There are many easy ways to sign-up for the best recreational youth soccer league in Willow Glen … We’ll be hosting our first “Walk-Up Registration” event this weekend:

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

This is a great time to ask specific questions about our program, or to introduce yourself and explore adult volunteer opportunities!

Look for us near the Little League Baseball “snack shack.” When registering in person, please bring a checkbook and a copy of your child’s birth certificate. You may print out our registration form online, or complete the forms we’ll have at the event. See you there!

It’s springtime in San Jose …. time to register for Fall Soccer!

Registration has begun for Willow Glen PAL Soccer teams that will play next Fall. Registration continues until teams are full, but fees increase after June 30. Register Now … online, mail-in, or walk-up …. your choice!

Add your email to our list-serve if you’d like to be notified when more information is available!

You may have seen this smiling football referee on a recent mailing from the City of San Jose. He’s also been featured in ads in this week’s Mercury News.

The City of San Jose has scheduled an important meeting to discuss the future of sports fields in city parks. While official representatives from Metro PAL Soccer plan to attend, it’s also important that all park users have an opportunity to express their opinions.

Community Sports Field Study
Monday, March 3, 2008
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

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

Join us at this community meeting and give us your input!

We’ll discuss the overview of sports fields study:

• Changing the permit process
• New proposed fees charges
• Dedicating fields for specific sports
• New criteria for site improvements
• Construction of new sports fields

Can’t attend the meeting call us at 408-871-3825 and share your ideas!

While each PAL Soccer district is unique, Willow Glen PAL Soccer relies almost entirely on CIty parks for playing fields and practice locations. In the 2007 Fall Season, more than 340 children played for WG PAL teams, most of them were under 12 years old, and all of those children played home games at River Glen Park. Obviously, maintaining reasonable access to River Glen fields is a priority for our soccer league!

We encourage everyone to attend the meeting.

In this time of joyful celebration, it’s also important to remember families and children across the world who do not have the same resources and access to recreation that we do.

Please join Willow Glen PAL Soccer in donating used soccer equipment to the South Valley Chinese Church in Christ and First Love International, who in turn will deliver your donated items to children and women in the Kathmandu and Chitwan areas of Nepal.

WG PAL coach Fred Mok is also a youth pastor with CCIC, and will be leading a trip to Nepal in early January.

I’m a youth pastor leading a team of fourteen adults. The trip is sponsored by my church, Chinese Church in Christ – South Valley off Blossom Hill and Cahalan. We are partnering with a couple, Bob and Bobbie Clinton of First Love International based out of Rockford, IL. They have been serving in Nepal since 1998 and have started four children’s homes and a widows ministry in Kathmandu, Khawa, Bhakunde, and Parsadhap (Chitwan).

We will be bringing children’s books, clothes, and toys to each of the homes, sponsoring kids club programs in the respective neighborhoods, teaching the women vocational crafts, equipping local pastors, and visiting a leprosy clinic.

Our trip is from Jan. 3rd to the 20th and our group is visiting four different orphanages and a widows ministry in Kathmandu and Chitwan area of Nepal. I attached a pic of the kids at one of the homes if you want to post it as well.

Thanks!

Fred

WG PAL is donating extra uniforms in various sizes from the last two years, and has arranged for additional donations of soccer balls.

If you would like to add to Fred’s care package, he can be reached at (408) 691-0421 or vie email (fredtmok@gmail.com). You can also contact the Church at (408) 365-8839.

Thanks for another great season of Willow Glen PAL Soccer. This season saw tremendous growth in our programs — especially for our youngest players, reflecting our commitment to provide excellent recreational experiences for families.

We are already thinking about ways to improve our program for next year, and we welcome your input. Please leave a comment to any post or send us an email if you have comments and suggestions.

Registration for the Fall 2008 season will begin in April.

If you would like to be updated about WG PAL Soccer, we recommend subscribing to our RSS Feed, and/or adding your email address to our list-server.

… According to the San Jose Mercury News!

Willow Glen PAL Soccer is featured on Page 55 of the latest installment of the Merc’s “Where We Live” … Willow Glen.

The Merc’s special “Mercury News Photos” website also published an interactive flash collage called “the sights and sounds of Willow Glen,” which includes an audio slide presentation of pictures and sound taken at River Glen Park last month. After the flash player loads, drag the blue viewer slide to the right, pausing in the middle of the collage. The PAL Soccer feature is just to the right of the Hicklebee’s segment.

Special thanks to Richard Koci Hernandez, who took the pictures for the Mercury News!

The 2007 Soccer season wraps-up this weekend, with the 4th Annual Jim Leard Classic, hosted in Milpitas and Santa Clara. We’re happy to present some tips for surviving the weekend.

Be on Time … The check-in procedures for the EOS Tournament are very different from regular season games. Your entire team needs to check-in simultaneously at each field’s Tournament Headquarters, and you must be ready to start your game on time (or potentially forfeit).

… Maybe even plan to get there early. (more…)

The End-of-Season Tournament Schedule has been released for the 2007 Jim Leard Classic, hosted in Santa Clara and Milpitas on Saturday-Sunday, November 17-18, 2007.

The complexity of creating a two-day schedule for 152 teams may result in further changes. Please keep in contact with your coach throughout the week.

As our PAL season draws to a close, Coach Ray from the Cambrian U15 Blue Crush provides another update on the 12-year-old girl abducted last month from her Willow Glen neighborhood:

Hello All:

On behalf of the family and the Blue Crush Team - I want to thank all of you for your outpouring of support and care for our teammate, her sister and Mom and Dad. It has been truly overwhelming the thousands of people from all over the Bay Area and the country who have sent letters, cards, stuffed animals, flowers, books, IPODS, posters, soccer balls, money, cookies, pajamas, gift cards and the list goes on - and is really incredible.

No amount of words can adequately express the gratitude all of us feel for your support.

Thank you - Thank you - Thank you !!!

I am very happy to inform you all - that she is no longer using her wheel chair - she is walking some - and she is back at school and her mom tells me she is getting back to her old feisty self. It will still be several months before she can get active and run, but she is healing and things are getting better.

Please understand the low profile the family is keeping. It is best for the family and the efforts of the justice system to let the process proceed as quietly and quickly as possible.

Thanks again to the PAL family and our friends in the San Jose, Soccer Community.

November 10 is the last weekend of regularly-scheduled games for 2007 Metro PAL Soccer teams. Metro PAL will host the annual Jim Leard Classic on Saturday-Sunday, November 17-18, 2007.

Teams will be re-grouped according to actual game results of the past few weeks, and brackets will be created for a tournament-style series of games.

The schedule will not be released until after Tuesday, November 13, and it is not possible to reliably predict your schedule until then. Your team may play two games (one on each day, or both on one day), or you may play three games, or even four, spread across the weekend. It is also possible your team may qualify for a “championship game” played late on Sunday afternoon.

Your schedule will be distributed to your coach on November 13, and will be posted here shortly thereafter.

Due to a scheduling error, the Columbus Park fields in our the Rose Garden PAL District are not available for our use on Saturday, October 27, and Saturday, November 3.

The latest Metro PAL Soccer Schedule now reflects changes to locations and gametimes.

At this time, the only affected teams from Willow Glen are 811 Tiger Shock (10/27), 807 Super Stars (11/3), and 805 Lucky Clovers (11/3). Please check your schedules and confirm all game times/locations with your coach!

Games originally scheduled for November 10 will be played at Columbus as originally planned. (more…)