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Coaches awarded for Challenger team

by Miranda Simon

Menlo-Atherton Little League coaches Bob Crowe and Doug Kaufman have won a Positive Coaching Alliance award for their work with youth with physical, mental and emotional challenges, according to alliance spokesperson Valerie McCarthy.

Crowe and Kaufman will be awarded the Double-Goal Coach Award at PCA's 10th annual National Youth Sports Awards Dinner and Auction at Sharon Heights Golf and Country Club in Menlo Park on Thursday, April 7.

The event will also honor San Francisco Giants Manager Bruce Bochy with the PCA's Ronald L. Jensen Award for Lifetime Achievement. Bochy led the Giants to their 2010 World Series victory.

In 2009, Crowe and Kaufman launched the Menlo-Atherton Little League's Challenger team for youth with physical, mental and emotional challenges. The Challenger team featured a "buddy system," which couples volunteers with players who need aid on the field.

This is meant to give young volunteers life lessons and gives parents a chance to cheer for their children instead of assisting them on the field, McCarthy said.

Crowe has served as a coach at Hillview Middle School and Kaufman at St. Raymond School (K-8), both in Menlo Park.

"Whenever I get a team, I tell them there is one key rule they cannot break," Kaufman said. "They have to be positive about their teammates. If they win as a team, great. If they lose as a team, great. But it's got to be done as a team."

The dinner will include live and silent auctions. PCA National Advisory Board member and San Francisco 49ers broadcaster Ted Robinson will serve as master of ceremonies.

The event starts at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 7, with a reception and silent auction. The dinner starts at 7 p.m. In lieu of attending, donations of any size can be made in the coaches' honor and will be recognized at the event.

Visit tinyurl.com/PCAdinner to purchase tickets.