Summer is here and so are SoccerFours sessions!

The weather is GREAT and the world cup is going on (but so far not in any predictable fashion!) which means a wonderful chance to get out onto the pitch and emulate some of the moves seen in South Africa so far.

Here at SoccerFours, we have some updates on our sessions that we want to let you know about.   First off, our Marin sessions will be discontinued after the last Tuesday in June (29th).  A combination of slow growth and great difficulty in finding field space for the summer months led us to make the tough decision to put SoccerFours Marin into hibernation.   There's a great chance it will return next spring so hopefully you haven't seen the last of us there!   We would also like to announce that we have managed to procure a field in the East Bay and will start sessions this Monday night!  We are moving to Emery Secondary School (High School) in Emeryville.  The field is off of 53rd street, a half block away from San Pablo Ave.  It's a grass pitch, but looks pretty well maintained and has a high fence around it so balls don't get lost so easily.  :)     We have also moved the start time up from 8pm to 7pm.  This field has no lights, so we needed to move things up in order to fit an hour in over the course of the next 6-8 weeks.  Hope you'll be able to come check us out at our new digs!

In other news, we're now on Yelp! so if you want to give us a review to help spread the word about SoccerFours that'd be great!  More demand for SoccerFours means we can open up another night a week in either SF or Oakland. 

SoccerFours is also looking for volunteers to help run sessions.  If you or someone you know loves soccer, is outgoing & positive, and has their own car (for transporting the gear) have them email Chris @ SoccerFours dot com.

Have a great summer and hopefully see you on the pitch somewhere!

This Monday the 14th of June there will be no session in the East Bay.   Although I have a good lead on a field (thanks Brian), nothing has materialized yet and so we'll take this Monday off and look to start back up next week!   Enjoy the night off.  :)

-Chris

I've been informed by SF Rec and Park that we'll be able to continue our Wednesday nights at Franklin Square throughout the summer!   I had attempted to get space and time at Garfield Park (24th Street), but the earliest we'd be able to get the field would be 8pm.  It's also a smaller field (not a regulation size) so I'm not sure how many pitches we could put onto it anyway.  I'm asking to find out the availability of Kimbell Field near Japan Town/Western Addition as it's slated to be converted to turf.  Once I know about it, I'll see if we can expand to that field too.  I think the location is good and as it'll be a new field we'll find it very nice.

I've been approached about possibly putting on women-only sessions in the East Bay.  I've got space to run it, but I'm not sure the interest is there.  If you're interested (and would be willing to back your interest up by actually showing up to the sessions if I put them on), can you email me?  I'm also game for putting these on in SF too, but I would need to know I could get at least 16 women (two games' worth) to show up to these to make it worth the while.  Again, email me if you're interested and we'll see what if there's enough interest to run these.

The SF and East Bay SoccerFours sessions are growing nicely and the Marin sessions just started up again after a little delay.  All in all we're looking good and I'd like to thank YOU for making it happen.  SoccerFours can be more than just a kick-around -- it can be a place to push your comfort zone with new moves and/or styles of play.  Many of you are doing just that and it's showing after a couple months' of play.  It's worth a before-and-after video for many of you!  Keep up the good work!

See you all on the pitch...

-Chris

chris AT soccer fours DOT com

First off, THANKS to those of you who sent out an email to the SF Rec and Park Commission supporting the proposed Beach Chalet Renovation project!

I attended the hearing on Thursday and can report that supporters of the renovation appeared to outnumber those opposed about 2 to 1.  With one minor exception, everyone was civil in airing their opinions and the commission was able to receive lots of input -- more "for" than "against".  I was going to speak in support of the measure, but the line of speakers was so long that I had to go before they got to my name 2.5 hours later.  

Today I received this email from Freida Edgette of Barbary Coast Consulting who helped spearhead the effort:

Dear Playfields Initiative Champions and Speakers:

*An incredibly heartfelt THANK YOU and CONGRATULATIONS *to everyone who sent
in letters of support, forwarded the call to action, and attended and spoke
at last night’s Rec/Park Commission meeting.  *All these actions helped earn
a unanimous vote to approve the Beach Chalet Athletic Fields renovation!*