

Spring is around the corner and along with the time change on March 9th also comes field changes.

Larchmont: The Larchmont fields are starting to emerge from their annual dormancy stage and the Bermuda grass is beginning to strengthen its bond to the dirt. It is a critical time of growth for the Bermuda so caution must be observed. The field is seeded with Winter Rye in the winter which protects the Bermuda underneath but also adds color to the fields. The Rye Grass will disappear soon. As always, please use extreme discretion this time of year in using our main home field under poor weather conditions. Some of you might be aware of the use policy tightening this winter during poor conditions which is why we are working to maintain and acquire other fields. I have received most of the 2008 practice requests. The younger teams can plan to start practices at Larchmont after the first team meetings and try-outs have concluded. All practices at Larchmont will start at 5:30 p.m. until the School Lacrosse programs finish their use in May, at which time soccer practices will start at 5:00 p.m.

Ashton Park: Ashton will be a great addition for our Club this year. Field condition concerns have been expressed to me; however, I wish to calm those fears. Ashton is experiencing a normal winter dormancy. The Parks department has done a great job of massively over seeding the field with Rye Grass which has created many bumpy spots. The bumps are a short-term small problem; however, we will be rewarded in the long-term with very nice Bermuda Carpet when the Rye dies. If the weather holds true to its current spring like conditions, we can expect the field to improve within the next several weeks. We are working with the Parks Department to mow more often. Ashton will become home to our older boys (U15 - U18) this year which will help open up Larchmont for longer practie times, Club events and full-field workouts for our teams.

Riviera East: Riviera East is approximately 2 miles East of Larchmont Park and will be the home of our U8 program this year. Like most of the fields we seek, Riviera East is also a Bermuda grass field. The field is set in a beautiful park with basketball courts, tennis courts, play structures, picnic areas and plenty of trees. The younger teams will use it because it only has enough open grass area for a 10 and under field. However, we encourage the older players to visit the kids and help out the coach's in teaching and mentoring our youngest age group. The U8 program will begin in June.

Mather Sports Complex: The main soccer field is scheduled to be open by June "08." Thanks to our ongoing care and maintenance of Larchmont, the Cordova Parks organization wishes to work with us in the use of their new facility. The addition of the Sports Complex All- Weather field(s) will help us to better control and fill our needs regarding practices, games and future Club events such as tournaments. The ability to use these fields will help tremendously in "09" with winter practices, try-outs and future Coaching Course's. With the addition of Mather this year, teams will be able to arrange mid-week or weekend night games. No need to worry about weather or lights. Winter practices will also be less expensive than Cordova High School with more time options for our teams.

Cordova High School:Our winter use agreement with Cordova ends in March. Teams need to make sure they are current with Rene on fees due. We will keep Cordova in the mix as an option for future use.

Rio Linda High School: The beautiful and brand new stadium and all-weather field at Rio Linda High School have proved to be a fantastic spot for try-outs. Although it may seem a little out of the way, I would like to encourage our teams to consider the school as an option for future use.

CASA Boca Field Complex: Currently our field complex is in the permit process.

As always, thanks to everyone for the continued care, respect, patience and understanding of the scheduling issues regarding all of our fields and relationships with the many organizations that provide them for us.

The last coaches' meeting was a unique one in that it was held at the location of our future "field of dreams"! It was one of those beautiful sunny days in Sacramento as Tris Rieland and Ken Whipple gave us a tour of the farm where we hope to have our new Training Facility with three fields! Our walk around the fields was accompanied by thunderous combustion engine explosions from the Sacramento Race Track where they seemed to add to our excitement. Maybe they were just trying to get us psyched up! Truthfully, we were already quite excited at the possibilities that we imagined and talked about. There is room for two big fields and a U-10 field. We played "engineers" and talked about many structures and geometrical possibilities. We even imagined and shared the possibility of having a tent structure housing a futsal facility. We gesticulated as we explored where we could have a kicking wall or a pendulum setup fit! Fortunately there was a REAL engineer there and Mr. Hashimoto clearly was looking at things with a different set of eyes from of the rest of us, but he seemed just as optimistic as all of us! It feels great to hear that in the future we will be operating at our own practice facility! Some of us were even talking about a club house and study room etc! Perhaps dreaming but without dreams it would not be a FIELD OF DREAMS!

Our last day of U8-U14 tryouts is MARCH 8.

Join us at Rio Linda High School located at 6309 Dry Creek Road, Rio Linda, CA 95673, rain or shine. Bring cleats, shin guards, water and a ball.

REGISTER ONLINE at www.capitalathletic.com

GIRLS

The U-17 Boys are in season right now playing most of their games on Saturdays. As this article is written, they are planning to attend the Las Vegas College Showcase on February 16-18. They also hope to attend another showcase by early March prior to State Cup. Of course, State Cup and tryouts loom on the horizon. Coach Juan Carlos Cortez is pleased with the development of the team.

U-15 Girls report that they have recently completed the District VI Spring League in an impressive fashion, finishing in the top third of the League despite playing up in the U-16 Division. Coach Paul Hansen reports the team is enjoying its participation in the BOCA Futsal League in which players are challenged to be creative and skillful. The up-coming months are full of exciting opportunities for this team as it prepares for the El Dorado Tournament in February, the Nomads College Showcase in March and State Cup in April.

Coach Frank Ramirez reports that his U-15 girls had not played since mid-November when they participated in the Bakersfield Tournament. However, in that Tournament, they had a very good showing getting into the semi-finals. In a semi-final match, they were tied zero-zero at the end of regulation and immediately went to PKs. They unfortunately lost in PKs to end a wild run. It was a well-played tournament and the girls left their hearts and emotions on the field. The team took the entire month of December off and are just finished playing Futsal. They have resumed practice and are building up the Stockton Tournament in mid-February and then finish off with State Cup play in April. Frank is very happy with the improvement of the team during the season and the teams overall effort.

Coach Cesar Plasencia reports that both the U-16 girls and the U-18 girls have been on vacation from mid-December to mid-January and resumed training, getting ready for their next College Showcase in San Francisco. That tournament will lead them straight into State Cup competition. Cesar reports that trainings are going well and the players seem eager to be back to work. The U-18 girls played in the Davis College Showcase in mid-December and a lot of the girls generated college interest based on their performances. The team played very well, winning two of the three games they played.

The U-18 boys were privileged to play in the Disney College Showcase in Orlando after Christmas. It was an incredible experience, with tremendous competition and a wonderful atmosphere. The fields were impeccable, and the team played extremely well. Although the team won one and lost two, the victory was against a very scrappy team from England, and the other two games were close and competitive. Most important, a lot of college contacts were made. Coach Messing was extremely proud of the team and the manner in which the players represented the club. February brings the Las Vegas Showcase, March is Nomads and then, of course, State Cup.

Wrapping up their US Club Soccer Tournament season for 2007-2008, the Boca Jrs 90's took second place, out of twenty eight teams, at the Annual President's Day Tournament (PDT) with an incredible display of skill and sportsmanship. The team, which has been plagued by injuries since last spring, rallied the help of five of their younger Boca Jrs 91 sisters and headed off to Phoenix, Arizona and played an exhausting 540 minutes of soccer over the 3 day weekend.

PDT is known for only accepting the highest caliber of US teams and invites top foreign teams to add international play to the mix. The teams are guaranteed 3 bracket play games and then the successful advance to quarter finals, semi finals and the final championship game. The Boca Jrs 90's were one of only four Northern California teams to be accepted into the tournament in the premier division and were the only Northern California team to advance beyond the quarter finals. Coming from behind, they tied their first game against Windy City Pride (IL) 3-3; beat the powerful Calgary Foothill Colts 2-0 and then won against Colorado Rush Pike's Peak Nike (CO) 4- 0; Black Diamonds SC Black (UT) 3-1; and Arsenal (NE) 2-1. The mighty Boca's, under the direction of coaches Andeberhan and Grant, went into the championship game on Monday afternoon and tied with the Connecticut United (CT) 1-1 in regulation play being unlucky not to convert on two excellent chances in the last five minutes of regulation. The match was decided in penalties after 80 minutes of regulation and Connecticut won 5-4 to win the championship.

This season is the second time that the Boca team was a finalist in this tournament in the last 3 years where they also won the championship in 2006!

Some of the players have played together throughout their soccer careers and will miss each other's friendships that they have made along the way.

Good luck Boca Jrs 89 Seniors!

(some teammates not pictured)

Follow the Path to Good Fortune and Earn More for Capital Athletic Soccer Academy in March.

This month you won't need luck to boost your CASA's good fortune. A portion of every purchase you make through hundreds of OneCause merchants will be contributed to CASA, at no extra cost! If you have not done so already, sign up at www.onecause.com to support CASA, then shop for groceries, gifts, luggage, books, tax services - you name it! You will even save money with Coupons & Deals.

March your way to Coupons & Deals at OneCause.com

• File your taxes and earn up to 11% for your cause at H&R Block or TurboTax online.
• Spring is near! Shop Home and Garden sales and earn up to 14.5% in contributions.
• Spruce up your wardrobe with big discounts at Macy's, Nordstrom and Shoebuy.
• Now use your OneCause Platinum Visa® to earn as you dine at Hard Rock Cafe!

Remember to make all of your everyday purchases count -- every day. Make them through www.onecause.com!

The CASA Boca U17 Boys traveled to Las Vegas over the Presidents Day holiday for the annual Las Vegas Coaches Classic soccer tournament. The college coaches in attendance definitely were looking at our boys since we reached the final of this highly regarded tournament. Teams from Colorado, Utah, Oregon, Illinois, Nevada, and Northern California where entered in the tournament. The boys played brilliant soccer coming out of their bracket with 2 wins and a tie. The boys beat a team from Colorado (4-1), tied an highly ranked team from Utah (0-0) and beat the U18 San Juan team (1-0).

In the semifinals we met up with another San Juan team, the U17 Boys White, who came into the Semifinals with a perfect 3-0 record. Playing under the lights, you could feel the intensity on the field as the Boys charged out with two quick scores. San Juan scored half way through the middle of the second half to close the gap, but a strong defense, which the team is know for, shut San Juan out the rest of the way. The team never thought that they would need to play two strong teams from San Juan to reach the finals in Las Vegas!

The final was held early next morning against the host team, Las Vegas Premier. The first half ended in a tie with both teams playing well. It was a scoreless tie until late in the second half when the host team scored a goal on a throw in from near the corner. Coach Juan Carlos placed three forwards on top to increase the offensive intensity, but the host team was playing well and the score ended 1-0. All in all, this was the best showing of the year for the boys playing quality teams in a quality tournament.

Process to take advantage of the partnership:

• Manager or Coach identify needs
• Call Elizabeth Pena, Marketing, 916-857-0650 (epena@mountainmaikes.com)
• Notify Kari at club office of event (in order to cross- check finances)
• Decide which location, date and cater or meet at restaurant (a week notice is preferred)
• Elizabeth will contact franchisee to set up details and ensure sales capture
• Elizabeth will follow-up with team to ensure details of event
• Kari and Elizabeth to ensure all proceeds are received from franchises
• Kari to ensure all team specific funds are sent to teams
• All Mountain Mike's locations are included (even outside of Sacramento)
• 2009 Goal: For all Boca proceeds to be captured. Currently we are only set up for pre-planned events.