San Diego Padres Players Send Best Wishes to Parkview Little All Stars

ESPN Radio 710 Interview

Park View Little League Coach Ricky Ramirez the father of Little League all-star player Luke Ramirez gets interviewed by ESPN Radio 710 AM.

SportsForce is hosting a launch party August 6^th at The Local, sports bar and eatery – in downtown San Diego. We’ve invited friends, family, coaches and sports enthusiasts that are interested in getting a sneak peek at the new website and some of its key features.

Everyone in the office and some out of office are busy getting the site ready to launch. In order to get the site ready to launch we are busy polishing up and uploading videos, finalizing copy for different sections of the site and implementing HTML designs for different pages. I’m not sure the average person understands how much goes into preparing to launch a sports portal where you are combining professionally produced video, certified profiles, editorial content, events and more.

If you happen to read this before we launch you will be able to see our landing page with our demo video at www.sportsforceonline.com.

San Diego Surf Cup Offers College Soccer Coaches a Recruiting Paradise

The second weekend of the San Diego Surf Cup Soccer Tournament saw some of the top U15 – U19 Boys and Girls teams in the world. SportsForce was in attendance to talk to club team coaches, college coaches, film some of the game action and enjoy world class level soccer. It was Surf Cup’s 29^th year which had 650 teams apply to play with only 350 available slots. The tournament was held at the San Diego Polo Fields which is arguably the best venue in the nation for aspiring soccer players to garner attention from colleges and gain tremendous exposure to hundreds of coaches at one event.

The Surf Cup tournament is split into two levels of skill within each age division. The Super and Gold, with the Super bracket offering a slightly higher caliber of play.

The previous weekend of Surf Cup play was dedicated for U15 and below age groups and was dominated by Southern California teams. This weekend was a different story as many teams from all over the country ended up winning their respective divisions.

Girls Results:

Winning the Girls U16 Super division was the Mustang SC Rampage team out of Danville, CA and Oregon Rush Nike team won the Gold division for the U16 division. In the U17 Girls Super division, the SoCal Blues took top honors. The Neusport FC Green from Las Vegas finished at the top for the U17 Girls Gold division. Southern California team, Real SoCal White won the U19 Super Division. The Sonoma County Alliance took first for the U19 Gold.

Boys Results:

For the Boys, the CDA Academy from Sacramento, CA won the championship for the U16 Super division. Players SC of Las Vegas won the U16 Gold division. Real SoCal White dominated again, this time for the boys U17 Super. The Gilbert Arsenal premier team of Gilbert, AZ took the top honors for the U17 Gold division. Pachuca USA international, from Chevy Chase Maryland, won the championships for the U19 Super division, while the Santa Clara Sporting 91 took the honors for the U19 Gold division.

The Surf Cup showcased an extremely high level of soccer and Congratulations to all the winners and those invited to play!

The Starz Cup Wraps Up A Busy Summer of Lacrosse

SportsForce was at the Starz Cup Lacrosse Finals this weekend in San Diego, CA. We had the opportunity to film parts of both the girls and boys elite championship games. The Laxdawgs Brown won the Boys Elite Cup, while the Quad City Elite took top honors for the Girls Elite division.

The Starz Lacrosse Club is an elite program created to provide additional instruction and competition to select players.  Designed to compliment local middle and high school programs, Starz takes the best players, male and female, and provides the opportunity to compete at the elite level with some of the best coaches in the sport today!  The Starz look for players who have a passion for the game, want to compete at a higher level, and/or have thoughts of continuing their lacrosse careers beyond high school.

1982, I was only in 2^nd grade, but I remember watching Paolo Rossi lead Italy to the World Cup title in Spain. I remember the crowd chanting and the Televisa announcer’s high octane call of the action. The majesty of the Copa Mundial got me so hooked on soccer,  I got the rest of the kids in my section of the Imperial Manor apartments in south San Diego (right between Sidro and IB) into soccer. We played “metegol” (shootouts) everyday, wearing the low budget goalie gloves (they were gold to me) that my pops bought me at La Popular sports shop in TJ.

1983, Russ Hall (Dude was awesome, he went out of his way to make a bunch of us little Mexican kids love sports) our coach from the South Bay Rec Center league, took our flag football team to watch the Chargers and Rams scrimmage in Training Camp. The moment I saw Dan Fouts thread one into Kellen Winslow’s hands across the middle, I knew I wanted to be a QB (that thought was cemented after watching a young buck named John Elway with a rifle that left crosses on receiver’s chests).

Of course 1984, the Padres went to their first World Series, and I remember eating a Padres Pack from McDonalds, watching the man who would become my hero, Tony Gwynn, use that sweet cut as he went “oppo”. Padres became Cub-busters and everyone wanted that t-shirt.  By the way, former Dodger Steve Garvey may have been getting more attention, but TG19 was the one batting .350.

From those key moments, the little “guzanito” in me was born. The “guzanito,” is the little fire in the pit of the stomach that motivates you to do whatever it is you were born to do. It’s the feeling of “I can’t wait to pick up a bat, or a football, shoot a 3, or shoot on goal.”

C’mon, you know the feeling. It’s the one you used to get when you were a kid when you knew you had a game that day.

It’s the one you get when trying to find out if you made all stars in little league.

It’s in the huddle with you, as you’re calling the next play, under the lights on a Friday night.

It’s there when scouts are present to watch the pitcher, only to see you light him up for two doubles and a jack.

It’s that feeling that drove you to handle your business in class, because there was no way you were being ruled academically ineligible, even if polygon inequality postulates and betweeness theorems were not your thing. AC + CB  better not equal F.  You were not missing a game.

The “guzanito” is with you all the way through college and any levels beyond high school.

In fact, the “guzanito” still jolts me, a 35 year old father of two, every time I see people playing a pick up game. And I’ll admit it, I carry a glove, cleats, and a wiffle bat and ball in the car, just in case anyone wants to have a go. The “guzanito” makes you the competitor you are, and that will never die. It’s a part of you.

This blog will teach you about the “guzanito” in some of today’s star athletes. We will find out what it was like before they became stars. What factors contributed to their growth as they were being scouted or recruited. That way, you can ask yourself how their experiences relate to yours. We will find out what the road to success was like, so that you understand your own journey. One that may have begun the first time you sat down to watch a game with your dad, that magical moment the “guzanito” told you, that you were born to play.

See my next post for a little sample of what types of takes we will be bringing in to you…from time to time.

Just to get an idea of the importance of the issue, here’s a quote from USA Today:

“Florida State athletes were given ten days to cleanse their profiles in December. That came after administrators there asked coaches to select random student-athletes’ names and plug them into a Facebook search. “They were surprised and dismayed,” associate athletics director Pam Overton says. “They were surprised at the pictures, that students would allow themselves to be exposed in the public domain.” http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/internetprivacy/2006-03-08-athletes-websites_x.htm

Here are a few tips on how to keep your online identity presentable:

Use your privacy settings. Facebook and MySpace have a laundry list of settings that can be customized to your liking.  Make sure you have them set the way you want them. Typically, the default privacy setting for your account gives public access to all your information and everything on your profile. Check out the privacy settings and select what’s most appropriate for your interests. Case in point, if you want you can eliminate yourself from public searches or provide only your name and network to people other than your friends.  Also, Facebook allows you to see your page exactly how someone else would see it. Here’s how you do it: 1. Click on Settings 2. Click on manage privacy 3. Click on either profile or search  4. Near the top of these pages, there is a space to type in a friend’s name. I’d highly recommend you be sure to check out how your restricted friends view your page, just to make sure you aware of what others see.

Manage your friends. Before you decide to friend a college coach or college program understand what they will have access to view on your profile.  On the other hand, if a coach or a potential college program tries to befriend you, I’d recommend you put them on a restricted friend list.  That way you can select which photo albums of yours they can see, perhaps one or two dedicated to your sport, as well as keeping them off your “Wall” if you so desire.

Edit your pictures and photo albums. Are you aware of how many pictures you have floating around on the web? Are these pictures that you want everyone to see? It seems as though most of the pictures posted online these days are focused around partying and all the fun times you want to remember when you’re older.  Coaches can quickly lose interest and question your commitment and character if you are blatantly showcasing your inappropriate behavior.  Often these can be deal breakers for college coaches and you may never know who saw them because a coach won’t tell you.   If you really love some of your party pictures show your friends using your own computer and keep ‘em there.

Redirect prospective coaches and recruiters. The reason people look for you on these personal sites is that they want to get a feel for who you are.  Unfortunately, Facebook and MySpace tend to bring out the more irresponsible side in most cases.  The best way to protect your image is to satiate their curiosity by leading them somewhere else.  Developing dedicated online sports profiles on sites such as SportsForceonline.com,  BeRecruited.com or Prepchamps.com can provide coaches with video, stats and personal information about you in a serious and professional way.  College coaches are able to “get to know you” based on how you would likely present yourself in person.  Providing your private URL for these sites in emails to coaches is an easy way to lead them in the right direction.  Also, be sure to post your sports profile link or video on your social profile also, since college coaches will likely check that out as well. There’s no harm in getting your online sports profile in front of as many coaches as possible.