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 News from Around Banderas Bay | April 2006 
Soccer Uniforms Donated to Puerto Vallarta Kids
 Bob Cohen - PVNN
| Besides organizing the event on short notice, Bob even got a handful of the young soccer players to stand still long enough for some photos.
 Click HERE for video coverage of the event. | 
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| | Banderas News Video Journalist, Laura Gelezunas, interviews Coach Leigh following the presentation of the new soccer equipment. | 
| Coach Leigh's son, Joshua, keeps his distance while talking on camera, and makes Laura work for her interview.
Click HERE for video coverage of the event. |
Puerto Vallarta - Why can't we all just get along? News flashes during the last two years range from redneck minutemen in Arizona, armed with rifles and drinking beer in the back of their pick up trucks, protecting the border from illegal Mexicans immigrants to Mexican activists demanding that all Mexicans boycott everything made in the US on May 1st.
Well, with such disturbing headlines, we still can break the mold and do something good. Two women from Concord, California came to visit Puerto Vallarta with their two children for three days to take a break from business and to practice altruism in its highest form.
Leigh Kirmsse, a very prominent attorney, and her partner Melissa brought 10 year old Joshua and 7 year old Kathryn to our fine city with one main intention; to donate more than $50,000 pesos worth of new soccer uniforms, balls, and other equipment to some of the young athletes in Puerto Vallarta that have never before owned uniforms.
Talk about cool and rewarding and doing something to benefit and strengthen US- Mexico relations! Wednesday, April 19, 2006 was a day many will never forget. The great part was that it was all about sports, soccer in particular. Leigh and Melissa, avid fans and members of the Board of Directors of the Mount Diablo Soccer Association, a league in which their two kids play, made a difference.
Seven local kids' soccer teams and their coaches came from all over the Banderas Bay area to the Sports Stadium in Puerto Vallarta for the presentation of full uniforms by Ignacio "Nacho" Curiel Madero, the Director of Sports for the City of Puerto Vallarta.
As Madero and his staff presented the soccer uniforms to close to 100 kids, local newspapers were snapping photos of the grateful recipients. Many local dignitaries were also on hand to share in the joy and love that came with the presentations.
To top it all off, the owner of Papa Don's Pizza, Don Lynch, and his family served up a batch of their delicious pizzas and handed out Papa Don's T-shirts to the happy crowd that gathered together to celebrate this special occasion.
At the end of the two-hour ceremony, a song that blared from the loudspeakers was the famous "All You Need is Love," written by the Beatles, hardly traditional Mexican music, but quite befitting what had transpired from 11 am-1 pm.
How did this all come to fruition? Less than a week ago, I received an email from Leigh, who found BanderasNews online. She wanted to know if any of our local children's soccer teams could use the brand-new soccer gear that was left over from the Mount Diablo Soccer Association's most recent season.
Having covered sports in Puerto Vallarta for over three years, I knew exactly where to go. The Department of Sports, located at the Sports Stadium across from the Sheraton and its chief, Nacho Curiel, welcomed me and plans began to be laid.
In the meantime, Steve Price, the owner of Soccer Magic, the official soccer retail store for the Walnut Creek California Soccer Club, learned of Mount Diablo's generosity and added even more athletic gear to the growing pile of donated items.
In total, 100 full uniforms (jerseys, shorts and socks), 130 soccer balls, 26 goal keepers jerseys, 30 Premium uniform jerseys, 60 practice jerseys, 30 sets of shin guards and seven coaches bags were brought down from California and presented to the following coaches and teams:
• Coach Jesus Curiel of the Real Madrid team
• Coach Martin Lomeli of the Loma Bonita team
• Coach Sandra Peres of the Real Jalisco team
• Coach Gersai Jimenes of the Agua Azul team
• Coach Manuel Bautista of the Tigres team
• Coach Chito Flores of the Infonavit team
• Coach Mano Ortiz of the Aramara team
Close to 100 kids shucked their t-shirts, put on the fresh, new and stylish jerseys, and lined up for a photo shoot. The smiles on the faces of those kids was something that I will never forget.
And these kids can sure play soccer too! Perhaps one day some of them might even play for the Chivas - or maybe even the National team of Mexico. In the meantime, I will be sure to catch some of the games being played in different areas of town and report on league games being played by of some of the best-dressed soccer teams in Vallarta.
Once again, many thanks go out to Leigh and Melissa Kirmsee and their children Josh and Katy. Also, we want to thank Steve Price of Soccer Magic in Walnut Creek, Joe Hull, the President of the Mount Diablo Soccer Association and Don Lynch and family of Papa Don's Pizza.
Special thanks go out to "Nacho" and his staff for finding the kids who were most in need of the soccer gear, and getting them out to the stadium. Above all, I'd like to personally thank everyone who made this day possible because. As the MasterCard commercials state, my experience with new friends was: PRICELESS.
For those that are interested, the Mount Diablo Soccer Association website can be accessed at MDSoccer.org. I'll be checking their site frequently to watch the progress of their league, and will be sending them progress reports on the teams here in Vallarta that they so generously assisted. Click HERE for video coverage of the event. |
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