Congratulations to WGHS freshman softball pitcher Kelsee Graves. She’s been honored as the SJ mercury’s female high school athlete of the week:

Kelsee Graves, Willow Glen
Sport: Softball — Position: Pitcher — Class: Freshman

Accomplishment: Graves started the season as a third baseman but became a starting pitcher for the Rams. Last week, she threw back-to-back no-hitters and went 4 for 6 with four RBIs against San Jose Academy and Yerba Buena as Willow Glen clinched a tie for the West Valley Division title. Graves is 19-2 with a 1.80 ERA. “Kelsee has power and finesse, she knows how to hit her spots,” Rams Coach Scott McCollum said. “She has a full complement of pitches and uses all of them effectively.”

Of course, Kelsee’s exploits were originally uncovered by the WG Resident, with articles about the WGHS Softball team’s victory over James Lick in March, her 11th win of the year (a shutout win over Andrew Hill on April 5), and yet another victory on April 8.

Congratulations, Kelsee!

There are many easy ways to sign-up for the best recreational youth soccer league in Willow Glen … and WG PAL Soccer will be hosting their first “Walk-Up Registration” event this weekend:

Saturday, May 10
9:00 - 11:00 am at River Glen Park.

Since the new San Jose Earthquakes aren’t playing at nearby Spartan Stadium anymore, Willow Glen residents attending home games at Buck Shaw Stadium might want to plan ahead.

Buck Shaw Stadium is located west of El Camino Real, on the campus of Santa Clara University. Traveling from WG, spectators have three primary choices: (more…)

Another unique-to-WG business opens this weekend, Shelley Ballard’s Cucina Bambini, located on Lincoln Avenue, north of Willow Street.

Cooking School for Kids and Families

• Classes • Summer Camps • Parties • Special Events • Much More •

Grand Opening Celebration:
Saturday, April 26 … 11am-3pm

Enter our drawing for free and discounted classes and parties!

Imagine Iron Chef meets Gymboree meets Lecture Hall meets Sports Bar. Actually, you’re forced to imagine it … because WGx took a bunch of great pictures inside Cucina Bambini earlier today … and then catastrophically deleted them all during the download process.

Kid-sized tables and sparkling clean aprons welcome kids, along with brightly-colored counters and walls. The adorable little chef logo — he’s still searching for an official name — adorns the classroom above the teaching station, on a widescreen TV, and also on a big clock. There’s even a giant chef’s hat mural on one wall … suitable for those undeleted Kodak moments.

Classes are offered for kids, adults, and various parent-kid combinations, with some of their upcoming activities focusing on Mothers Day, naturally. And the big screen TV might be good for some Sharks playoff viewing, if you’re looking for a fun venue.

Cucina Bambini opens next door to Art House Kids (where Black Eyed Pete’s used to be), providing a one-stop shopping opportunity for parents looking to book unique summer camp experiences for their kids.

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Most Embarrassing Post: At the last minute, WGx has to award a coveted “Willow Glen Most” award to Cucina Bambini …. mostly because the effort to promote the Grand Opening was nearly thwarted. As mentioned above, the lost photos remind everyone that WGx is only deemed reliable.

Willow Glen’s got a a big walkathon weekend (if you count Friday) coming up, with popular fund raisers being held at Willow Glen Elementary on Friday and at River Glen School on Saturday. In honor of River Glen’s Spanish Immersion concept — which may or may not take hold at WG Elementary — WGx wishes both schools luck at their respective Caminatas!

Does this weekend’s spectacular weather have you thinking about getting out and being more active? How about your kids …?

The Willow Glen PAL Soccer program has begun accepting registrations for the league’s Fall 2008 season. Promotional fliers will go home with local elementary school students this week, and the league expects to have more than 350 neighborhood kids playing recreational soccer next Fall.

In addition to the traditional mail-in and walk-up registration process, the league has added an online registration process this year. The costs is $75 for players who sign-up before June 30.

It’s not like you are looking to WillowGlenExtra for your up to the minute sports news, but just in case … the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin this week, and the San Jose Sharks will face the Calgary Flames in Game One tonight at 7:00.

WGx has decided to do its part for the home team by trying to eliminate the SJ Mercury’s newspaper racks that are still adorned with former Shark Owen Nolan’s smiling mug. The racks were installed several years ago, but still exist in small pockets. In a recent email to WGx, Merc Circulation VP David Rounds wishes the images were long gone, too:

—– Original Message —-
From: David Rounds
Subject: Owen on the Racks

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I am not sure who had the bright idea to stencil on the racks an image of a specific player but I am sorry that they did (and it was before my time and I have been at the Mercury for three+ years). As we refurbish the racks and repaint them we will be taking care of this but it will take awhile. Meanwhile, here is to making the second round…..go Sharks.

David Rounds
Vice President/Circulation

Nolan may be wearing Sharks teal in the newspaper rack pictures, but he’s wearing Flames red this year.

And Nolan may still live in San Jose during the off-season, and current Sharks players down-play the connection … but that’s no excuse to have his face plastered all over our fair city more than five years after his departure via trade.

WGx has invited the Merc to co-sponsor a painting-over project – don’t call it graffiti – but we’ll have to see just how nasty this series gets before taking any drastic measures like that.

Of course, you can always try removing Owen’s picture yourself …. one pixel at a time.

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It didn’t work out too well last year, but WGx is happy to join the Sharks Bandwagon again for 2008, celebrating Stanley Cup events in WG and other neighborhoods. If you know of a Sharks event, a viewing party open to the public, or any other display of team colors, contact WGx to promote it and get your picture published right here.

It’s buried in the Sharks news digest from a few days ago, but it was a nice moment between periods last Sunday night when the San Jose Sharks — along with the four other Bay Area major league sports franchises — honored high school student-athletes in their competitive sports scholarship program.

San Jose’s professional hockey team honored WG’s Mohamed Abdalla with its award:

BAY AREA SPORTS TEAMS TO PRESENT LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS

In a collective effort to support youth working towards the goal of higher education, Bay Area professional sports franchises, including the Golden State Warriors, Oakland Athletics, Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers, San Francisco Giants and San Jose Sharks, have teamed up for the 12th year of the Bay Area All-Star Scholarship Team (BAASST). As part of this program, the first of its kind among professional sports teams, five high school seniors have been selected to receive a $3,000 scholarship to be applied toward their college education.

Each Bay Area sports franchise will recognize this year’s five Bay Area All-Star Scholarship Team recipients in a ceremony this year. The first ceremony is set for Sunday, March 16 when the recipients will be honored during a special in-game ceremony during the San Jose Sharks vs. Edmonton Oilers game at HP Pavilion at San Jose. A representative from each Bay Area sports organization will be in attendance to participate in each ceremony.

The 2008 BAASST recipients are Joshua Ortiz of De Anza High School in Richmond (Oakland A’s), Lauren Hunt of Calistoga Junior Senior High School in Calistoga (Oakland Raiders), Jasmine Nachtigall of Hillsdale High School in San Mateo (San Francisco 49ers), Elaine Chow of Galileo Academy in San Francisco (San Francisco Giants) and Mohamed Abdalla of Willow Glen High School in San Jose (San Jose Sharks).

Students were selected from high schools within nine Bay Area counties, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, Marin, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma. Each high school was provided with information about this scholarship and was encouraged to nominate candidates that met the following criteria: a minimum grade point average of 3.0, displays leadership qualities in the classroom and/or inspirational qualities on the athletic field and demonstrates the value of education, good work ethic and community outreach.

It’s great to see high school athletes honored like this, but only $3,000? … that’s not going to go very far …

Saturday, March 15 — rain permitting … remember 2006? — is Opening Day for many Little League Baseball Teams around the area, including Lincoln Glen Little League.

Willow Glen Little League held its Opening Day last weekend, without rain.

Among other festivities hosted at River Glen Park will be a “Silent Auction” benefiting Little League. Ceremonies begin at 8:30 am, and the league’s “snack shack” will feature Mojo Burgers from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm.

They’ve also published a full list of Auction Items on their website. The highlights include golf packages, autographed memorabilia, food vouchers, sports equipment, and more.

The City of San Jose has scheduled an important meeting to discuss the future of sports fields in city parks.

Willow Glen PAL Soccer provides the details on its website:

Community Sports Field Study
Monday, March 3, 2008 — 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

200 East Santa Clara Street, San José, CA 95113
Room Locations: Wing Room 118

San Jose’s District 6 — which includes Willow Glen — has been repeatedly descried as being “park-deficient,” yet the young families that populate much of WG and the Rose Garden have found a way to share limited park space between Little League, t-ball, soccer leagues, softball, adult sports, and even lacrosse.