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FEB. 24, 2012
RANCHO SANTA FE NEWS
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T HE R ANCH S PORTS Program helps protect student athletes By Lillian Cox
Cardiff resident Jason Santos is one of the newest members of the San Diego Sockers after receiving a call up from the reserve team Photo by Aaron Jaffe
Cardiff player gets call to first team By Tony Cagala
When Jason Santos joined the San Diego Sockers reserve team this winter his one goal was to make the professional club. Several weeks ago, before the team left for Monterrey, Mexico to compete in the FIFRA Championships, Santos’ goal was realized. General manager John Kentera and head coach Phil Salvagio made the decision to call Santos up because of his skills and what Kentera called his “bulldog” attitude. “I was very happy we were able to give him the opportunity to play,” Kentera said. “Santos has done a great job,” he added. “He’s played fantastic on the reserve team; he practices hard. People that really don’t follow us, or even if they do follow us, don’t realize we wouldn’t be where we’re at right now without this reserve team,” Kentera said. Santos received the call from Kentera where the two met up at a coffee shop in Cardiff, signing him to a contract for the rest of the season. “It was a great feeling,” Santos said. “Playing with the first team, it was a great experience, being able to get called up and play with a bunch of the great guys,” he said. Santos even earned an opportunity to play in the FIFRA tournament, which the Sockers won. “He plays real hard, and he’s had a good amateur career,” Kentera said. “And he’ll still continue, obviously, to go back and forth between the reserve team and our team, but…talking to Phil (Salvagio), he really opened up some eyes in that tournament in Mexico.” Playing in the tournament was good and quick, Santos explained. “It was definitely a different experience and it just opened my eyes on how good the Sockers are.” Since joining the first
team, the players have welcomed him with open arms, he said. “They’ve continued to give me pointers (about) the indoor game,” he said, adding that he’d never really played indoor soccer before, let alone at the professional level. Not only that, but he’s learning how to play through all of the noise that goes on during the games. The 24-year-old midfielder who still resides in Cardiff, attributes his mom for getting him started playing soccer when he was four or five in the Cardiff-by-theSea recreational games at Cardiff Elementary School. He played soccer at La Costa Canyon High School before going on to play at UC Davis, being named the team’s most inspirational player in 2010. His brother Joe also plays on the reserve team, something that’s been a lot of fun, Santos said. “We laugh and he grows a lot every time he plays with me; I grow a lot playing with him. He’s definitely just as physical and just as skilled, so it’s a fun experience,” he said. “The two Santos boys…these guys can play a little bit,” Kentera said. “They’re good kids; the game means something to them and when they come to compete they come to beat you.” “It’s a great honor,” Santos said about playing for the Sockers. “For me, to be able to play for the county that I grew up in and be able to wear that Socker’s uniform and compete against other counties and states and even in different countries, it’s a great pleasure and I can only hope to wear this jersey with pride,” Santos said. The 2012 season is nearly over, but Santos is looking to continue to grow with the team and to continue to learn more about the game. “He’s definitely got a future with us,” Kentera said.
Many locals remember Beth Mallon as a gifted pet photographer who demonstrated compassion in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina when she published “Eyes of Katrina.” The book, compiled of photographs she took of pets that survived the disaster, raised awareness and donations for victims. On May 23, 2009, she was touched by tragedy herself while photographing the final lacrosse game of her son, Tommy, two weeks before graduating from Santa Fe Christian School. “I was shooting downfield at a player who was hurt when I twirled my camera to see what the number was of a second child who was injured,” she said. It was Tommy. Tommy told Riki Kirchhoff, the high school’s assistant athletic trainer, that he felt fine. Kirchhoff nevertheless insisted that he stay down. After a series of tests, Kirchhoff discovered that Tommy couldn’t feel the back of his head. She stabilized his head and neck, and with input from Dr. Eric Waldrip, a team parent and anesthesiologist who was in the stands, she contacted paramedics. After arriving at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, Tommy was diagnosed with a fracture of the first cervical vertebra, which links the skull to the spine. Doctors explained that had he stood up after the accident, he most likely would have died or
From left: Riki Kirchhoff, Beth Mallon and son, Tommy. Kirchhoff’s quick thinking and expertise as a Certified Athletic Trainer (CAT) prevented Tommy from becoming a quadriplegic, or even dying, after a lacrosse injury in 2009. Kirchhoff says only 35 percent of California high schools have CATs. Courtesy photo
become a quadriplegic. “There are so many things on that day that went right that could’ve gone so wrong,” Mallon said. “All I kept thinking about was what does somebody do when they don’t have these resources? I felt like I couldn’t sit back and not try to change things.” Key to Tommy’s positive outcome was that Kirchhoff was a certified athletic trainer, or CAT. According to Kirchoff, only 35 percent of California high schools employ CATs. The Mallons turned their near tragedy into a mission by establishing Advocates for Injured
Graduates of the first training class of ASA (Athletes Saving Athletes) held at Santa Fe Christian School Jan. 20 learn how to recognize signs and symptoms of potentially life-threatening injuries encompassing the head and neck, heat illness and sudden cardiac arrest. They also become Red Cross certified in CPR and AED (automated external defibrillator). The pilot program is being launched by Advocates for Injured Athletes (AIA), founded by Beth and Tommy Mallon. Courtesy photo
Athletes, or AIA, a nonprofit that seeks to ensure that every high school in California has CATs. Funded with a $25,000 private donation through the Red Cross, they established Athletes Saving Athletes, or ASA, a pilot program that provides instruction to 30 student athletes at 10 San Diego County high schools in recognizing symptoms of potentially life-threatening injuries encompassing the head and neck, heat illness and sudden cardiac arrest. ASA ambassadors, in turn, teach fellow athletes what they’ve learned when they return to school. The class is taught by a CAT with a representative from the Red Cross who certifies participants in CPR and automated external defibrillator. The first training was held on Jan. 20 with 48 student athletes at Santa Fe Christian School. On March 8, another 50 will be certified at Torrey Pines High School. Since the grant was written to serve 300 athletes, funding remains for about 200 more students. So that all regions within the county can be represented, a lottery is planned. “Until Jan. 20, we had no idea how well the program would be received,” Mallon said. “We have been overwhelmed. Every adult that has seen this curriculum says,
‘I want this to be seen at PTA’ or ‘I want our athletic coach to see this.’” Last year the Mallons testified at the Youth Sports Safety Alliance on Capitol Hill. They were also notified by the Ohio State Buckeyes that AIA was designated as the recipient of donations from an upcoming “fun run.” “We found a niche where there was a need,” Mallon said. “We are taking the information directly to the athletes and making them leaders and giving them the knowhow to save a life if no one is on the sideline.” Private donations, grant money and corporate sponsors such as Cymer, which has already signed on, are needed to keep pace with demand and expand nationally. Kirchhoff, who serves on AIA’s Outreach Advisory Board, explains that Tommy’s accident was the most serious event she encountered since receiving her certification. “His injury made me realize that these kids’ lives are in our hands,” she said. “I challenge parents to ask the administrators of their children’s school, ‘Who’s on the sideline taking care of my child?’” For more information or to make a donation, visit injuredathletes.org, email injuredathletes@yahoo.com or call (858) 361-6553.
Classic to hold pre-qualifying match March 1 The LPGA’s Kia Classic will hold its annual open prequalifying tournament March 1 at La Costa Resort and Spa, giving amateur female golfers the opportunity to potentially play alongside touring professionals in an official LPGA event. All amateur female golfers with a handicap of two or lower are eligible to compete in the pre-qualifier. Interested players must send their name, phone number, handicap, and GHIN or other verifiable handicap information to Kia Classic marketing coordinator Chad Seufert at
Chad.Seufert@lpga.com by Feb. 24 to register. The entry fee is $50, and qualified applicants will be taken on a first-come, firstserved basis. The March 1 pre-qualifier will be played on La Costa’s South Course, with tee times starting at approximately 7 a.m. The two players with the lowest scores from the March 1 pre-qualifier will earn automatic entry into the official Kia Classic Monday qualifier on March 19, normally reserved for LPGA members only. The top two players from the Monday qualifier will earn entry into
the 144-player field for the Kia Classic, to be played March 22 to March 25 at La Costa and the LPGA’s first full-field event in the United States in 2012. “This is a terrific opportunity for some of the top young golfers from San Diego and beyond to test themselves and their games,” said Dennis Baggett, the Kia Classic’s tournament director. “We’re looking forward to offering the chance for two players to earn their way into the Monday qualifier and potentially play alongside the best female players in the world.
Advance prices for daily grounds passes are $10 for Wednesday’s pro-am day and $20 per day for competition rounds (Thursday-Sunday), and weekly grounds passes are just $50. Terrace club passes are $40 per day and $100 for the week. Children 17 and under will receive free admission to the Kia Classic when accompanied by a paid adult. Active military members and their families will be admitted free with military ID. Tickets are available at kiaclassic.com or by calling (888) SEE-LPGA.