August Newsletter

The Youth Academy will get its chance to showcase their skills in many upcoming events in the month of August. The Boca Jrs 99 and 98 girls look to participate in the El Dorado "Joe Ribaudo" Shootout August 22nd and 23rd while the Boca Jrs 98 boys will play in the Placer Academy Cup on August 16th and 17th.

In its second year the Youth Academy will host the U9/U10 Champions Cup at Larchmont Park on August 30th and 31st. We are very excited about this tournament as many people worked hard to create a quality event to bookend the Youth Academy program. All young Boca Jrs players have been eager to compete in games. July was tough for all soccer enthusiasts due to the fires but the players and coaching staff look forward to a fun filled August.

The coaching staff has been using the time wisely to instill good training habits in the boys and girls to build a foundation of confidence to play creative and intelligent soccer in competitive games. We would like our players to miss the game a little bit so they really treasure their time on the field with teammates and focus on getting better. There has been tremendous improvement in individual technique and 1v1 attacking with all the Youth Academy players. We wish all of the players in the Youth Academy good luck in their games and GO Boca!!!

Summer training for the Boca Jrs Goalkeepers is in full swing as we enter August. Last month produced a GREAT series of showings for the club in both league play and tournaments - with our keepers continuing to shine!

The U15-U18 goalkeepers participated in a special week of sessions as part of the overall Intensive Training Academy. For a look at the keeper's training, please click on the link below.

Go Boca!!

Editor's Note: CHECK THIS OUT! CLICK ON THIS LINK TO VIEW A WONDERFUL YOU TUBE CLIP OF THE BOCA JRS U15-U18 Goalkeepers. It is truly inspiring and fun to watch.

The Boca Jrs 96 boys participated in the Adidas Beaverton Cup on July 17th - 20th. The tournament was hosted by the Westside Metros Soccer Club. Over the past years, Westside has developed into one the top clubs in Oregon along side FC Portland and Lake Oswego Soccer Club.

On the opening day, the boys were tested right off the bat against CFC Boca Jrs. They were last year's state cup champions. The game drew in a 2-2 tie. It was a fantastic game of two different styles of play: quick counter-attack soccer vs. a possession oriented team. "I believed the boys really learned something about themselves as a team during that match," said Coach Brandon. The Boca boys were down two times during the game and came back to level. They almost took the three points in the final minutes with a nice wall pass with a shot inside the box.

From that moment on the boys started to understand how to compete and still play good soccer. They were rewarded with 3 shutout victories and a trip to the final to face WPFC 96 Black. A rematch of the 07 semis, the Washington State Cup champs edged out the Boca Jrs boys 1-0.

Coach Brandon comments, "I think the boys accomplished some small milestones this weekend. It was their first championship game and they are developing the necessary habits to compete and win consistently. Winning a tournament is not easy and neither is getting there, but if the Boca Boys continue to develop and improve they will get their chance to sing the "Yellow Submarine"

The Boca 96 boys played their 2nd final in as many tournaments this past weekend. Santa Cruz Breakers hosted the 7th Annual Adidas Breakers Cup in quality fashion. The weather was great, mid 60's in the morning and upper 70's in the afternoon. The boys played all their games on a beautiful all weather field at Mission Middle School, just a few miles away from UCSC.

The first game was a rematch of tough a spring league between Mustang Inter and Boca. The boys were a little "too" laid back and quickly gave up a goal to Mustang to go down 0-1 into the half. The boys biggest improvement from last year is having the ability to move forward and continue to apply pressure on their opponents. In the second half, the quality of passing improved as the Boca boys were able to get more players into the attack. the equalizing goal was a result of hard work for Joshua Sanchez and goal scoring poaching by Z-Walker. Alec Edelmeyer spun his defender for a quality second goal and Justin Moreno finished Mustang off with a blast from the upper left hand corner to seal the deal 3-1 Boca. Everyone was tremendous that game the Alex Waldron made great saves, the back four were always looking to play out of the back, and the midfield kept possession and penetrated Mustang defense frequently.

The second game and third games were a bit easier, Santa Cruz Blue 4-1 and Walnut Creek Diablos 4-1 respectively. With 3 wins under their belt the boys qualified for another bite of the apple against Santa Cruz Breakers White in the Championship game. Earlier in the Nor Cal Spring League Santa Cruz was a bit sharper and took it to the Boca boys 5-0. After the starting whistle it appeared the Boca boys had improved since spring league also and were attacking from all angles. Santa Cruz withstood the pressure and scored a counter attack goal off a long LUB from the goalkeeper. Boca ended the half with cracking shot off the crossbar and brewing with confidence. The second half was much of the same, a blistering shot and a great save from the Santa Cruz GK within the first 10 seconds of the game was nice to see. It was just not the boys day as second goal was produced by Santa Cruz and a Boca goal called back that was truly in by spectators eyes. It is an awesome feet to make it to two consecutive finals in the first two events of the year. The boys have played against some of the top competition in Nor Cal and Oregon over the past couple of weeks. I can hear the yellow submarine getting louder and louder.

Go Boca!!!!!

U18 Boys Academy in California Cup and Boise US Club Regional's

The U18 boys Boca Jrs Academy team competed in the California Cup at historic Cherry Island in Sacramento, CA. The boys finished the tournament with a record of two win and two ties. Although the team did not make it into the finals the boys played quite well. They gave up a total of 0 goals and did not lose a match. As most of you know, the point system in these kinds of tournaments requires a Ph.D., and we came up a point or two short of qualifying for the final round. The boys may have come away from this weekend with a feeling of disappointment, but they now have the belief that they are a good team with some very special players.

In the US Club Regional's the boys got off to a flying start winning the first match 1-0. It was a back and forth event with the boys in Boca yellow getting the edge with a goal off a poorly defended corner. Spirits were high and the boys finished the first day on a good note. The next match would turn out to be the deciding fixture of the tournament. The winner of this game would represent this region in the US Club National in Virginia Beach. Unfortunately the other team was the eventual winner in a hard fought match. Prior to the loss, the team had 6 straight shutouts due to a tight defense and some excellent goalkeeping from Brandon Briggs. However, in true Boca Jrs fashion, the boys bounced back the next day and won their final match 2-1. They will look to stay on the winning track when they compete in the Surf Cup down in San Diego in a few weeks.

U18 Girls Academy in Pleasanton

The U18 girls Academy team was down in Pleasanton the weekend of July 26-27 facing top Southern California teams each game. The team played well and showed nicely for the many college coaches at each game. The Boca Jrs team faced WCFC Premier, Arsenal FC, Real So Cal, and San Diego Surf. Boca Jrs faced WCFC Premier first, beating them 1-0. The next game was against Arsenal FC ending in a 6-1 favor for Boca Jrs. Sunday Boca Jrs faced Real So Cal and San Diego Surf. The two games were well played by both teams and proved to be a nice end to the weekend. The Boca Jrs ladies scored late in the 2nd half against Real So Cal resulting in a 1-1 tie. The fourth game of the weekend started out slow, but as the second half got under way the Boca Jrs ladies decided to mix it up and scored 4 goals in 20 minutes ending in a 4-0 win. The weekend was a huge accomplishment for this team just starting to come together.

Go Boca!!

Boca Parents,

We have an amazing opportunity for club fundraising by working with Ovations, the Cal Expo concessions company. The largest fundraising event is the State Fair, but there are other Cal Expo events scheduled throughout the year as well. If you have not already responded to Kari Hawkins' email of July 31st and expressed your interest in this awesome opportunity to help defray your child's club fees while also promoting CASA in the community, now is your chance!

Please email Traci Seto, at traciseto@surewest.net immediately to add your name to the State Fair labor pool list. You will then be contacted via email with the schedule of available shifts.

We have morning and evening shifts available at multiple booths almost every day of the fair. Shifts will be scheduled on a first come, first served basis, so be sure to select your desired shift(s) quickly. Don't delay! The State Fair starts on Friday, August 15th and all shifts must be filled by this Sunday, August 10th.

If you are unable to work during the State Fair, but want to be considered for future Cal Expo events, please email Sheng Vang (bluesmurfu@yahoo.com), who will maintain the master CASA Ovations Labor Pool List.

Tell your family and friends to support CASA and your child(ren) by visiting the following CASA beverage concessions booths: Carnival, "D" Tent, NASCAR, Palm Avenue, Promenade and Sports Bar. Thank you for your participation and support.

If you have any additional questions about this exciting fundraising opportunity with Ovations at Cal Expo, please contact Jana Risley via email at jana.risley@fire.ca.gov or via phone at 599- 3190.

Go BOCA!

Your Cal Expo Coordinators,

Jana Risley (jana.risley@fire.ca.gov or 599-3190)

Sheng Vang (bluesmurfu@yahoo.com)

Traci Seto (traciseto@surewest.net)

P.S. Money earned goes to your child's account. If you don't need the $, consider taking a shift or two and working on behalf of a player who does need the extra funding.

There have been car break ins around Larchmont Park. Please do not leave valuables in the car.

The Lost and Found bucket is growing instead of shrinking. Please contact the office if you are missing items.

The Parks and Recreation Department is planning to re-pave Larchmont parking lot. We are working with them and will keep you posted.

This picture is at the BOCA stadium in the BOCA museum when we went to Argentina in June.

The Carnefix children admiring the trophies.

Sydney, Mathew and Mithcell in the LaBoca neighborhood, Argentina.

Have a team meeting at a Mountain Mike's Pizza and help raise funds for CASA.