Monday, April 27, 2009

May 23 Benefit for Howie, Alex Pogman


Come join in a fundraiser
benefitting
Alex Pogman and Howie Hawver
(a portion of net proceeds from this game will be donated to These wonderful coaches Trust accounts at San Diego County Credit Union)

May 23, 2009

Granite Hills High School
6:30pm

SD United vs. LA Rampage

Wear your club gear
and
get 20% off your ticket!
Visit our website: www.sdunited.net

For your tickets-Please call :
Maria Lenhoff
Director of Marketing at SD United
(619) 334-7875

Friday, April 24, 2009

Cal South OK's a Black Box for Hawver

By: Amberly Dressler, From XKSoccer San Diego

Hawver and his former CSC GU-13 Spirit Red team. A concerned parent opened a can of worms when he stepped in as a ref last high school season. The scheduled ref didn’t show up, so the parent suited up to mediate the match. The substitute ref felt that the opposing team, Howie Hawver's Patrick Henry HS squad, suffered an unfair disadvantage. Hawver, who was recently diagnosed with ALS (popularly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease), can’t carry his voice as far as he used to. Part of ALS is that the breathing capacity reduces, so speaking becomes difficult. Hawver couldn’t yell out instructions to his team or objections to the ref as effectively as the other coach. And what would soccer be without the commotion?Hawver also coaches competitive club soccer (San Diego Spirit), so discussions with Cal South began (Hawver didn’t even know they were happening) to approve an amplification device that people living with ALS often use. Focus on ALS describes the tool as, “a personal amplifier that can be used to increase vocal loudness in soft-spoken people. The amplifier also decreases voice fatigue.”It’s basically a black box with a headset-type microphone. Cal South jumped all over the opportunity to help out Hawver and future coaches with similar disabilities. The box does not give Hawver an advantage, as the box doesn’t send out amplification louder than what Hawver could normally project his voice prior to ALS. ALS also puts physical limitations on those with the disease. Hawver feels his communication skills have improved because he has to describe to players what they need to do rather than just show them. Hawver, admittedly, is more of an olders coach now, as the older players can relate to words rather than visuals.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Three-Decade Tourney Honors Howie Hawver

From XKSoccer, March 31, 2009

Bonita Vista HS girls varsity coach and Barons Tournament director Ron Pietila announced that effective immediately the 30th annual Barons Tournament is now named “The Howie Classic” to honor San Diego mainstay Howie Hawver (Patrick Henry HS, Grossmont College, San Diego Spirit SC). Coach Pietila says the name change holds hopes of “perhaps reminding people we need added resolve in researching and treating ALS,” which is a disease Hawver was diagnosed with late last year. Depending on the number of teams participating, the tournament will make a donation to an ALS organization of Hawver’s choice. The annual girls competition runs from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12 and is hosted by Bonita Vista HS.

Hawver has provided these links to help raise awareness:
http://www.alsa.org/
http://www.alsasd.org/
To read about Hawver's contributions to the community, click here.