Foothill and Amador Valley high school alumni will battle it out next weekend all in the name of a good cause.
The annual Ryan Gordon Alumni Soccer Games will be held Dec. 28 at Amador. The women’s games will begin at 2 p.m. and the men’s at 4:30 p.m.
This is the sixth year of the games, which honor Ryan Gordon, a Foothill student who was killed in a boating accident the summer after graduation in 2003. Gordon was an avid soccer player for his high school and for Ballistic United Soccer Club. A mosaic bench was dedicated to him in Val Vista Community Park, where hundreds of people play weekly soccer matches.
Ryan’s father, Curt Gordon, said 30 players have signed up for the games so far, which are being held on a Sunday for the first time. The money raised from the games benefit a scholarship fund that awards Pleasanton high school graduates who plan to play soccer in college, something Ryan Gordon had hoped to do.
Though the games have had success raising funds to keep the scholarship program running, it has been a challenge getting alumni from classes older than 2003 to participate. Some of that challenge has been getting the word out to those alumni without having their contact information. Players from the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and ’00s are encouraged to try their hand–and feet–in fun competition and some cross-town rivalry.
Participants do not have to be alumni of the high school soccer programs; they can be FHS or AVHS alumni who are merely interested in playing in a competitive soccer game. Each game, both the men’s and the women’s, will be divided into periods for the older players and the younger players. Gate entrance to see the games is $7 for adults, $4 for children.
Those interested can register at All-Star Sports, 3037-A Hopyard Road. Another way to register is to download an application at www.busc.org and mail it to Curt Gordon, 205 Heritage Lane, Pleasanton, CA 94566. Gordon can be reached at 426-1540 or curtgordon@comcast.net. Cost to play is $20. Players and fans are invited to the Hop Yard Alehouse after the games. Fifteen percent of proceeds there will benefit the high schools’ soccer programs.
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