HUG YOUR CHILD TIGHT TONIGHT

Jonathan (far left) with some of his teammates

On Saturday, November 15th, Santa Clara Youth Soccer and Santa Clara Sporting Club lost Jonathan Manzo Chavez, a very special young player to a tragic traffic accident while traveling home with his family from a soccer tournament in Manteca. Jonathan was a member of Sporting’s Boys Under 10 Team. On that Saturday morning, Jonathan, his mother and two siblings travelled to Manteca for a NorCal State Cup qualifying tournament. Although Jonathan’s father had to leave the tournament early to attend work he still made the drive to watch as much of his son’s games as he could. Jonathan showcased his talents in front of those he loved the most and celebrated the end of a perfect day of soccer by putting one goal in the back of the net. Unfortunately, no one knew this was to be Jonathan’s last goal. As the family was traveling home, a driver made an ill fated attempt to pass another car on a two lane road and hit the Manzo Family’s Minivan head on. Amazingly, it was reported as rescue workers tried to take off Jonathan’s Sporting shorts, he pleaded that they not be cut because he had a game the next day. As rescue workers then tried to cut away his Sporting jersey Jonathan yelled to his mom to come take it off. Prior to being air-lifted to the hospital, his mom removed his jersey and he again reminded her to save it, as he was worried it would get lost or ruined. It’s hard to imagine the love this young man had for the game and his team.

Santa Clara Soccer will never forget Jonathan as he will truly be missed by all those whose lives he touched. Jonathan’s team decided to not continue in the tournament that weekend and before every game on the following Sunday morning every team observed a moment of silence in memory of Jonathan. Jonathan’s mother and older brother have been released from the hospital and are recovering. His older sister is still in ICU and is recovering from surgery.

PLEASE, LET US ALL KEEP THE CHAVEZ FAMILY IN OUR PRAYERS

CYCLONES SHOW WHAT THEY ARE MADE OF

After a sluggish performance the day before against Bullard, I wasn't quite sure what to expect against Los Gatos. We had just played Los Gatos in the Odyssey Tournament 2 weeks ago. During this tournament we had borrowed 3 strong players from the Chivas to hopefully make a run in this Tourney. Even with the added players we lost to Los Gatos 0-3. I knew if our girls would just play to their potential, we could surprise this team. After 10 minutes of play, my heart started pumping a little faster. I saw a CVSA team on the field that could beat this Los Gatos team. With Ryan marking up their best player, it gave the rest of our team the opportunity to settle into their game. Ryan did a fantastic job. She shut this girl down and this girl is as good as they get at this age. GREAT JOB RYAN! We gave up goal in the first half off a deflection from the goalie. Still I felt we were in this game. At halftime, I told the girls that we are just 1 goal away from equalizing this game. I told them to leave everything on the field..not to hold back anything and play with all the passion in the world. In the second half, the girls did all of what I asked and more. We gave all we had, but still came up short losing to a great team 0-1. I was so proud of our girls. They played better without borrowed players. I walked off that field knowing three things. First, we are closing the gap with the top ranked teams. Second, this group of girls can get it done when they want to. And lastly, I am the luckiest coach in the world to be coaching such a dynamic group of girls. Hold your head high Cyclones, you are a great team.

BULLARD BATTLES CYCLONES TO A 1-1 TIE

With all the history we have with Bullard, it was no surprise they came to play on Saturday. I've always said, they have a very talented team and it showed this weekend. We might have taken them for granted or just weren't playing up to par. No matter what it was,this team showed us that they are no push over.
After the game I sternly voiced my concerns to our team. I told them that they warmed up half heatedly and didn't play up to their ability. I reminded them of our game the next day against Los Gatos Elite. Los Gatos is ranked #4 in the State, and if they think they can go into this game the same way we went into the Bullard game, it would be a slaughter. They assured me it would be a different game on Sunday.

DOMINTATING WEEKEND FOR CYCLONES

We first came out on Saturday to play a very feisty Kingsburg team for League Play. Although we played this team before you never know what to expect. Our girls played strong from the start and finished the game with 6-0 Win.
Then on Sunday we had our second State Cup preliminary game. The Lodi Cougars came to us to play this game. We dominated from the beginning. With the state cup games you have to win decisively. So we did, with a 10-0 win.
The girls played well this weekend. We are definitely building momentum for State Cup.