They got Game

By DANIEL CÁSAREZ / Vida En El Valle
(Published Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 08:45AM)

VISALIA -- Sporting team colors and spirit and driven by a love for soccer, Aguaje, La Tapatía, El Jerez and Atlético Woodlake are perfect examples of the passion that surfaces from the 'weekenders' who play in adult soccer leagues.

Redwood City's Aguaje scored a 1-0 win over Parma with a goal by Miguel Bailón to capture last weekend's Copa Cali tournament. The finalists were among the 32 squads who competed for the $4,000 grand prize and the tournament championship bragging rights.

Aguaje and Parma are rivals in the Mid-Peninsula Soccer League near Redwood City. Aguaje defeated Helados La Tapatía, champions of the Fresno-area Valley United Soccer League.

Also in the draw was El Jerez from the San José Soccer League, La Wajira of the Merced area Premiership League, Dixon León of Sacramento's Central California Soccer League, and several local squads from Visalia.

The common denominator among every coach, every player and every fan who endured the heat at Riverway Park is that there's no substitute for tournament play.

"We have five more tournaments to do this year and nine next year," said tournament director Octavio Ramírez of Giandvi Marketing and Event Management. "This is our second year doing this. I think it's a good thing, not just because it's us, but for anybody who organizes tournaments."

Ramírez held four tournaments this year in Sacramento and Vacaville. He has managed to attract some of the best amateur squads, including Aguaje who made the 4½-hour journey from Redwood City.

Enrique Tovar -- a star with the Stockton-based California Cougars of the Major Indoor Soccer League -- helped Aguaje win the title.

"The more tournaments we play together, the more in-sync we get," said Tovar. "But it's pretty different from the artificial turf that I'm used to."

Aguaje's head coach is Vicente Figueroa, Tovar's Cougars teammate.The Cougars' Jorge Martínez also joined the club.

Aguaje won the Copa Vigo in Sunnyvale about two weeks ago. Another trophy in its collection is the 2004 Copa Tecate.

"At these tournaments we expect to face the toughest teams around. And the weather is just part of it," said Figueroa.

The national Copa Tecate tournament was cancelled and replaced with Mexican club soccer exhibition matches. While fans will enjoy watching Cruz Azul in Sacramento -- and later Monterrey in Fresno -- players are always up for the stiff competition and passion that's associated with tournament play.

"I'd rather play than watch," said Tovar. "Here the competition was good. We played against Fresno Pacific players and La Tapatía. La Tapatía had a lot of experienced players on their team."

On-the-field arguments aside, the players' common bond is the sport.

"We've become friends and made acquaintances. Aguaje invited us for a tournament in Redwood City," said Santiago Durán of Fresno's Club Italia who finished third in the consolation matches and with a check of $1,500.

Durán has several players who played on the Valley United Soccer League's all-star squad that won the 2007 Copa Tecate held in Fresno.

Brothers Héctor and Javier Peña joined their Atlético Woodlake squad in a celebratory dog pile after winning the consolation final in a tight match against Farmersville. Goalie René García make an outstanding block during the penalty kicks phase en route to the victory.

Ramírez is a firm believer of offering consolation matches in all his tournaments. First-round losers, such as Italia and Atlético Woodlake, are placed in a different bracket and the winners have a chance at money, which helps offset travel expenses.

In the junior tournament, Madera Roja defeated Visalia's South Valley Academy 1-0 in the U-14 final.

Leticia Alaniz of Redwood City shouted from the sideline as Armando Maciel, 14, passed and dribbled the ball for the Roja.

Ramírez is hoping to improve on an already popular tournament by offering valuable fringe benefits to the leagues and their players.

"We're working on a program to get computers to the leagues that don't have them. And we're working on giving away over $40,000 in scholarship money to young Latinos," he said. "We have a lot of things in the works, but right now we have to work on getting the people."

Send e-mail to: dcasarez@vidaenelvalle.com