Richmond soccer club officials say referee Bruce Greenlee, whom a lawyer accused of discriminating against one of their teams, is a longtime friend of the Latino community who co-founded their club and always treats everybody fairly.



Richmond soccer club officials say referee Bruce Greenlee, whom a lawyer accused of discriminating against one of their teams, is a longtime friend of the Latino community who co-founded their club and always treats everybody fairly.

Soccer club staff back referee

By Tom Lochner

CONTRA COSTA TIMES

Richmond soccer club officials say a referee, whom a lawyer accused of discriminating against one of their teams, is a longtime friend of the Latino community who co-founded their club and always treats everybody fairly.

"Bruce (Greenlee) is a person who has done a lot for this community and for soccer," said Ramon Ramirez, president of the Richmond United Soccer Club, home of the 8- and 9-year-old Cabritos team.

Attorney Angela Greene is defending former Cabritos coach Mauricio Alvarez, 33, against two misdemeanor battery counts alleging he punched and kicked Greenlee at halftime of a match in Albany's Memorial Park on Nov. 20. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $2,000 fine.

Greenlee had disqualified the Cabritos after team officials could not present passes for all its players. Player passes, which constitute proof of age and insurance, are normally checked before games. Because the end-of-season tournament game was running late, Greenlee agreed to check the passes at halftime.

Greene, speaking outside an Alameda County Superior Courtroom last week after a hearing for Alvarez, said, "(Greenlee) only did that for the Hispanic team; that's why they're saying it's motivated by racial discrimination."

But Manish Doshi, president of the El Cerrito Soccer Club, which includes the Hurricanes, the Cabritos' opponent that day, said Greene is wrong.

"Bruce checked the Hurricanes' passes before he went over to the other team to check their passes," said Doshi, who is also a licensed referee. "All the Hurricanes' passes were present.

"Both coaches were told that both teams' passes would be checked at halftime," Doshi said.

The Cabritos were leading 1-0 when the attack occurred.

Greene, acknowledging the attack took place, said her client is a victim of mistaken identity. She said three witnesses are willing to testify Alvarez is not the person who hit Greenlee.

But Greenlee, after seeing Alvarez on television leaving the court after a December hearing, said, "the person in those film clips is the person who attacked me; 100 percent certain; no question at all."

Greene said her client turned down an offer by the District Attorney's Office of a guilty plea and six months in jail. Alvarez might, however, consider pleading guilty to disturbing the peace, she said.

Alameda County deputy district attorney Catherine Kobal said "there is no offer on the table" and that there had only been "a preliminary discussion without specified terms."

Greenlee said he would like to see Alvarez plead guilty to battery on a sports official.

"I want him to turn in his soccer credentials, spend a weekend in jail or on a work crew or do some other community service unrelated to kids."

Commenting on Alvarez's accusation of racism, Greenlee said, "I'm not the slightest bit surprised that that would be his refuge."

Alex Rodriguez, Richmond United's immediate past president, said the allegation was "kind of strange" given Greenlee's track record.

"He's one of the ones who built the Richmond club," Rodriguez said.

Greenlee, 59, who learned soccer while serving with the Peace Corps in Peru in the late 1960s, co-founded the Richmond United Soccer Club about seven years ago. He has worked as a bilingual teacher in Berkeley; for a law project representing migrant farm workers in Wisconsin; and runs his own law practice in Oakland where he specialized in representing Latinos, he said. He currently works for an online legal research company.

At a soccer awards ceremony at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in Richmond last month, Rodriguez denounced the attack and thanked Greenlee for many years of service to the club while Ramirez presented Greenlee with the green jersey of the Mexican national soccer team.
Reach Tom Lochner at 510-262-2760 or tlochner@cctimes.com.

When this story was posted in February 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:

The Peace Corps Library Peace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 30,000 index entries in over 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related reference material in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can use the Main Index to find hundreds of stories about RPCVs who have your same interests, who served in your Country of Service, or who serve in your state.

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WWII participants became RPCVs Read about two RPCVs who participated in World War II in very different ways long before there was a Peace Corps. Retired Rear Adm. Francis J. Thomas (RPCV Fiji), a decorated hero of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, died Friday, Jan. 21, 2005 at 100. Mary Smeltzer (RPCV Botswana), 89, followed her Japanese students into WWII internment camps. We honor both RPCVs for their service.

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