P age B2
M ay 17, 1995 • T he P ortland O bserver
Soccer In T h e S treets
B» D anish B ell
This past Saturday a group o f
soccer activists and concerned par­
ents jo in e d together to celebrate the
graduation o f a 100 inner-city c h il­
dren in “ the Soccer In The Street”
program .
Raiders To
Oakland?
A cco rd in g O akland C o lise ­
um board p re s id e n t G eorge
V ukasin a deal to return the Los
Angeles Raiders to Oakland this
fa ll is close.
V ukasin how ever caution
that even though the deal could
s till fa ll through, it s till could be
made as early as this week.
McCallum
Released
N a p o le o n M c C a llu m the
L o s A n g e le s R a id e rs ru n n in g
b a ck w h o severed an a rte ry
in th is rig h t leg in the 1994
season o p e n e r, has been re ­
leased b y the R a id e rs.
Not
Interested
Former all-pro I awrence
T a y lo r has in d ic a te d th a t he
is in te re s te d in c o m in g o u t o f
a 14 m o n th re tire m e n t and
re tu rn to p la y in g fo o tb a ll.
H o w e v e r n e ith e r the N e w
Y o rk G ia n ts n o r fo rm e r G i­
a n t coach and c u rre n t N e w
E n g la n d P a trio t co a ch B il l
P a rce ls expressed m uch in ­
te re s t in se e in g th e 36 y e a r
o ld lin e b a c k e r b a c k in u n i­
fo rm .
BASKETBALL
All NBA Team
S an A n t o n i o ’ s D a v id
R o b in s o n beat o u t O r la n d o ’ s
S h a q u ille O ’ N e a l as the f ir s t
team c e n te r. O th e r fir s t team
p la y e rs w e re U ta h te a m m a te s
K a rl M a lo n e and John S to c k -
to n , C h ic a g o ’ s S c o ttie P ippen
a n d O r l a n d o ’ s A n te r n e e
H a rd a w a y .
The Port land program is the out­
grow th o f a national program w hich
originated in A tla n ta under the guid­
ance o fC a ro ly n M cK e n zie Edwards.
It was M s Edwards perception that
in n e r-city youth were not fa m ilia r
enough w ith the w o rld ’ s most popu­
lar sport. Consequently she organized
a soccer program in Atlanta.
H er concept caught on national­
ly now there are 30 plus cities in­
volved in the program.
The program is rooted in the
philosophy that kids gain meaning­
fu l athletic, social, and educational
experiences w h ile playing sports.
A n o th e r in te re s tin g facet o f
“ Soccer In The Streets” is that it is
geared fo r youth six to eight years
old. A by-product o f this has been the
high number o f g irls w ho participate
in the program , w hich to date is co­
ed.
The program s’ s m otto is L e t’ s
K ic k Drugs and C rim e out o f our
C om m unities.
The local program was orga­
nized by Paul M cC oy, A rt M o rlu n d
and Rich M ille r M ille r became in ­
v o lve d after hearing about the pro­
gram.
com pelled him to get involved w ith
“ Soccer In The Street,” w hich focus
This year was the inaugural sea­
son fo r the program , it entailed five
weeks o f basic instruction in the ar­
eas o fb a l I handling skills, rules, team
w ork and com m itm ent. M ille r said
that after co n fe rrin g w ith Harvey
Lockett w ho he had gone to law
school w ith, that he and his friends
parents involved and Roy Pittman
(P ortland Park Bureau) said that for
this to be a success, yo u r going to
have to depend on the kids w ord o f
on youth w ho are e conom ically or
so cia lly disadvantaged o r deprived.
were able to institute a program in
inner N /N E Portland.
mouth. I f we get those tw o things,
then we got a pretty good chance to
H is love o f the game com bined
w ith the fact that he had coached girls
th ird through seventh grade soccer
A N ew C lo w n Prince For A
N ew Generation
w hich has already become known
to hundreds o f thousands o f thou­
grew up. It was in Benham when
G a ffn e y , 2 7 , f ir s t saw the
G lobetrotters.
K e v in
M c H a le
w ho
s ta rre d at the U n iv e r s ity o f
M in n e s o ta b e fo re a 13 ye a r
c a r e e r w it h th e B o s to n
C e ltic s , becam e v ic e -p re s i­
d e n t o f b a s k e tb a ll o p e ra tio n s
fo r
th e
M in n e s o t a
T im b e rw o lv e s last T h u rs d a y .
M c H a le
succeeds
Jack
M c C lo s k e y w h o is r e tir in g .
Comebacks
L e n n o x L e w is m ade a re ­
s o u n d in g re tu rn to the rin g in
h is b id to m ake a c o m e b a c k .
L e w is sto p p e d the s lu g g is h
L io n e l B u tle r w ith fiv e sec­
on d s in the f i f t h ro u n d .
M ic h a e l M o o r e r k e p t
a liv e h is hopes o f a re m a tc h
w ith G eo rg e Forem an w ith his
u n a n im o u s 10 d e c is io n o v e r
o u t cla sse d M e lv in F o s te r.
cer A ssociation, P ortland P u b lic
Schools, Portland Housing A u th o ri­
ty, H o ly Redeemer and others.
Dunbar all o f last season and o f course
I ’ ve watched the tapes o f “ Goose”
T a tu m ,
“ S h o w b o a t”
H a ll,
sands o f people around the w orld.
C h a rle s B a rk le y , S a c ra m e n ­
Returning
Home
month rhissummerthe program recom­
mences with training and games. M iller
said that if there is enough participation
that he would like to see the program
reinstituted in the Jefferson Cluster dur­
ing next falls school year.
N ike was instrumental in pro­
v id in g balls, shin guards, jerseys,
shoes and P.L. A Y (Participate in the
lives o f A m erica’ s Y outh) T-shirts
fo r the program, other sponsors were
Legacy Em m anuel H o sp ita l and
Health Center, Portland Y outh Soc­
“ I'v e tried to keep elements o f
the show that really w orked w ith all
o f the clow n princes in the team ’s
h isto ry. I w atched “ S w eet” Lou
Just another day on the road,”
he sighed, and then flashed his grin
K e n tu c k y , w h e re th e H a rle m
G lobetrotters young clow n prince
was th e o n ly P o rtla n d p la y e r
to re c e iv e vo te s.
A fte r graduation from the p ro ­
gram, the kids w ill compete on a weekly
basis with other teams for one more
tour. And w h ile this is o n ly G a ffn e y’s
second year as a G lobetrotter, the
show d id n ’ t miss a beat.
opened the blinds o f his hotel room
and let the m orning Spanish sun
creep in.
T h e second team c o n s is t­
o f O ’ N e a l, P h o e n ix
P a y to n . C ly d e D r e x le r o f
H o u s to n was nam ed to the
th ir d team R od S tric k la n d
SUCCC^d.
the start o f the team’ s 1995 w o rld
Paul “ S h o w tim e ” G a ffn e y
A hotel room in M adrid is many
m iles from the tow n o f Benham,
to M itc h R ic h m o n d , and Se­
a ttle ’ s S haw n K e m p and G a ry
“ This is the o nly neighborhood
that does not have a real good estab­
lished soccer c lu b ” said M ille r.
“ Harvey said that you got to get the
(P h o to B y D a n n y B e ll)
Kentucky’s Gaffney Stars As
Clown Prince for Globetrotters
M a lo n e led the v o tin g b y
a n a tio n w id e m e d ia p a n e l
w ith 5 19 p o in ts .
ed
Kids huddle on the football field at Jefferson High School in Portland's Soccer In the Streets program.
“ I started p laying basketball
when I was eight-years-old and that
was about the same tim e I went to
m y firs t G lobetrotters game,” he
said. “ That firs t Trotters game real-
M e d a o w la rk Le m o n and Geese
Ausbie. I ’ ve taken parts o f their great­
ness and combined it w ith m y own
personality quirks. I ’ ve updated a lot
o f the show w ith references to cur­
Paul Gaffney
rent T V shows and cartoons that I
th in k kids w ill really respond to. I
th in k it has w orked w e ll,” G affney
ly turned me on to the sport. I was
hooked.”
said.
G affney was handed the role o f
the team's new clo w n prince p rio r to
And Gaffney is right. Fans across
the U S. and Canada w ho watched
G affney lead his team du rin g the
Paul Gaffney is the new
clown prince for the
Harlem Globetrotters.
1995 to u r were impressed. Roaring
applause and laughter was heard from
Saskatoon to San Diego.
‘S how tim e’ has a surprisingly
fresh q uality in his role as clow n
p rin c e , said M a n n ie Jackson,
H arlem G lobetrotters Chairm an
and Owner.
199S TOP PROSPECTS ENTER THIRD SEASON
T o p Prospects, a n o n -p ro fit en­
tity com m itted to both com m unity
developm ent and sports involvement,
is heading in to its th ird year o f oper­
ating P o rtla n d ’ s P ro-A m is now o ff i­
c ia lly called the K O IN T V /T o p Pros­
pects P ro -A m Summer Classic as a
result o f K O IN ’ s title sponsorship
d u rin g the past year. W e anticipate
this season being the best year ever
w ith the K O IN partnership. In addi­
tio n to K O IN 's partnership, N ike
w ill o u tfit the league.
Brief History of Pro-Am
Summer Classic
league fo r professionals and ama­
teurs to practice their skills during
the off-season. It has been his vision
that has provided so many players
w ith an o p p o rtu n ity to play in a team
atmosphere and take advantage o f
im p ro vin g th e ir skills. He has been
the key person responsible fo r strate­
gic p la n nin g and d a ily operations o f
the summer league. A dvisory assis­
tance has been provided by K eith
Jackson, JC A ll-A m e rica n and U n i­
versity o f San Francisco A ll-C o n fe r­
ence basketball player. A d d itio n a l­
ly, Ted Peterson, C ertified Public
contributions from local sponsors,
the inaugural Top Prospects Pro-Am
Summer Classic attracted various
N B A player including C leveland’ s
T e rre ll Brandon, and Portland T ra il­
b la z e rs ’ Jerom e K e rse y, K e v in
D uckw orth, and M a rio Elie. In addi­
tio n , form er T railblazer D arnell V a l­
standing A ll-S ta r Weekend, July 29-
30, as w e ll as the 1st Annual West
Coast Shoot-out July 22-23. This
mid-season tournament w ill host four
o fS e a ttle ’ s top Pro-Am teams against
James “ H o lly w o o d ” Robinson, and
M a rk Bryant. To further enhance the
P o rtla n d ’ s P ro-A m Summer Clas­
sic’ s mid-season top four.
A s we strengthen the image o f
the K O IN -T V /T o p Prospects Pro-
D u rin g the summer months o f
June through August, a ten week
scheduled takes place that also con­
sist o f other entertaining activities
including an A ll-S ta r Game, Dunk
co m p e titio n , the Summer Classic
became N C A A -sanctioned to allow
several top student-athletes to en­
hance their skills. N otable entries
included upcoming N B A lottery-pick
Damon Stoudamire ( 1994 Collegian
o f the year). A ll West Coast C onfer­
ence Player Canaan Chatman and
Prospects was established in January
1993 out o f M r. P ittm an’ s lo n g tim e
Contest, and Three-Point Shoot-out.
The A ll-S ta r Game features top ta l­
U n ive rsity o f Oregon star O rlando
W illia m s.
passion to develop a co m p e titive
ent the league has to offer. W ith
B eginning June 17, 1995, eight
expertise.
pete at C oncordia C ollege, adhere to
N B A rules and regulations, compete
fo r 10 weeks and feature and out­
entine played fo r the league-champi­
on Lakers. D uring the second year o f
com petition, additional profession­
als played such as C li f f Robinson,
The brain thrust behind Top
P ro sp e cts is D ire c to r, T im o th y
Pittman. M r. Pittman has competed
in basketball and track & fie ld on
every level except professional ly and
brings extensive know ledge and un­
d yin g enthusiasm to his role Top
A ccountant has also provided his
top professional-am ateur, N C A A -
sanctioned teams w ill compete fo r
the 3rd A nnual P ro-A m Summer
Classic title . The league w ill com ­
A m Summer Classic, each team w ill
have I ) a designated non -p la ye r
coach, and 2) uniform the finest pro­
fessional and top amateur basketball
players in the c ity o f Portland. Teams
w ill consist o f a m axim um o f 10
players per team w hich w ill be se­
lected by designated team captains
and T op Prospects.
The 3rd A n n u a l “ M a y I n v i­
ta tio n a l league try -o u ts w il l be­
gan M o n d a y, M a y 1, 1995, and
ru n each M o n d a y n ig h t th ro u g h
M a y 2 9 th fro m 7 to 9 p m at P o rt­
land C o m m u n ity C o lle g e (C a s ­
cade C am pus). T h is tim e fram e
w il l be reserved e x c lu s iv e ly fo r
P ro -A m p la ye rs. H e re p o te n tia l
p la y e rs w ill get a chance to p la y ,
and n e t-w o rk w ith te a m ca p ta in s
to secure a p o s itio n on a team ,
and also e n te r th e ir nam e in the
d ra ft th a t w ill ta ke p la ce on M o n ­
day M ay 2 2 ,1995, one week p rio r to
the conclusion o f try-outs. R eturn­
ing professionals w ill autom atically
have a spot reserved on a team in this
year’ s Summer Classic.
We look forw ard to an exciting
season fu ll o fb ig league com petition
and fun! Ifa n y question should arise
before hand feel free to call at 284-
3341 o r leave a voice message at
796-4335.