December 12, 2008

TimesSports

Evergreen hockey players win championship

By Paul Leaf
Special to the Evergreen Times

Three ice hockey players from Ever-green, Erik Leaf – Defenseman, and Goalies Ben Westmoreland and Justin Hubert playing on the Santa Clara Black-hawks Midget 16 Hockey team won the Silver Stick Pacific Regional ice hockey championship at Sharks Ice in San Jose.

Santa Clara Black-hawks Midget 16 Hockey team players Erik Leaf, Defenseman, and Goalies Ben Westmoreland and Justin Hubert

The tournament was held over this past Thanksgiving weekend with 71 teams playing across 9 age divisions from Mite to Midget 18. The Midget 16 division consisted of 10 teams from northern and southern California.

The Blackhawks Midget 16 team played their first game against the San Jose Jr. Sharks Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving. The Hawks feasted early by crushing the Jr. Sharks 5 to 1. The Hawks played again at noon on Thanksgiving against the Stockton Colts. This game proved a challenge as the Hawks tied the Colts 1 to 1. The Hawks then went on to win their remaining games to secure the Silver Stick Championship on Sunday by defeating the West Valley Wolves 3 to 1.

As Silver Stick Pacific Regional Champions, the Black Hawks Midget 16 team is invited to attend the International Finals Tournament, which will be held in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada in January 2009. Newmarket is about 40 miles north of Toronto, home of the Hockey Hall of Fame. The Hawks hope to win the International Silver Stick Finals championship and have their team name placed on a plaque at the Hockey Hall of Fame this year.

The first Silver Stick Tournament was held in Ottawa, Canada in 1958. The founder, Ernie Temple, wanted to promote citizenship and International Goodwill through competition at the Bantam (ages 13-14) and Peewee (ages 11-12) age groups in the form of an ice hockey tournament. He used a long silver stick instead of a trophy. Currently over 63,000 players and coaches participate in the Silver Stick tournaments. (www.silverstick.org)

Evergreen Kodiaks Compete in PAL Football Championships

By Jim Chase
Special to the Evergreen Times

The San Jose PAL Football Championships were held Nov. 22-23 at PAL Stadium, with teams from 11 Bay Area leagues competing for titles in four age divisions. The Evergreen Kodiaks, a Jr. Midget team comprised of 11-13 year olds, completed an unlikely run to the championship, only to be outlasted by a deeper team from Alameda.

Evergreen battled all season long with only 19 roster players, with 17 needed to suit up each game in order to avoid forfeiting. This lack of depth challenged the Kodiak players to learn multiple positions and to build up the endurance needed to play on both sides of the ball for an entire game. The Kodiaks were more than up to the task as they compiled a 6-2 regular season record under head coach Glenn Stone, leaving the Kodiaks with the #5 seed for the playoffs.

The Evergreen Kodiaks celebrate a successful season as runner-ups in SJ PAL Jr. Midget Division

The conditioning and coaching provided by Coach Stone and his staff had the boys peaking for their playoff run. Under the guidance of defensive coordinator Keith Bryant, the defense held the opposition scoreless in the first two rounds of the playoffs, including a 12-0 shutout of #1 seed Milpitas on Nov. 16. This set up the finale vs. #2 seed Alameda.

The Kodiaks came out strong, stopping Alameda on their opening drive with key tackles by Gabriel “Chito” Garcia, Felix Atoa and Will Chase. QB Ali Bhatti then led the Kodiaks down the field for the first score, capped by a 4-yard scoring run by Ricardo “Romy” Rodriguez coming with 17 seconds left in the first quarter. There was no scoring in the second quarter as Bhatti continued to mix passing and running plays, along with big defensive stops by Garcia and Siaosi Pula and a crucial interception by Brandon Pounds to preserve the 6-0 Evergreen lead at halftime.

Evergreen looked to add to their lead as they received the ball to start the second half, but the drive stalled after a short reception by Chase, and Alameda took over with a short field. Alameda went to the ground game and chewed up both yardage and the clock. Their long drive was extended by a 15-yard facemask penalty and the Evergreen defense allowed its first score of the playoffs when Alameda scored with 1:43 left in the third quarter. The period ended with the teams tied 6-6.

Fatigue finally caught up to the Kodiaks in the fourth quarter as they fumbled on a handoff near midfield and gave Alameda another short field to work with. Alameda scored two plays later, completing the 2-point conversion as well to take a 14-6 lead late in the contest. Evergreen continued to battle, however, and took the ball from their own 30 and marched down field after long runs by Bhatti and Rodriguez, and a 20-yard reception by Chase. The drive pushed to Alameda’s 3-yard line after a 25 yard pass from Bhatti to Garcia with under 3 minutes to go, and it looked like Evergreen might climb back into the game. Alameda proved too tough, however, as they fashioned a terrific goal line stand, stopping Evergreen four times to preserve the 14-6 victory.

Despite the outcome, the Evergreen coaches and players held their heads high and earned the respect of everyone who watched them play. “You guys were fantastic!” said Charles Henderson, President of Evergreen PAL Football. “This is the first Evergreen team to make it to the championships since 2003, and you guys made my final year in Evergreen very special. What a great way for me to go out.”

Cobras Win the Silver Bracket at the 2008 District Cup Tournament

In addition to finishing first place and undefeated in the Delgado League Under-11 Girls Class 3 Bracket B Fall Season, the Mt. Hamilton Cobras won the Silver Bracket at the 2008 District Cup Tournament. Amazingly, the team did not allow any goals scored against them during the entire season on their way to five wins and five ties. The District Cup Tournament played in Milpitas on Nov. 22-23 was full of excitement. After two ties the first day, the Cobras had to win their last game on Sunday morning to advance to the championship game. They came through with a 1-0 victory and won the championship game against the Milpitas Fire in a dramatic penalty shootout after a scoreless tie.

Team members are as follows:

Front row: Alison Lee, Madi Lloyd, Sofia Bettaglio, Hana Declerck, Stephanie Cazares, Stephanie Han, Alycia Earl
Center row: Juan Bettaglio - assistant coach, Rachel Dovek, Michelle Thorbecke, Savanna Lavalle, Damari Simon, Lorraine Jessel, Chelsea Herrera, Casey Lloyd, Sierra Choyce, Victoria Oldham

Back row: John Oldham - coach, Ricky Colin - trainer.

Not picured: Priyanka Kapoor, Meghan Shah

Sports Briefs

East Valley Girls Softball League sign ups for spring 2009
Home of the Twisters
EVSL has been developing young girl’s knowledge and love of the game since 1996. From the novice to the elite player, our goal is to have every girl succeed and expand their playing skills.

Our league is a Santa Clara County wide league and available to all Santa Clara County girls. Any girl, between the ages of 5 and 16 years as of Jan, 1, 2009, is eligible to play. We welcome all eligible ages and every skill level. We will be holding sign ups on the following dates: (Please bring a copy of your daughter’s birth certificate)
Signups: Jan. 10, 17, 24 & 31. Time: 11 am – 2 pm at Ocala Softball Fields, rain or shine. Field Location: on Ocala Ave between Capital Expressway and White Rd

For more information, visit www.eastvalleysoftball.com or email: info@eastvalleysoftball.com. EVSL phone 291-3248.

Signups at Silver Creek Sportsplex

Signup now for youth and adults at Silver Creek Sportsplex, including:  indoor soccer leagues & training, roller hockey, lacrosse (including beginner leagues), martial arts (age 3 & up), Mighty Cubs (18 months to 6 yrs) and dance (age 3-14).  On Nov. 30, a free co-ed beginner lacrosse clinic for adults will be offered for men and women ages 19 and older. All equipment is provided at no charge. Instruction will be by 11-year professional lacrosse player and National and World Champion, Shaydon Santos. 

For the kids, a free “Learn to Lacrosse” clinic takes place on Sundays at 9 a.m. through Jan. 25, 2009. These One-hour lessons start with a brief history of North America’s oldest sport and its Native American/First Nations roots.  Santos will then teach the fundamentals of the game. In 10 minutes students will be catching, throwing, scooping and cradling. Come find out what the buzz is all about! For more information on both the adult and kids’ clinics, visit www.BoxLacrosseAcademy.com , www.SilverCreekSportsplex.com or call 225.1843.  Most sessions start first week of December.

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