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This past weekend on Saturday, we had the Celebration of Life for my father Harry Miller, who passed away Aug. 10.
It was a tremendous afternoon and early evening, as former players, friends, family members and even some who just wanted to pay their respects came by, shared stories and raised a glass or two.
My Dad was one of four co-founders of the Ballistic United Soccer Club, but also coached youth baseball, basketball and even soccer at Amador Valley High School.
It was a great day, as those there will attest, but I wanted to draw attention to an event that happened a day before the celebration.
Last Friday, Oct. 8, there was a ceremony for my father, as well as Larry Boldrini and Ian Lang — three iconic people in the development and history of Ballistic.
Their names were added to a plaque on a large rock at the Ken Mercer Sports Park called the “Pleasanton Sports Memorial.”
The memorial was dedicated in 1995 “to those individuals who gave unselfishly of themselves to Pleasanton and its sports programs.”
It is followed by “We are forever grateful” and closes with the quote “For the good of the game and the good of the player.”
There are now 24 names on the memorial, and as someone that grew up in Pleasanton, it was such an emotional experience to see the names and realize they are all no longer with us, at least physically.
I didn’t know everyone on the memorial, but I knew plenty and reading each name that I recognized brought back an image in my mind.
The amazing thing is that until the last six to seven months, I never knew the memorial existed, which I think was a crying shame. Part of the reason I am writing this is to make sure others know of this shrine to people who made the youth sports programs in this town so special.
We had a nice little ceremony Friday afternoon with about 50 people who came out to pay their respects to the three latest additions. Stories were shared, along with laughter and a few tears.
I feel it’s important to get the names out so everyone can know who is on the memorial. Here are the names, in order of how they appear on the plaque:
Dick Michael, Hal Hurst, Ray Northam, Martin McCarthy, Dick Heinzel, Jo Anne Watson, Rich Munos, Jerry Herman, Joseph “Irv” Janke, Jim Olson, Woody Niethammer, Nick Del Boccio, David Palleson, Ron Strickland, Hank Gomez, Bob “Mister” Getty, Herb Loeffler, Larry Ely, Del Himango, Joyce Leonard, Cindy Free, Ian Lang, Larry Boldrini and Harry Miller.
There are other names that could be included for sure and if you are interested in learning more about the process, contact the city of Pleasanton’s recreation department.
As for the latest additions, I must thank Ballistic United and club president Scott McMillin for pushing through and making sure the funds were raised to add the three names to the memorial. Ballistic, under McMillin’s leadership, has been directed toward embracing the history of the club.
It’s working.
I saw it Friday night at the Sports Park, and Saturday at my Dad’s celebration.
It was a feel-good weekend at a time where our family certainly needed it — and for that, we appreciate everyone who made it work.
Foothill girls’ volleyball
The Falcons pulled out a pair of big wins beating Monte Vista and California to take a one-game lead in the East Bay Athletic League last week.
Foothill prevailed over Monte Vista by a score of 17-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-15.
The highlights came from Grayce Olson (32 kills, 13 digs, 9 service points), Katie Salonga (47 assists, 10 digs), Paige Bennett (14 kills, 18 digs, 8 service points) and Sruti Jonnalagadda (6 kills, 3 blocks).
Against Cal, Foothill brought home a 25-17, 25-21, 25-19 decision.
The top players were Olson (21 kills, 7 digs), Bennett (12 kills, 9 digs), Jo Modica (6 kills, 7 digs) and Kaycie Burdick (6 aces, 3 digs).
The two wins brought the Falcons record to 24-2 overall, and 13-1 in the EBAL.
Send in your results
Disappointed your son’s or daughter’s results are not in the paper? Be part of the solution! I can only report results I receive, so make sure you send me your results each Sunday by noon to acesmag@aol.com.
Just give me the scores and some highlights, and I will put them together!