Eddy Crowder outside of the County Spelling Bee.

By John Crowder

Students representing 120 schools from throughout Contra Costa County came together to compete at the 39th Annual Contra Costa County Spelling Bee sponsored by the Contra Costa Times, on Saturday, March 21, 2015. Antioch was well-represented at the event, as students from elementary and middle schools in the city, both public and private, vied for the top prize, an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. to compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee to be held in late May.

Two of the young spellers attending Antioch schools, Eddy Crowder (this writer’s son) and Cassidy Derita, made it to the second round in the written competition. Although both were ultimately thwarted from reaching their goal of advancing to the national level, each expressed their excitement and desire to continue competing in the future.

Eddy, an 11-year-old 6th grader who attends Paideia Academy, comes from a family of spelling bee participants. One of his uncles was a second-place finisher in a state spelling bee, and other uncles and aunts had also reached the state level. This was the second year that Eddy had competed at the county level, and he placed 36th in the contest, going out on the word, facetious.

Asked about his experience, Eddy said, “It was scary and exciting. I like spelling, because I like learning the new words.”

Eddy, whose hobbies include reading, Pokemon, and building with LEGO blocks, plans to continue studying and compete again next year. After college, he hopes to become a video game designer or a teacher (following in the footsteps of his mother and father).

Cassidy Derita, a 5^th grader from Marsh elementary, and daughter of Krishanna and Kurt Derita, also has spellers in the family.

Cassidy Derita at the County Spelling Bee.

“My older brother was in the spelling bee when he was my age,” she said. “My family gave me the confidence.” They inspired her to take up the spelling challenge.

Cassidy ultimately finished 55th in the bee, a strong showing in her first attempt at the county level. She went out on the word, rhinoceros.

When asked about her experience, Cassidy described it as, “challenging.”

“I studied with my parents and grandparents every night!” she said.

Like Eddy, Cassidy is planning to study and participate again, next year. Cassidy’s hobbies include reading, playing games, and bowling. Her near-term goal is to make it to the National Spelling Bee, and, after college, she hopes to be a veterinarian.

Given the strong work ethic these two, and many others in our local community display, Antioch will surely be represented with distinction at the County Bee next year, and in years to come.

Kapri Geenaert and family at the Warriors game, Thursday night, April 9, 2015. From L – Shawn, Kailey, Kenadie and Kapri Geenaert with family member Aiden. photo by F.D. Purcell

Attends game during NBA’s Hoops for St. Jude Week

By F.D.Purcell

Many fans show up to Golden State Warriors‘ games early, in hopes of shaking hands or getting a photo op with their favorite player and this past Thursday was no different. Except this time the roles were reversed; Warriors players shook hands and took photos with someone sitting courtside near their bench.

Kapri and family meet the Warriors’ Stephen Curry and St. Jude NBA Ambassador David Lee. Photo by F.D. Purcell

That person would be six year-old Santa Rosa resident Kapri Geernaert. Chosen to attend Thursday’s game, as a part of the NBA’s Hoops for St. Jude Week, April 3rdthrough 9th, Geernaert met with Warriors players and St. Jude Children‘s Hospital Ambassador David Lee, who visited St. Jude last month in Memphis and donated $75,000 to help support their lifesaving work.

Geernaert is one of 250 to 500 children in the U.S. daignosed yearly with a cancerous tumor called Medulloblastoma, which accounts for 20% of all childhood brain tumors in our country.

Last June, after months of battling flu-like symptoms Kapri’s illness would come to a head. While riding in the car with her mother, Becki she suffered a seizure and the Geernaerts would receive the news that no parent should ever have to hear, their five year-old daughter had a brain tumor.

“The past year has been crazy, a lot of anxiety,” said her father Shawn. Doctors would eventually find multiple tumors peppered throughout her spine and brain areas, one the size of a walnut on her brain that was removed. The others were smaller and did not require removal.

Sitting with her big sisters, 11 year-old Kenadie and nine year-old Kailey and 11 year-old cousin Aiden, the Geernaert girls describe their little sister as “funny” and “cute,” who “likes to do crazy things.” They kept Kapri’s spirit happy by giving her candy, when they visited.

While their mom stayed with Kapri in Memphis her sisters helped their dad out, by helping with laundry and dishes, at their home in Santa Rosa.

“We love St. Jude, it’s a home away from home,” said Becki who was not in attendance Thursday but face-timed with Shawn, becoming emotional when she saw Kapri’s interaction with the players.

Donning a Warriors cap and personalized jersey with her name on the back the soft-spoken first grader told Sports in the Bay she enjoys doing crafts and her favorite player was “#30,” because she “likes the way he shoots.” For those of you living under a rock this season that would be two-time all-star and MVP candidate Stephen Curry.

The Geernaerts credit their faith and church, Spring Hills Church in Santa Rosa, for providing a wealth of support over the past nine months, along with a host of family and friends who held fund raising events and offered words of prayer and encouragement.

After seven rounds of chemotherapy, five weeks of radiation and a nine-month residence in Memphis, Kapri returned home a few weeks ago and is adjusting well. She enjoys visiting her classmates daily and is excited about returning to school in the fall.

“I would encourage people to give $5 or $10, anything to St. Jude because it‘s going to a great cause,” said Becki whose husband was a long-time contributor to St. Jude before Kapri’s diagnosis.

Learn more about Kapri on her Facebook page: Kapri Geernaert.

Follow F.D. Purcell on Twitter: @sportsinthebay_ or on Facebook at: Sports in the Bay

By Rick Hilton, Administrative VP, Delta Baseball & Softball League

Local youth sports organization, The Delta Baseball & Softball League (DBSL), announced recently, its donation of over $3,150 to East Contra Costa County schools.  The donations will be made through a special DBSL program called, “Delta Goes to Bat for Schools” and this isn’t the first time this youth sports league has donated money to local schools.

Starting in 2012, the program has provided much-needed donations that give schools and their PTAs/PTOs additional resources.  With the latest announcement, Delta Goes to Bat for Schools reached a significant milestone – over $10,000 in donations to local schools.

The Delta Goes to Bat for Schools program began at a late night board meeting in the Spring of 2012.  Due to an unanticipated influx of new sponsorship dollars and an enrollment 5% higher than budgeted for, DBSL found itself with a slight budget surplus.

Several alternatives were batted around, but the league eventually settled on their local schools as the place where a few hundred dollars might have the greatest impact, both practically and symbolically for the kids in the league.  

From this initial budget overage, they developed the Delta Goes to Bat for Schools program, making it a part of the league’s priorities.  Now a percentage of the fees families pay to play in the Delta Baseball & Softball League are donated back to the school that the players attend, bringing tangible benefits to students beyond the DBSL.  Board member David Chuey explains the nexus between youth sports and schools, “sports in general and team sports specifically teach kids things like communication, teamwork, good sportsmanship, and responsibility – all qualities that aid in their overall physical and educational development”.  

The success of the program has inspired DBSL to go beyond donations.  In addition to over $10,000 in direct cash contributions, DBSL partners with local schools to assist with carnivals and fairs, field day activities, and a wide variety of fundraising events, all focused on increasing the opportunities for local students to grow and develop their mind and bodies through better access to athletic programs. 

This year’s donation of $3,150 will go to public, charter, and private schools in Antioch, Brentwood, Discovery Bay, Knightsen, Oakley, and Pittsburg.  Representatives from five schools – Sutter Elementary, John Mir Elementary, Lone Tree Elementary, Orchard Park K-8 School, and Holy Rosary Catholic School – have been invited to the league’s Opening Day at Freedom High School on March 21, 2015 as honored guests.  The league will present checks to each of the represented schools as a part of their opening day ceremony.

Matthew Wright, the League President in the inaugural year of Delta Goes to Bat stated “As an idea that was kind of stumbled upon towards the end of a long night of league meetings, Delta Goes to Bat ended up being one of the best things we did as a board of directors that year.  It’s great to see that the leadership of the Delta Baseball & Softball League continues to make it a priority to support our local schools through this program.”

League President Mark Foley does indeed continue the commitment started by 2012 Board of Directors.  “The Delta Goes to Bat program has become fundamental to DBSL and is high on my list of priorities for the league,” Foley said.  “This program, along with our C.H.A.M.P. Buddies Program, exemplifies the spirit of community service and involvement we hope as a league to instill in our young players.”

The Delta Baseball and Softball League, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, was founded in 1984 as the Delta Peanut League by a group of like-minded parents seeking an alternative to the high pressure, high intensity youth sports leagues available at the time.  Starting with 6-8 year old players the league has grown to include children from age 4 to 13, and today continues the non-competitive legacy and vision of the league founders, and competitive divisions playing under the banner of Cal Ripken Baseball and Babe Ruth Softball.  In 2007, the league added a division for differently-abled children, the C.H.A.M.P. division (formerly FREEDOM division) where physically or mentally challenged children learn and play baseball free of charge alongside all of the other children in the league.

To learn more about the Delta Baseball & Softball League please visit www.deltabaseballleague.com or www.facebook.com/DeltaBaseballandSoftballLeague.

For more information about Royal Family Kids in East County, please visit www.brentwood.royalfamilykids.org.

Antioch Mayor Wade Harper with the 2015 Mayor’s Cup Boys Varsity Soccer Champs from Deer Valley High. Front Row: 21Oscar Arteaga, 3 Humberto Ceras, 11 Omar Navarro, 10 Nathan Parada, 6 Allan Garcia, 7 Edgar Contreras, 14 Armando Fajardo, 1 Rodolfo Saucedo and 18 Fabian Wence Back Row: Head Coach Juan Tannus, 01/16 Goalie Christian Montoya, 22 Anthony Garcia, 8 Marcelo Salvador, 24 Mark Ibarra, Mayor Wade Harper, 2 Eduardo Archaga, 12 Arnie Maravillas, 25 Jonathan Amavisca, 23 Christian Rodriguez, 0 Goalie Ryan Santos, 9 Jorge Alvarado and Goalie Corey Alford, who was out on injury.

By Allen Payton

The Mayor’s Cup for varsity boys soccer has returned to Deer Valley High School, thanks to the Wolverines’ victory over the Antioch High Panthers, last week.

A proud Juan Tannus, Deer Valley High Head Soccer Coach, shared the news.
The game is played every year at the end of the soccer season between the Boys Varsity teams from both schools.

This year, the Deer Valley Wolverines won by a score of 1-0, with Forward, striker Nathan Parada scoring the winning goal.

“We have been playing the Mayor’s Cup game since 1998,” Tannus said. “Deer Valley won the cup originally.

But, for the last six years, the cup was in the hands of the Antioch High Panthers, until now.

“We won the cup,” he said firmly.

Deer Valley had a tough season having played against some of the best teams in the East Bay.

“We lost seven games by 1-0, or 2-1 and tied others,” he shared “The boys never gave up. The boys played hard in every game, whether we were winning or losing.”

“We had a very well disciplined and very respectful team,” he added.

The teams competed at the turf soccer fields at the complex on James Donlon Blvd. in Antioch.

“It was a beautiful game,” Tannus shared. “Both teams were playing magnificent. But, we scored.”

Antioch Mayor Wade Harper was on hand to award the cup to the Wolverines’ team.

Following is the record of the Mayor’s Cup:

1998-2003 Deer Valley

2004 Antioch

2005-06 Deer Valley

2007 Antioch

2008 Deer Valley

2009-14 Antioch

2015 Deer Valley

Tannus has been the Head Coach at Deer Valley for four years. So, this is the first time the team has won the cup, since he took the helm.

“As long as I’m the Head Coach I’m going to keep the cup with us,” he said with a laugh.

By John Crowder

On January 10, 2015, the Contra Costa Alumnae Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., held its Inaugural Debutante Cotillion at the San Ramon Marriott.

A dozen young ladies from throughout the East Bay participated in the event, which marked the culmination of an almost year-long program that each of them were involved with, entitled Pearls of Perfection. The twelve debutantes celebrated the evening with their escorts, ladies-in-waiting, family, and friends.

The evening began with a greeting extended to all the guests by Crystal McClendon-Gourdine, Ph.D., Chairperson of the 2014-2015 Pearls of Perfection Debutante Program. Following a full-course dinner and entertainment, the young ladies were presented to society by Monica Cherie Scott, Co-Chairperson, and LaConnie Taylor-Jones, Program Workshop Manager. The debutantes participated in a confirmation waltz with their escorts, and were then welcomed to society. The evening ended with a salute to the debutantes, acknowledgments, and a sweetheart song.

The journey to the cotillion began for the young ladies a year earlier, when each had made application to the program. Then, in February, a welcome reception was held, first in a series of fifteen events that would culminate in the cotillion.

Over the course of the next eleven months, the girls attended workshops teaching etiquette, manners and dressing for success, a discussion on self-esteem, and learned to waltz. Other events included a talent showcase and fashion exhibit, a community service project, a cultural event, and both father-daughter and mother-daughter outings.

One unique aspect of the debutante program is the focus on academic excellence and preparation for college. According to Taylor-Jones, “We put a great emphasis on, and have a high standard for academic excellence.” Two of the events the young ladies participate in are a six-hour symposium on education and a college tour.

The parents of the three Antioch students involved in the program all spoke positively about the experience for their children.

Felicia Branch noted that, “The program has given my son, Jarrett (JT), an Antioch High School senior who participated as an escort this year, the opportunity to learn etiquette and how to waltz.” She was also happy to see that her son had the opportunity to make friends with young men and women who shared the same goals of attending college and pursuing professional careers. Taylor-Jones said, “The experience was very exciting for my daughter, Caryn,” who is a junior in the law academy at Deer Valley High School. She went on to say that her daughter was looking forward to participating next year as a debutante. Deborah Hicks, referencing the cotillion said, “The excellent work done by Delta Sigma Theta Inc. made this an outstanding evening for all. I am thrilled at the possibility of my son, Devon, (currently a junior at Cornerstone Christian School) being involved with the program as an escort again next year.”

The sorority is currently accepting applications for the 2015-2016 debutante program. Those interested in learning about the program, or in participating, can find more information at www.ccacdebutante.com.