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SPORTS
For Leland, hanging onto the ball was one of the main culprits in the loss. In the first half, the Chargers lost offensive possessions on four fumbles, three of which resulted in scoring drives for the Lions. Overall, the Chargers lost five fumbles on the day. Sports BriefsCentral Valley Edge holds youth soccer tryouts South Valley Lacrosse Chiefs offers free clinic Oct. 15; Almaden Metro holds soccer tryouts Strikkers softball tryouts for fall High School Sports Schedule
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TWO IN A ROW – In high school football action on Saturday, the Pioneer Mustangs won their second game in a row to open the season, taking a 35-6 win over Menlo-Atherton on the road. Nick D’Antonio, Jerry Barnes and J.J. Goulden are pictured here playing defense, trying to wrap up a Menlo-Atherton player. The Mustangs will look to make it three in a row this Saturday at home against Saratoga. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.  |
| MLS Soccer Camp Coach James Ash signs autographs during the AVYSL jamboree. |
Last week, the MLS shared their team spirit and expertise with the Almaden Valley Youth Soccer League (AVYSL), assistant coaching teams during practices and games.
On Sunday, MLS members James Ash and Rob Stewart signed autographs and conducted a dribble and score clinic during AVYSL’s photo jamboree at Castillero Middle School. Earthquake players like Dwayne De Rosario (forward No. 14) and Brian Mullan (midfielder No. 9) also signed autographs for appreciative fans at the jamboree, adding to the community spirit of the event.
Adding to the community spirit of the event, Cub Scout Pack 281 collected $125 for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
—Photos by Lorraine Gabbert
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| For MLS Soccer Camp Coach Rob Stewart, the kids are what it’s all about. | The Almaden Fury display their award-winning trophy from their soccer championship held in Maui, Hawaii. |
Dew you know the way to San Jose?
Dew Action Sports Tour in San Jose ends with Mirra, Sheckler as winners
By Diego Abeloos
Sports Writer
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| Los Gatos native Ryan Nyquist took third in the BMX park competition on Sunday with a score of 89.75, earned during the first of two runs. Nyquist said he was excited to be performing in front of a hometown crowd and hopes the tour will return to San Jose next year. Photo by Ron Stenn at www.actionphotodesign.com. |
On the final day of the Dew Action Sports Tour, held at the HP Pavilion Sept. 8-11, it was a combination of experience and youth capturing victories.
BMX veteran Dave Mirra walked away with a win in the BMX park competition, while 15-year-old California native Ryan Sheckler came away with a win in the skateboard park finals.
Mirra, 31, took first place in the BMX park competition on Sunday by performing a backflip tailwhip over the spine of the course in his first run helped to earn him a winning score of 92.25.
“The first run was pretty much exactly what I wanted to do,” said Mirra, who also hosts the reality show “The Inferno” on MTV. “… I put a mark on my first run and I’m usually pretty hard on myself in terms of how I want to ride. I never go up there and coast too much.”
Mirra edged out 18-year-old New Jersey Native Scotty Cranmer, who took second place, as well as Los Gatos native Ryan Nyquist, who took third. Nyquist experienced some bad luck in his second run of the competition, getting a blowout of his back tire as he came down one of the course’s ramps. Still, Nyquist was more than happy to perform in front of his hometown fans and family members.
“It’s just rad to have an event in San Jose, where everybody can be here to support me and stuff,” said Nyquist, who from time to time still takes part in the Los Gatos Children’s Parade. “… Just seeing people I haven’t seen in years in the audience and guys that I grew up riding with, it’s just amazing.”
Sheckler, a native of San Clemente, took first place in the skateboard park competition with a score of 90.92, performing a frontside flip off the bank to flat to help earn the win. For Sheckler, it was his third win in the Dew Action Sports Tour, earning the 15-year-old a new truck as the winning prize in San Jose.
“I was excited to win because now I get a new truck,” said Sheckler. “I’m skating amazing and in my prime right now. It’s so fun and I’m so lucky. It’s just crazy to be able to do this.”
A life unparalleled
Local youth tennis coach Don Johnson has a long and
loving history with the game he loves and the people who play it
By Diego Abeloos
Staff Writer
Growing up in Brook-lyn, young Don Johnson saw the effects drugs had on his poverty-stricken street. As a young boy, Johnson saw his father die in front of his eyes with a needle in his arm.
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| Local youth tennis coach Don Johnson (right) shares a story with Venkat Narayanan, an independent filmmaker making a 30-minute movie on Johnson’s life, at his home. Johnson has coached tennis to San Jose children for nearly 30 years at Los Paseos Park. Photos by Diego Abeloos |
From that moment on, Johnson vowed that drugs would never affect his path in life and promised to live a clean existence.
Little did he know then that the path he would take in life led to an impeccably close friendship with a pioneer for African-Americans in tennis and nearly 30 years of coaching San Jose’s youth.
“If I look at these walls, I would say to myself that I’ve done it,” Johnson said, pointing to the numerous plaques of achievements adorning his home in downtown San Jose. “But then I go on the court and see these little 6 and 7-year-old girls, and I only dream that I’m around to see them develop.”
A new beginning
At the age of 12, Johnson found his calling in life when a coach, Phil Rubell, whose son Steve later became the owner of New York City’s Studio 54, decided to teach him tennis. From that point on, Johnson used tennis as a way to better his life.
In the early 1970s, Johnson, an African-American, became the head tennis coach at the all-white Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, leading the men’s team to its first division championship in 1973.
But it wasn’t until 1976 when Johnson began to make an impact on children in the San Jose area. Having just moved from Brooklyn to San Jose in 1976, Johnson said he began teaching tennis as a means of financial survival. He soon found himself at Los Paseos Park, working as a tennis coach through the city of San Jose’s Parks and Recreation programs.
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| Don Johnson was inducted into the Norcal wing of the USTA’s Hall of Fame in 2004 for his contributions locally to tennis. A photo of Johnson is displayed behind the glass trophy he received during his induction ceremony. |
Since then, Johnson, who stopped working for the city about 10 years ago, still provides low-cost group tennis lessons to boys and girls from various neighborhoods in San Jose on a weekly basis. For Johnson, moving to California and making an impact on the lives of his students has been a winning combination.
“I call this heaven; I came from hell,” Johnson said of coming to California after leaving New York. “I died when I crossed over the California line. I came into heaven. The only problem I’ve ever had with California is the earthquakes and so far, that hasn’t stopped me from working. Every day I can get up and go to work.”
In July of 2004, it was Johnson, now 64, who was in the spotlight. The Norcal section of the United States Tennis Association decided to induct Johnson into its’ Hall of Fame wing because of his work in serving the community for more than 25 years, teaching children of all skill levels the game of tennis at Los Paseos Park in San Jose. Johnson was the first living African-American inducted into the Norcal Hall of Fame.
“They’re my children, my angels,” Johnson said of the tennis students he has taught over the years. “I think with all the goodies and trinkets that you get out of this game, the most important thing are the children … I’ve been lucky enough in that park (Los Paseos) to run a program Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays for the last 29 years and to develop children.”
A friend for life
While Johnson continues to have a positive effect on the lives of the children he teaches, it was famed tennis star Arthur Ashe who helped Johnson become the person he is today.
In 1972, through another African-American tennis pioneer, Althea Gibson, Johnson met Ashe in the dressing room of Madison Square Garden and the pair quickly formed a tight-knit friendship.
Johnson soon became a confidant of Ashe’s, while also serving in a variety of roles for the tennis star, from sparring with him on the tennis court, to coaching him on the court, to driving him to various functions throughout the day.
“I look back at those times and cry because those were the best times of my life,” Johnson said. “Here we had a young man from the south and a young man from New York and we got together and he changed my life. If it weren’t for him taking me off the streets, like most of the men in New York and Brooklyn, I would’ve been a drug addict. …How it never happened to me is because of Arthur. He took me straight out of Brooklyn and I followed him around, taking care of him and assisting him.”
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| Don Johnson calls his friendship with tennis star Arthur Ashe the “best time of my life.” The two friends met in the locker room of Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1972 and quickly became close friends. Johnson paid tribute to Ashe, who died of AIDS in 1993, when he hired a local artist to make this painting. |
It was through Ashe that Johnson came to know celebrities such as Bill Cosby and NBA Hall of Famer Julius Irving. Although Ashe was asked numerous times for tennis lessons from these stars, he always resisted, Johnson said, referring them to Johnson instead.
Throughout their time together in New York, Ashe took Johnson with him on tennis trips around the world, giving the Brooklyn native a breadth of worldly experiences and exposure to other cultures.
Johnson now tries to pass on to his tennis students the lessons Ashe taught him. Johnson requires that all his students dress and act appropriately on the tennis court for lessons and games. Through it all, Johnson said he goes about his work in a positive and nurturing way for the children he instructs, another lesson he learned through Ashe.
“He gave me class,” Johnson said of Ashe, who died in 1993 of AIDS. “He took a young guy from Brooklyn who had dreams and he gave me class. He always told me, ‘pass it on.’ In this game of tennis, you don’t own anything but you have to pass it on. …The same love that I had for Arthur I can give to my children. You love from a distance. You don’t have to hold or touch anybody to love them. That’s what we knew in our day.”
These days, Johnson still goes about his business, teaching children tennis at Los Paseos Park. He still drives his Dodge van, known as the “tennis mobile,” to his tennis lessons. He also has a Corvette with painted images of Ashe and many of the other tennis players he’s befriended over the years.
Recently one parent, Venkat Narayanan, was so impressed with Johnson’s demeanor with the children at his tennis clinics that he decided to make a documentary film about the tennis coach’s life. Narayanan hopes to show the film, estimated to be about 30 minutes in length, on ESPN or KQED. The film is tentatively called “Coach Don Johnson.”
For Johnson, whether it’s shooting a film on his life or reminiscing about his days with Ashe, life is still all about the impact he makes on the children he teaches.
“They key is to get in the middle of them and make little ladies and gentlemen of them,” Johnson said. “The game will come, the game is alright. It’s the children you want to get to.”
Bringing honor to the game
The Blossom Valley Athletic League hosts 22 schools
at Evergreen High to discuss sportsmanship and steroid use
By Diego Abeloos
Sports Writer
More than 400 student-athletes, coaches, parents and school administrators from 22 schools, including Westmont, gathered at Evergreen Valley High on Sept. 7 for the Blossom Valley Athletic League’s 4th annual Honor the Game conference.
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| Leland Athletic Director Chris Hansen (wearing a blue windbreaker) leads a group of students through hypothetical situations involving sportsmanship and the use of performance-enhancing drugs. More than 400 student-athletes, school administrators, coaches and parents were invited to attend the conference. |
Members from each of the schools, which are affiliated with the local high school sports governing body, were on hand to discuss good sportsmanship and other topics related to high school sports from a variety of perspectives.
“As a society, we witness all the time poor sportsmanship at all levels, from Little League on up through the professionals and this has been kind of our way of trying to combat that within our league, the BVAL,” said Pioneer High School Athletic Director and varsity head football Coach Mark Krail. “It’s been a very positive event … It seems to kind of rejuvenate kids and parents every year to think positively about sportsmanship and athletics.
And that’s our goal, that they take it back to their schools and improve the atmosphere at these games.”
Former San Francisco 49er tight end Brent Jones, a graduate of Leland High, spoke to the crowd about how to treat opponents and the field and about proper conduct as an athlete, relating stories of his playing days at not only the high school level, but also the college and professional levels of sports.
In addition to Jones, FERMAR Official (the officiating organization affiliated with BVAL sports) Kenny Jackson talked about sportsmanship through the eyes of a game official and how players, coaches and officials can get along on the playing field.
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| Former 49er tight end Brent Jones talked to the student-athletes representing 22 schools affiliated with the BVAL about sportsmanship and leadership on and off the field. Jones related stories about his playing days at Leland High, Santa Clara University and on the NFL level with the 49ers. Photos by Diego Abeloos |
A large portion of the three-hour conference was dedicated to the dangers of using steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. Doctor Janiece Stewart of San Jose’s O’Connor Hospital gave a presentation about the history of performance-enhancing drugs, the positive and negative effects of taking the drugs, as well as the ethics involved in taking them.
Stewart said studies have shown that between 4-12 percent of high school boys have used or are currently using steroids and that approximately 2-3 percent of seventh and eighth grade girls have used or are currently abusing steroids as well. Overall, about 1 million people in the United States are users or former users.
“There’s been a lot of controversy about steroid use and whether it’s good or not,” Stewart said. “Surprisingly, a lot of younger kids, high school and even grade school level, are using steroids. So I thought it was really important to come out and actually show the kids some pictures of what happens to your body when you have steroids inside.”
The members of all the schools were also broke up into groups to discuss efforts to influence others on their campuses to promote good sportsmanship. They were also tested on how they would react to various situations in regards to sportsmanship and the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
“I just felt like it was important to come back and share with the kids some of the things that I’ve learned over the course of my career,” said Jones. “The opportunity to share with them that they can really be leaders not only on the field, but off the field, as well in their school and their community, is great. The kids were very receptive and it’s great to be able to come and share some of that with them.”
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