Very nice late summer weather on a beautiful field right on the ocean in San Francisco was the setting for the final tournament of the summer.  9  of our boys and girls teams enthusiastically signed on for one more chance at competition before fall and school completely ensnare us and bring us back to reality and routine.

Lots of highlights to report.  Among them:

1. Our Girls HS Select/Elite combo team stormed through the 8 team field in the inaugural women's tournament and won their first championship of the summer!  The Girls HS Elite team had made it to three consecutive Championship games in very competitive and well known tournaments all over the western states, but it wasn't until they returned to thier backyard that they finally brought home the hardware.  Congrats to all the girls and Coach Colleen Niklaus for this accomplishment.

2. Our Girls U12 team - Hardened by a summer of tough competition, our ever enthusiastic U12 Girls team played in a mini 4-team bracket and emerged unscathed and undefeated, defeating all comers.  Congrats to Annie Thompson and the girls!

3. Our Boys HS  2024/25 team made it all the way to the Boys HS RIZE Division Championship game before finally falling short .  Coach Jonny Glazier took the reins and watched a number of the younger guys step up and make things happen.

4. Our Boys HS team in the HS Open Division went undefeated for the entire tournament, playing a number of very strong teams, including Silver City (DeLaSalle), the Titans (Redwood High School), and Booth Indians.  Unfortunately, we tied two games (3-0-2 final record) and the tie breaker went against us (long story on that to tell later to those of you interested).  One more goal in any of those games would have had us in the Championship bracket, and I am very confident we would have made it to the Finals and perhaps even taken home the title.   FYI, we have never been this strong relative to the Elite competition we typically see in this tournament every year.  The boys who came played extremely well and were solidly coached. 

5. Once again, we set records at the Hospitality Tent, drawing jealous gazes from other Clubs and squeals of delight from parents and players when they realized that the Hospitality Tent was back! .  Bakery treats from San Francisco's finest Arizmendi Bakery opened both mornings.  Despite having nearly 100 different treats daily,  they went quickly and the lines were long. Lunch on Saturday brought the Dogpatch's Hard Knox Cafe - fried chicken, ribs, mac and cheese, potato salad and corn.  Hospitality Tent's standards the Candy Bag and the Shrimp Tray were on display and always popular.  

Now we turn to Fall - with a new set of practices, tournaments and activities such as Instructional Fall Ball and the HS Fall Ball Leagues and the Silicon Valley Shootout tournament.   We'll be blasting the airwaves with invitations for tryouts for new players, and our Fall Ball marketing.  We are at last returning to Palo Alto High School for the majority of our practices and programs. 

Our summer experiences in San Diego, Colorado, Petaluma, Oregon, Lake Tahoe, Morgan Hill and here at last in San Francisco were great fun and great competition.  With the end of each summer, we say goodbye to our graduating seniors who are moving on to college and new opportunities.  They will be missed and remembered.  Please think of us when you come back in the summer and beyond - the ideal Team NorCal coach is someone who has been through the program, and understands what we do, how we work, and why this is important.