Youth football classic back for 34th year

Local players top the North roster

Two former Los Gatos High School football stars — Trent Edwards and Jared Allen — are currently preparing for another season ... in the National Football League.

Edwards is about ready to enter camp with the Buffalo Bills, locked in a battle with J.P.Losman for the starting job at quarterback. And Allen is making his way to camp as a defensive end with a new team, the Minnesota Vikings, after a Pro Bowl season in 2007 with the Kansas City Chiefs.

It wasn't all that long ago, though, that the two NFL players were preparing for a different sort of football game. They each represented their school in the Silicon Valley Youth Classic Charlie Wedemeyer All-Star Football Game.

Allen played for the North squad in the summer of 2000 in a game the South won 16-8 at San Jose State University's Spartan Stadium, and Edwards played in 2002 for the North team that lost 19-15 to the South at San Jose City College.

Despite a 24-21 victory last summer, the North still trails the South 17-14-2 in the summer series that will be rekindled on July 23, 7:30 p.m., at Spartan Stadium.

Edwards and Allen are just two of the many players who went on to future glory after participating in the Silicon Valley Youth Classic, sponsored annually by the Almaden Rotary Club. And as the classic returns for a 34th time this summer, the question is who will be next future stars playing in the "Best Game in Town"?

The rosters for the 2008 all-star game have been released, and a talented crop of graduating high school seniors is set to play in this summer's classic.

Among the local players set to play for the North team in the summer game are Kiko Alonso, Jackson Dallas, Chris Frost, Nick Kalpin and Karl Winkelman of Los Gatos; Trevor Vlay of Westmont; and Shawn Sanders of Leigh.

The local players join an impressive cast of former all-stars, many of whom went on to greatness following their participation in the summer all-star game.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jeff Garcia (Gilroy/San Jose State University) is a former all-star who went on to turn pro, along with Nathan Jackson (Pioneer/Denver Broncos) Doug Cosbie (St. Francis/Dallas Cowboys), Don Schwartz (Mitty/St. Louis Cardinals), Jeff Toews (Del Mar/Miami Dolphins), Rich Campbell (SantaTeresa/Green BayPackers), Greg Woodard (Silver Creek/Oakland Raiders),Ben Bennett (Peterson/Chicago Bears), John Faylor (Mitty/49ers), Erik Howard (Bellarmine/Giants), Randy Kirk (Bellarmine/49ers). Also included on that list are the late Pat Tillman (Leland/Arizona Cardinals), Carl Monroe (Overfelt/49ers) and John Tuggle (Independence/New York Giants).

Bill Haselman (Saratoga) and the late Ken Caminiti (Leigh) each played in the summer game, then went on to play baseball in the major leagues, and Millard Hampton (Silver Creek) was an all-star who went on to win an Olympic gold medal.

Rotary sponsorship
The Almaden Valley Rotary Club sponsors the football game each summer, with proceeds going to the Rotary charity and scholarship programs. And it all started because members of the Almaden Valley Rotary Club had an idea.

"Three Rotarians came to the police department and met with me at the PAL office," said game chairman Jim Guido, now a Rotarian himself but at that time the head of the San Jose Police Activities League. "They said, 'We have an idea for an all-star football game "'

So Guido, his PAL staff and the Rotarians went to work to make the idea a reality.

"We had a marriage of sorts," said Guido of the relationship between the Rotary and the PAL. "They came up with the idea which was a good one, and we had the expertise to put the game together."

The first game was played in the summer of 1974. With the exception of 1976, the game has been played every summer since, and Guido has been involved in every one of the 33 games.

"The great thing about this game is that there are no politics involved," said Guido. "This game is for the kids."

Football banquet
The players and coaches selected for the 2008 game were invited to a banquet in their honor on May 19 at 300 San Jose. Former San Francisco 49er great Guy McIntyre was the guest speaker at the event. Big No.62 was solid at right guard for many years for the Niners, playing in five Pro Bowls and playing three Super Bowls.

The banquet also featured a slide show that included pictures and information on the all-star game players.

North team
Lynbrook High School coach Ray Wright will lead the North team in the all-star game. Members of the North team include:
Archbishop Mitty—Zach Guild, Kenny Jackson, Thomas Reynolds; Cupertino—Scott Marvin; Del Mar—Anthony Cukar, Logan Lijon; Fremont—Daunte Mills, Kenny Pope, Luis Roa; Homestead—Philip Birton, Darnell Green, Kevin Rogers; Leigh— Shawn Sanders; Los Altos—Mike Dorricott, Kenny Peterman, Danny Young; Los Gatos—Kiko Alonso, Jackson Dallas, Chris Frost, Nick Kalpin, Karl Winkelman; Lynbrook—Andy Meunier, Yas Sakurai; Milpitas—John Lee, Havelock Pomele; Monta Vista— Billy Guardino, Peter Kosulin; Mountain View—Shane Cooney, Arthur Washington; Palo Alto— Mike Anderson,Jordan Jefferson, James McCollough, Mike Scott; Prospect—Paul Michael Davis, Ryan Eseroma, Nate Taye; Santa Clara—Danijel Dukic, Edgar Salazar; Saratoga—Gabe Essner, Zach Kowitz; St. Francis—James Neylan, Sam Scudellari; Westmont—Trevor Vlay of Westmont; Wilcox—Brian Hwang, Matt Turituri.

South team
Pioneer High School head coach Mark Krail will head up the South squad for the summer game. Members of the South team include:
Andrew Hill—A.J. Ellis; Bellarmine—Kellan Barker, Jimmy Molnar; Branham—Kalani Markle; Evergreen—Daniel Quilty, Gabe Rodriguez; Gilroy—Daniel Contreras,Ethan Ogle, Travis Reyes, Gerardo Rodriguez; Gunderson— Roger Rose Jr.; Independence-Jaleel Mackey; James Lick—Christian Dyknow; Leland—Ricky Battipede, Nate Jones, Kevin Krail; Lincoln—Armando Esparza, Jagjeet Sidhu; Live Oak—Matt Acosta, Kyle Hennings, Garrett Webb; Mt. Pleasant—Travis Driskell, Isaiah Jackson; Oak Grove-Nevin Gardiner, Stacy Long, Danny Ochoa; Overfelt-Stephen Marquez; Piedmont Hills—Jacob Feagai,Devon Mynhier, Jimmy Waters; Pioneer—Tyler Chase, Enrique Martinez, Shane Murray, Stanley White; San Jose—Mark Sousa; Santa Teresa—Alonzo Parks, Joshuah Valdivia; Silver Creek—Darren Sumida; Sobrato—JoJo Anaya, Kyle Butcher; Valley Christian—Tanner Burns, Daniel Carrillo, David Henderson; Willow Glen—Charlie Findeisen; Yerba Buena-Arjun Ashokkumar.

For more details, including the history of the game and ticket information for this year's game, visit youthclassic.org.