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If you are a new referee you will need the clinic for first season referees (Grade 9 Referee License clinic.)  Note — this does not mean you need to be in 9th grade!  Just 12 or older regardless of your grade in school.
Saturday March 3, 2012 8:00 to 4:00 PM
Cost:  $50
Sign up for the first season referee training clinic

Seahawks Coach Otis Williams with some of his players: "They need the influence of positive male role models.”

San Francisco Seahawks Coach Otis Williams has won the prestigious Unity Award given annually by the San Francisco 49ers.

This award honors three recipients—an exceptional nonprofit, an exceptional youth football coach, and a current 49ers player—who demonstrate “a commitment to promoting unity and giving back to the local community.”

The winners each receive a $10,000 grant that will go to their chosen organization. In Williams’ case, the lucky organization is San Francisco PAL. Williams and the other winners will be honored on the field during the 49ers game against the New York Giants on Nov. 13.

Williams signed up for the PAL Seahawks program in 1972, when he was an 12-year-old boy growing up in the Fillmore. His father died when he was 7, leaving his mother to raise four boys alone. Williams played for the Seahawks through middle school and says he can still recall the name of every Seahawks coach he ever had. They served as role models and father figures to the young Williams.

“I had all these male figures out there,” he said. “I learned a lot of things—teamwork, discipline, hard work, respect. I learned it’s not all about winning, it’s all abut your character.”

When Williams finally married and started a family of his own, he decided to turn his attention to coaching young kids. “It just came to my mind, I need to go back with these kids… It helps to have a good organization like PAL that gives us a chance to give back to the community.”

He likes working with 8- to 11-year-olds because, he says, “they are really open to absorbing a lot of what you’re saying.” Sometimes he visits them at school, and tries to help kids who are struggling. He also shows the kids photos of himself as a young football player, and explains that he played in the “fifth quarter.” This was a time after the regular game ended, when kids who had sat on the bench during the first four quarters could play.

“But when I got out there,” he tells the kids, “I gave it 1,000 percent, like it was the first quarter. It was a time for us to shine—all of us cats who weren’t good enough for first quarter.” In that way, he encourages kids to play as hard as they can, not feel discouraged if they are on the bench, and not give up.

The award is named after two former 49ers, Joe Perry and Wally Yonamine. Joe “The Jet” Perry played 14 seasons with the team. He was known for his fantastic speed, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1969. Wally Yonamine was a second-generation Japanese American and the first Asian-American to play professional football. He played for the 49ers in 1947.

The 10 team members of the SF Cyclonez are all smiles after the game. Back row, left to right: Alana, Nina, Saida, Carolynn, Cameron. Front row, left to right: Gisela, Justine, CJ with the ball, Melissa, Tiffany, Coach Sergio Chin. (Missing: Simone)

It’s Monday night at the Excelsior Boys and Girls Club gym, and the air is tinged with excitement.

At one end of the court, the 10 players of the SF Cyclonez are busy dribbling, passing and taking practice shots, all in anticipation of their game against the Irish Hoopsters, just moments away.

The players, decked in bright yellow jerseys, look like any other team in the PAL fall basketball league. But they are unique in one respect: They are an all-girls team, while their opponents are all boys.

The Cyclonez are the only all-girls team among the 37 PAL basketball teams.

(Altogether 34 girls out of 370 kids play PAL basketball, but the Cyclonez are the only all-girls team while the other 23 girls are on coed teams.)

Competing against boys doesn’t bother the Cyclonez a bit. They are energized by it, as evidenced by how hard they will play tonight.

Their coach is Sergeant Sergio Chin, an inspector in the Tenderloin Station. Chin has been with the San Francisco Police Department for 18 years.

Chin’s daughter is on the team, but he says, “They’re all my daughters.”

Chin has coached basketball for 31 years, and the Cyclonez for two years. Besides PAL, the girls play together year-round on an AAU team, also coached by Chin. (AAU, or Amateur Athletic Union, is one of the largest youth basketball programs in the country.) Chin also has coached his daughter’s school team at St. Anne’s, and currently coaches the 7th grade boys basketball team.

A referee blows the whistle, and all but a handful of players move off the court.

The ref blows the whistle again—jump ball—and the game begins. A Cyclone girl leaps up, grabs the ball and tears down the court, looking for a teammate to pass to. She lofts the ball over the heads of two boys, and her teammate easily catches it and races toward the hoop. The boys, disoriented for a moment, snap into defense formation under the basket. A player tries to shoot, a Hoopster blocks the shot, snatches the ball and races in the opposite direction.

Coach Sergio Chin gives instructions to the girls, while the green-jerseyed Irish Hoopsters huddle in the background.

The action is fast-paced and vigorous, with players on both teams who are skilled and good ball handlers. The girls range in height from 5’0 to 5’8, which means they are a pretty good match for the St. Cecilia boys.

Chin calls a timeout, bringing the girls into a huddle.

“That big guy on their team,” he murmurs. “You got him …” he says motioning to Carolynn. “You girls got to support her … He’s gonna score if you let him. You’ve got to box him out, don’t let him get in there …”

The girls put their fists into the center of the circle. “Defense!” they yell in unison.

“Let’s go!” Chin says.

PAL basketball is played in the fall, from September 26 through November 19. Chin likes this set-up because it gives his girls extra playing time before the school and competitive club leagues begin their winter season.

Playing against the boys also helps sharpen their skills. “It’s good for them,” he says. “I tell them on court, play hard.”

The Cyclonez range in age from 12 to 14; all are in 8th grade. They attend a mix of public and private schools, including Presidio Middle School, St. Phillips, St. Anne’s, and Aptos.

Chin says this group of girls has unusually good chemistry. “My philosophy is, create a fun atmosphere. We don’t have any cliques on this team. I empower the girls to solve problems on their own. I’ve been with a lot of teams over the years. I haven’t seen a team with camaraderie like this.”

He tells the girls, years from now they won’t remember the wins and losses. What they will remember is the fun they had.

The Cyclonez get the first two baskets, one nice short jumper from a few feet out followed by a high arcing shot just inside the 3-point range. They’re up 4-0. That lead won’t last, and in the third quarter, the team’s energy sags a bit. They finish out the night with a 43-19 loss. Even so, the final score fails to capture the girls’ skills on the court, their tenacity and energy, and the fact that they play in a very competitive bracket against very accomplished teams.

The Cyclonez chose to play against boys teams in PAL because “basically it makes us get better,” Chin says. “The intensity is the same, but the boys are faster and stronger.” To get the same level of competition in all-girl basketball leagues, Chins says the Cyclonez “play up,” competing against high school junior varsity teams.

Despite tonight’s loss, the girls are all smiles as they come off the court. Says Nina, “It was really fun!”

Do they like playing against the boys? Justine says, “Yes, because it’s a challenge.”

Adds Cameron, “You have to be more aggressive to play against the guys.”

Gisela sums up the girls’ feeling about the game: “We’re happy because we played as a team.”

Planning to attend the Charles Schwab Classic at Harding Park TPC this November?  Buy your $25 any day tickets through the Charles Schwab website and  75% of ticket price will go to PAL.  The other 25% of ticket proceeds will go to First Tee San Francisco to introduce young players to golf.

http://www.sf-police.org/index.aspx?page=3763&recordid=150

The Ragnar Relay is just around the corner.  On the weekend of Friday September 16 and Saturday September 17, hundreds of 12-person relay teams will run 190 miles from our own Marina Green through Marin, Sonoma, Napa and into Calistoga.  SFPAL is thrilled to be Ragnar’s benefiting partner.  We will be providing volunteers all along the racecourse and look forward to helping the runners have the best race experience possible.

If you would like to volunteer for a shift on the SFPAL Volunteer Team, sign up here!

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee will be introducing newly appointed Chief Greg Suhr May 16, 2011 at the Annual PAL Golf Tournament. Our annual golf tournament is PAL’s biggest fundraiser of the year, raising money for vital youth programs, including the PAL Law Enforcement Cadet program.

Chief Suhr was one of the key architects behind the newly-revitalized PAL Law Enforcement Cadet program.  Last year, SFPD and PAL piloted the new Summer Cadet Academy and SFPD Station Internships with 25 youth with the help of Greg Suhr.  In 2011, PAL will double the program with 50 new PAL Summer Academy Cadets for a total of 65+ who will be placed in SFPD internships citywide.

Here are some pictures from Stanford’s website

PAL Executive Director Lorraine Woodruff-Long

Woodruff-Long (second from left, middle row) with first graduating class of cadets.

Woodruff-Long addresses the crowd at 50th Anniversary Dinner in October 2010

Lorraine Woodruff-Long grew up in Texas but hails from a long line of San Franciscans — five generations, to be exact.

Her family dates back to the Gold Rush, when her great-great-great-great grandfather, a Scottish sea captain, made his way across the Atlantic, then 3,000 miles across the country, to California, to pan for gold.

Later, her great-grandmother, Myrtle, became one of the few female doctors to practice medicine in California during the 1906 earthquake.

Woodruff-Long likes to tell the story of how Myrtle narrowly escaped being crushed in the big quake. Asleep at the children’s hospital moments before the 5:12 a.m. tremor, she woke up abruptly and got out of bed. A heartbeat later, the earthquake hit and the wall over her bed collapsed. Had she slept a few minutes longer, she likely would have died — and Woodruff-Long might not be here today.

Thanks to that amazing bit of luck, Woodruff-Long is here, and as new executive director of PAL, has spent the last two years mining its rich history and laying the groundwork for a strong future.

Among the goals she set for the organization: Restore the partnership with the San Francisco Police Department and revitalize the long standing cadet program.

REFOCUSING
When PAL was founded in 1959, all programs were run by police and all but a handful of coaches were cops. Some programs, such as judo, were run out of the Hall of Justice. Kids and police came into much closer contact, and the community was richer for it.

Over the years, the balance shifted, as more civilians took over coaching positions and the SFPD adopted different priorities.

By the time Woodruff-Long joined PAL, “we had lost our historical partnership with the police department,” she says.

Woodruff-Long wanted to reverse that loss. She reached out to several members of the SFPD, including Commander of Investigations David Lazar, who at the time was Ingleside Station captain.

She also enlisted the help of Bayview Station Captain Greg Suhr; Ingleside Station Captain Louis Cassanego, who at the time was head of the Police Academy; and former Mission Station Captain John Goldberg.

Together, they focused on the PAL cadet program. In its heyday, the cadet program served more than 50 kids with a rich assortment of guest speakers, law-enforcement classes, and internships. But over the last decade, it had fallen off the radar of many at SFPD.

Now there was a chance to revive the program, and with it the PAL-SFPD partnership.

“I felt that was really the thing I had to champion,” Woodruff-Long said. “There is a real need for youth to learn substantive job and leadership skills to prepare them for college and career, wherever that leads them. This is a program that helps provide that. Ultimately, I want the best, most educated, most qualified candidates for the Police Department to be coming out of the PAL Cadet program.”

By giving kids a taste of law enforcement as a career, a revitalized cadet program might ultimately help the police department with one of its top priorities—recruiting top-quality applicants. The cadet program would serve as a kind of “farm system,” encouraging young men and women to finish high school, go to college, and pursue a career in law enforcement.

FINISHING THE JOB
Woodruff-Long credits Commander Lazar with the idea of reviving the PAL cadet program. Lazar was a cadet from age 14 to 18 and says the experience was “very special and very meaningful” to him as a young boy.

“I saw the potential for the program and knew that if anybody could get it done, Lorraine could,” he said. “Her energy is amazing … she’s really passionate about her work and she believes strongly in it. It rubs off, they see the results. She’s seen as a person who gets things done.”

Captain Suhr said it was Woodruff-Long’s energy that propelled the idea forward.

“Every time you talk to Lorraine, it’s like she’s had six cups of coffee,” Suhr said. “She’s a finisher. She’s totally a get-here-from-there person who says, ‘I just need somebody to help break the barriers,’ and then she starts banging down the walls, until she can move the wall a little bit.”

For example, he said, while the police originally proposed signing up 20 kids, Woodruff-Long went out and signed up 25 kids.

“She ran with it and did a fabulous job filling the class,” Suhr said. “If it were up to Lorraine, the cadets would outnumber the cops.”

Captain Cassanego said Woodruff-Long inspires many people and added, “She gets the job done. Failure is not an option with her.”

With the help of these police, PAL presented a four-pronged plan to then-Police Chief George Gascón, who enthusiastically endorsed it:

• • First, create the Summer Cadet Academy program. The intensive four-week program, which was launched last summer, attracted 25 cadets. The kids, who ranged in age from 14 to 19, graduated in July. PAL expects to double enrollment next summer, to 50.
• • Second, place the graduates in yearlong internships at either the Bayview or Ingleside stations, working alongside police officers and allowing them on ride-alongs.
• • Third, give cadets community service assignments, such as helping with crowd control at the Chinese New Year parade and the San Francisco Giants World Series parade last fall. Have cadets attend bimonthly meetings of the academy for further training.
• • Fourth, give cadets the opportunity to participate in events such as the Cadet College Night. Held for the first time in January, this event familiarized cadets with the array of local law-enforcement college programs available. (See related story.) Woodruff-Long enlisted the help of Former Police Chief Tony Ribera, now a teacher at the University of San Francisco. She also hopes to create a small scholarship program aimed at helping PAL cadets get into these college programs.

AWESOME KIDS
So far these efforts have been paying off beautifully. “She’s really taken the program and brought it far beyond my expectations,” Commander Lazar said.

“This is the definition of community police,” Captain Suhr added. Acting Chief Jeff Godown has asked PAL to expand the program to all SFPD stations and bureaus as well.

The parents of cadets, meanwhile, have been reporting that their children are more responsible and have matured in a positive way. Captain Cassanego says the kids get to see the police as “human beings, with a face and personality, just like everyone else.”

“We’ve got these really awesome kids,” Woodruff-Long said. “I get stopped by parents on the street who say this program changed their kid’s life.”