2018 Board Elections & Annual General Meeting

WC Surf Soccer Club

When: November 5

Time:    6:30pm-7:30pm

Where: Center For Community Arts Auditorium- 111 N Wiget Ln

The following positions are up for election in 2018:

  •      President*
  •      Treasurer*
  •      House Programs Coordinator*
  •      Marketing Programs Coordinator*
  •      Competitive Coordinator
  •      Recreational Select Coordinator
  •      House Coordinator

*Management Committee Members

 

Those being considered for board positions have provided their personal statements.  

 

CANDIDATE STATEMENTS


 

Recreational Select Coordinator Candidates

Richard Sielman: I, Richard Sielman, would like to be your next Recreational Select Coordinator.  I have 2 children in the program, Molly U14, and Grant U19. I have been coaching soccer for the past 8 years, including 1 season as a Select Team Coach.  I played soccer in High School and College, as well as local Coed leagues. Beyond soccer, I have been working in Customer Service oriented hotel and technology industries.  I currently work for The Aryzta/Otis Spunkmeyer/LaBrea Cookie company in San Leandro. My focus has always been to provide top level customer service.

Watching my daughter tryout for the U14G Select Team, I counted 54 players trying out for 1 Team.  As Select Coordinator, I will strive to have as many players as possible play in the Select program.  I also would encourage Select coaches to actively identify players with the skills and the desire to move up to the Competitive program.

I am a big fan of the Select program.  It is more challenging than Recreational soccer, but not as big of a financial and time drain as Competitive.

I look forward to working with the other members of the Recreational Team to move Select forward. Thank you.

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Mike Lattanzi: I am submitting this Candidate Statement for the position of Select Coordinator. With my experience, passion for soccer at WCSSC, and available time, I will add to our already first class Select program.

Over the last 10 of 12 years I have been a Coach, Assistant Coach, and Team Manager in each of the three WCSSC programs, Recreation, Select, and Competitive. I also spent an additional year with Pleasant Hill Martinez Soccer Association as a Recreational and Select Coach. I have taken several courses in soccer and in safety with and through WCSSC and AYSO. Additionally, I have over 30 years managerial and supervisory experience in the US Air Force and in my current job.

I have wanted to become the Select Coordinator since 2015 but have not had the time due to having two jobs. Now I have one job, a family pass, and the time to engross myself into this position. I have had eight Select teams without my children on them. I have also helped several coaches and families in training and decision making in my time at WCSSC. I have a desire to help children, parents, coaches, and our community with a soccer program that fits family needs and improves WCSSC.

The Select program is currently very good and I plan to add to it by initiating and improving marketing (informational only) of the Select program, Select coaching education, and fine tuning tryouts with transparency for parents, and evaluators observe more skill sets. There are other areas in Select leagues, joint practices, and more that I will look into.

I will ensure that our Select program continues to improve as a first class program providing a positive, safe, and stimulating environment for the kids to become the best they can be at soccer, as a person, and enjoy the game of soccer.

Mike Lattanzi


Marketing Coordinator Candidates

Rich Gay:  Hello, my name is Rich Gay and I am hoping to continue as your Marketing Coordinator for another two years.  I have held this position for the past 5 years. During this time, we have had many important, great changes to our club.  Most notably; (A) the hiring of General Manager, Steve Chappell, whose passion and dedication has brought our club to another level, (B) hiring a new Director of Coaching, Adam Cooper, who has made our Competitive coaching staff second to none, (C) Becoming a Surf affiliate, laying the foundation for our clubs future growth.  I strongly believe that our club is better now than it was 5 years ago. I have put in countless volunteer hours to make our club the best it can be and I look forward to continuing my role on the Management Committee. My biggest achievement has been the success of the Club Raffle. With Managements decision to continue with this great fundraising idea, it is my job to see it through.  I know everyone is not 100% behind the raffle, but for the families and teams that need the assistance, it is a huge success! I am proud to say that my 80+ hours on this project alone raised $46,905 for the club and $9,360 went back to the teams to help offset their team fees. I promise to continue my work on and off the field, working with all the dedicated volunteers and businesses in our community that make our club special.  Thank you for all the support…Surf Pride!

Sincerely, Rich Gay

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Sandeep Kaujalgi: Thank you very much for your consideration of my candidature for the Marketing Program Co-ordinator for the Walnut Creek Soccer Club.

For as long as I can remember, I have been passionate about soccer. Growing up in India the opportunities for structured play like the WCSC were limited, but play we did. The reason why soccer is the world’s most popular sport, in my opinion, is because all you need is a ball. And if you have a few family members to cheer you on – great. And if you have a few friends to play with – superb!

I chose to apply to this position as it allows me to bring together my passion for soccer and community, my experience as a sales and marketing professional and my leadership skills.

While the core objectives of Marketing have remained the same over the past decades, what has changed dramatically is how people choose to interact with each other and with organizations, and how they consume and act on information. My career over the last 2 decades has been in Technology Sales and Marketing. I have been at the forefront of this marketing revolution in roles such as VP of Sales, Chief Marketing Officer and CEO for global companies.

While, I do not have the benefit of incumbency – I feel the club needs to balance its conventional marketing activities such as Club Day, Raffles, local sponsorships with a more wholehearted embrace of the new social marketing -member engagement and involvement, rich content creation, new communication mediums and striving to build a sense of community. The WCSC has a fantastic and enviable history of commitment to the sport. I feel this history can be channeled further through smart alliances, smart social marketing and smart programs which reflect the generation and time we are living in.

I am a fan of the Football Club of Barcelona. The motto of the club is “Mes que un club” – more than a club. Sure, we don’t have the resources of FCB, but in our own way let’s strive to be More than a Club – a community, a movement, a leader and an inspiration. I hope I have the opportunity to play a part in making that happen.

Cheers, Sandeep

 


House Programs Coordinator Candidate

Eric Freitag (unopposed):  It is with great enthusiasm that I accept the nomination for the Recreation Program Director position.

My involvement with WCSSC began 6 years ago as a volunteer coach. Since 2015 I have served as an age group coordinator and most recently I was elected as a house coordinator board representative. During this time, I have been heavily involved in the development of the select program; training and orientation of volunteer coaches; and updating and enhancing health and safety protocols for the club.

My soccer experience includes: playing at both the collegiate and professional levels; coaching youth soccer for 20+ years at the club, high school and adult premier levels; 20+ years as a soccer referee including state referee classification; and serving as the sport and recreation director of a YMCA, directing sports programs for over 1000 youth and adult participants.

Professionally, I am the co-director of the UCSF-Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland Sports Concussion Program, the owner and operator of a neuropsychology clinic and certified Emergency Medical Technician. I have also served on several non-profit boards and served in leadership positions in professional industry organizations.

This broad experience uniquely positions me to serve the board and club members. Among my goals for this position would be to improve overall efficiency in the program through better scalability across age groups, improve the rostering/team formation process and enhancing information delivery infrastructure to program participants.

Sincerely, Eric J. Freitag, Psy.D


 

President: Chris Wong (unopposed)

Treasurer: Nancy Maloney (unopposed)

House Coordinator: Obaid Mohammadi (unopposed)