The cut over Bruce Greenlee's eye has healed. The stitches have been out for some time now and only a faint scar shows where the longtime referee says he was sucker-punched by an out-of-control Richmond soccer coach Nov. 20.
The soccer punch-out still hurts
C.W. Nevius
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
The cut over Bruce Greenlee's eye has healed. The stitches have been out for some time now and only a faint scar shows where the longtime referee says he was sucker-punched by an out-of-control Richmond soccer coach Nov. 20.
There was community outrage when the incident happened, widespread media coverage and denunciations from deep thinkers. Everybody got the message.
Except for one person -- Mauricio Alvarez, who stands accused of socking Greenlee after he forced the Cabritos to forfeit because Alvarez couldn't prove that the hulking kid playing goalie wasn't too old to be on the team.
Alvarez will be back in court Thursday, and if his first appearance on Dec. 23 is any indication, he intends to deny the misdemeanor assault charges against him and delay the proceedings as long as possible.
At one point during the hearing, he denied even being the Cabritos' coach and said police had the wrong man. When Alameda County Deputy District Attorney John Creighton showed Alvarez a photocopy of his driver's license photo, Alvarez claimed it was too dark to identify his own picture.
"He was,'' Creighton says, "being a jerk. Whatever doubt I had about him was obviated at that point.''
And although Alvarez is certainly innocent until proven guilty, I don't like his chances. Greenlee, who saw news reports of Alvarez's first court appearance, is certainly emphatic about who and what he saw.
"That was him,'' he says. "Without a shadow of a doubt.''
Alvarez, who has not spoken to reporters since the alleged assault, did not return messages left at his home.
In the aftermath of the incident, I got e-mails from parents who said they might have video or photos of the coach that day. One even claimed Alvarez told him, "This is the third time he's done this to me. He deserves it. ''
We should all step back and consider two points. First, this all happened because Greenlee found the Cabritos did not have the required registration cards for all of the players. And yes, this was the third time it had happened with Alvarez. He became so incensed that he followed Greenlee off the field and, police say, slugged the 59-year-old volunteer.
Oh, and just a reminder. The Cabritos were all 9 years old. Greenlee was beaten so severely that he required stitches, and Alvarez faces two counts -- battery against a sports official and battery on school or park grounds -- that will almost certainly result in either jail time or some kind of supervised work program if he is convicted.
And it was all over a soccer game for grade school children.
But there's a larger issue here, too. On Sunday, the Richmond Soccer Club held its annual end-of-season awards meeting. Proud parents showed up at Cesar Chavez Elementary to cheer kids who got medals for participation.
What you saw was a community coming together during an exceedingly embarrassing, and difficult, time. It can't be easy. Richmond's financial situation is bleak, many of these families are poor and English is not the first language for many of them. In fact, the entire awards ceremony was conducted in Spanish. Soccer is clearly an important cultural touchstone in the neighborhood.
But what you might not have known is how involved Greenlee is in the program. The only gringo there, he spoke at the gathering (he learned Spanish in his days as a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru).
Clearly at ease with the group, he spoke at length about the goals of youth soccer and how "without the support of the families'' there would be no youth league. Greenlee, one of the founders of the Richmond Soccer Club "six or seven years ago,'' was even nominated to run for treasurer, but turned it down with a joke.
"I'm a thief,'' he said, drawing laughs. "I will take all your money.''
But the attack on Greenlee is dragging the program down. The last thing the dedicated parents and officials, like incoming club president Ramon Ramirez (who is very apologetic about the incident) wanted was to be the center of this kind of publicity. Team officials realize now that it was a mistake to make themselves unavailable for comment after Greenlee was assaulted.
Greenlee thinks they wanted to avoid conflict. Who needs it? Things are hard enough here, especially when you're not even comfortable with the language, without standing up in public.
"And when it comes right down to it,'' Greenlee says, "that's why I got slugged. I didn't avoid conflict. This guy has been pulling this and I called him on it.''
And there's the problem. The parents have been letting this go. They have winked at coaches who stocked their teams with over-age players and let players switch teams with ease.
But now it is time for them to step up and do what is right. None of the Cabritos' parents has offered to identify the man who assaulted Greenlee. In fact, Alvarez says he will bring witnesses who will say he was not the man who slugged Greenlee.
Again, legally, he gets the benefit of the doubt. But the evidence available right now says he was the guy. If he was, Alvarez has done immeasurable harm to an admirable and commendable program. Now he is hoping those proud soccer moms and dads will not want to get involved.
In fact, he is counting on it.
E-mail C.W. Nevius at cwnevius@sfchronicle.com.
