 |
 San
Diego: The first of the four leagues to begin, the San Diego
program started its season with a kick-off ceremony that gave the
girls a chance to watch a San Diego State University Women's college
soccer match. The league, coordinated by Ricky Franchi,
recruited girls who had only recently been exposed to the idea of
playing soccer. In total, 78 girls, mostly between eleven and
thirteen years old, formed six teams that played Sunday games
through October 7 to November 18 at Chollas Lake Youth Athletic
Fields.
The results of this program are many -- an outlet
for girls that didn't exist before in this area, approximately 140
spectators at each game, and, even most importantly, the smiles
on the girls' faces.
Montebello: Unlike the other leagues,
the Montebello program found that a fall schedule did not fit the
needs and circumstances of their community. Once the coordinators
recognized this difference, they quickly adapted by providing the
small number of girls who had registered for the fall league with
scholarships to participate in a nearby AYSO fall league and by
converting the planned fall-league into a spring league, which will
begin in Spring of 2002. The League will begin registering
eight to twelve year old girls in January and February, with the
games to take place in the Spring, bringing Montebello the sounds
of sports from six ready-to-play girls teams.
 Hayward:
Basing most of the teams at elementary schools in low-income areas,
the Hayward coordinators, Pat and Paul Hodges, found an
enormous demand for the program. In all, over 140 girls were
interested in the league, more than the six teams could accommodate.
Showing the need for this type of program, two-thirds of the girls
in the team had never played organized soccer before. As a
result, the girls' progress during the season as remarkable, as
groups of girls playing "bunchball" became confident players
passing to teammates.
Hayward ended the season with an awards presentation,
giving medals donated by the Hayward Youth Soccer League to all
participants. Thanks to the league, many girls earned
probably their first, and hopefully not their last, sports award.
Sacramento: In Sacramento, the league established its
teams by connecting with schools in the "Healthy Start" program, a
program that provides enrichment activities and an after-school meal
program to federally-designated Title I schools. Sixty-five
girls, from a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds, formed five
teams that played each other in a season running from October 9 to
November 6. In order to make information available to all
participants, the coordinator, Ted Spitaleri, used a website which
displayed everything from rules, schedules, and scores, to keep
everyone informed as these girls -- girls who did not normally
participate in organized sports -- learned what it means to be part
of a team.
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