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All City Girls Volleyball Team

The Southern California Municipal Athletic Federation (SCMAF) held the Girls’ “A” Division Volleyball Championships in West Covina on Sunday, November 18, 2007. The tournament featured teams from various regions throughout Southern California. Nine eighth grade girls from various schools in El Monte were selected to represent the City at the tournament.

2007 El Monte All-City “A” Division Girls’ Volleyball Team

Coaches: Rebecca Romero (Durfee) and Melissa Trejos (Potrero)

Our girls opened pool play against the City of Commerce team. Both games were intense and we started very nervous. The team found themselves behind in both games. Coaches Rebecca Romero and Melissa Trejos sensed that the games were getting out of reach and called crucial time outs to keep the team in the games. El Monte rallied to come from behind to win the first two games. In the second match up, El Monte played the powerhouse team from Bakersfield Tevis Jr. High School. They were the Champions from the Southern San Joaquin Association. Riding high on the first two come from behind wins, El Monte kept even with Tevis frustrating them for almost half of the first game. Eventually, Tevis made a few adjustments and countered El Monte’s game plan winning both games. The last team that El Monte played was The City of Azusa. The two teams were equally matched and eventually split the games with both teams winning 1 game each. El Monte finished pool play in second place with a 3-3 Win-Loss record and qualifying for the Playoff Elimination Rounds. In the first playoff round, El Monte played Tevis Jr. High's sister school Heritage, also from Bakersfield. Our girls played hard and gave everything they had all the way to the end. Loaded with seasoned volleyball players, Heritage eventually eliminated our girls winning all the games.

The girls had a really great and exciting time at the tournament. For all of the girls, it was their first opportunity to compete in such a tournament. Many of them felt that it was a different experience to travel and play teams from other cities and regions. They were nervous at first, but eventually had a lot of fun and gained the respect of their opponents. The girls also got the chance to meet and play with other players in our City league. Some of the girls will eventually play in high school together. The team really bonded in between matches eating snacks and playing games. The girls will all return to their respective teams this week, but most of them stated that this is an experience that they will never forget. Each girl on the All City team received a t-shirt commemorating being selected to the team as well as a nice certificate.

All City Boys’ Flag Football Team

The Southern California Municipal Athletic Federation- San Gabriel Valley Association (SCMAF-SGV) held the Boys’ “A” Division Flag Football Tournament in Irwindale on November 26-30, 2007. The Cities of Azusa and Irwindale co-hosted the event. The tournament featured teams from various regions throughout Southern California. Twelve eighth grade boys from various schools in El Monte were selected to represent the City at the tournament. The team was coached by Chris Ponce (Specialist II), Alberto Castaneda (Potrero) and Chris Guy (Columbia).

2007 El Monte All-City “A” Division Boys’ Flag Football Team

Coaches: Chris Ponce (Specialist II), Alberto Castaneda (Potrero) & Chris Guy (Columbia)

El Monte opened the tournament against Duarte and broke through any pre-tournament jitters with a stunning 61-0 win. The team played stellar defense shutting down the Duarte offense and holding them scoreless through each of the four 10-minute quarters of the game. El Monte continued their excellent play in its second game against host City Irwindale. El Monte once again stunned their opponents with a back-to-back shut out win of 53-0. The stellar defense and precision offense of El Monte started to become the talk of the tournament with an amazing total 114 points scored against their opponents and none scored against them through the first two games.

El Monte was well on their way to the tournament semifinal round with their first two impressive wins. Their next opponent was nearby Monrovia. This would be El Monte’s first test, as the two teams seemed equally matched. El Monte looked to jump ahead quickly and scored their first touchdown early in the first quarter. They converted on a 2 point extra point making the score 8-0. As the first quarter was coming to an end, El Monte was pushing again trying to score from Monrovia’s one-yard line and go up by two touchdowns. But this time it was Monrovia who came up with the big play keeping El Monte out of the end zone on fourth down. The next play would prove to be the turning point in the game. Monrovia, who set up on their one-yard line, threw a long pass for a touch down just as the first quarter ended. Monrovia tied the game at 8-8 when they converted 2 extra points. El Monte tried to counter Monrovia’s play, but the game’s momentum had tilted in Monrovia’s favor. Monrovia would score the next two touchdowns and El Monte fought hard to come back but eventually came up short losing 34-14. El Monte finished tied for third in the SGV tournament. Each boy on the All City team received a t-shirt commemorating being selected to the team as well as a nice certificate.

Because El Monte finished in the top three places in the San Gabriel Valley Tournament, they earned a berth into the SCMAF Championship Tournament that will be held on December 8-9, 2007 in the City of Garden Grove. The team will be participating in the SCMAF tournament and is proud to represent the City of El Monte at the prestigious event. We will root them on as they begin their journey to becoming SCMAF Champions!