South Valley Lacrosse Club's Coach Paul Kunzel Named a Finalist for Positive Coaching Alliance's Double-Goal Coach(R) Award

From Hundreds of Coaches Nominated, PCA Distinguishes Chiefs Youth Lacrosse Coach for Years of Commitment, Honoring the Game and Redefining "Winner" for His Players


SAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwire - February 16, 2011) - South Valley Lacrosse, the longest-running organization promoting the sport of boys' lacrosse in the South Bay Area, today announced that one of its coaches, Paul Kunzel, has been named as a finalist for Positive Coaching Alliance's (PCA) Double-Goal Coach® Award, presented by Liberty Mutual Insurance.

South Valley Lacrosse is a family-based organization designed to help all players grow physically and mentally. Through hard work and discipline, players learn how to become successful not only in lacrosse but in life. South Valley Lacrosse's tradition is based on respect, effort and sportsmanship.

According to PCA, thousands of people from 43 states helped nominate hundreds of coaches evaluated in its annual Double-Goal Coach Award program. In late February, PCA will name 20 winners from its list of 50 finalists.

"Becoming one of our finalists is a great tribute to Paul, considering there are 4 million youth sports coaches nationwide," said PCA Founder and Executive Director Jim Thompson. "No matter which of our finalists win our awards, they already are winners, and so are the youth athletes they coach."

PCA defines a Double-Goal Coach as one whose first goal is winning and whose second, more-important goal is teaching life lessons through sports. Double-Goal Coaches redefine "Winner" through a focus on mastery, rather than a scoreboard orientation. They teach players that a "Winner" makes maximum effort, continues to learn and improve, and is not stopped by mistakes or fear of mistakes. Double-Goal Coaches also fill players' Emotional Tanks, refusing to motivate through fear, intimidation, or shame. Finally, Double-Goal Coaches honor the game by teaching respect for ROOTS (Rules, Opponents, Officials, Teammates, Self).

"We are very proud that the Chiefs' Paul Kunzel has been named a finalist for this award," said Joy Bender, South Valley Lacrosse Manager. "Paul has coached in our club for several years and has always instilled good sportsmanship and the attributes of a Double-Goal Coach. His players always come out of the season with great lessons learned about lacrosse and life. It is due to our coaches like Paul that South Valley Lacrosse continues to grow and provide such excellent lacrosse and learning experiences for our area youth."

About Positive Coaching Alliance
Founded as a non-profit within the Stanford University Athletic Department in 1998, Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) has the mission of "transforming youth sports so sports can transform youth." To that end, PCA has conducted nearly 9,000 live group workshops nationwide for more than 475,000 youth and high school sports leaders, coaches and parents. Workshop attendees have helped create a positive, character-building youth sports environment for roughly 3.5 million youth athletes.

PCA's partnership network includes more than 1,700 youth sports organizations, cities and schools. In 2011, PCA will conduct roughly 1,300 live, group workshops across the U.S., while assisting tens of thousands of other individuals via online workshops at http://www.positivecoach.org/.

PCA trains coaches to be Double-Goal Coaches®, whose first goal is winning and whose second, more-important goal is teaching life lessons through sports. PCA also cultivates Second-Goal Parents, who focus on life lessons through sports and helps produce Triple-Impact Competitors, student-athletes who work to improve themselves, their teammates, and their sport as a whole.

PCA has the support of elite coaches and athletes on a National Advisory Board including Los Angeles Lakers Coach Phil Jackson, Boston Celtics Coach Doc Rivers and dozens of others.

About the South Valley Chiefs Lacrosse Club
South Valley Lacrosse is a volunteer, non-profit organization established in 2005 to promote the sport of lacrosse in the South Bay Area. The club accepts boys ages 9 through high school of all playing levels. South Valley Lacrosse is not part of any single city or school district. It accepts players from all cities in the South Bay -- from both public and private schools. The club is run by a volunteer staff and relies on parent participation, especially as it grows, who provide the players with a positive playing experience. The club is an affiliate of US Lacrosse of Northern California and a member of the Northern California Junior Lacrosse Association (NCJLA). Team stats for all clubs are on the NCJLA website.

Go to http://www.southvalleylacrosse.com/page/show/45674-home for more information. If you would like to watch a game and learn more about the sport, please visit the website at http://www.southvalleylacrosse.com/page/show/45676-teams and select the team of your choice.

Contact Information:

Editorial Contacts:
Dan Spalding
Spalding Communications, LLC (for the SV Chiefs)
(408) 960-9297