Calipatria PAL back by popular demand
CALIPATRIA — A group of parents seeking more sports options for their kids have help resurrect the Calipatria Police Activities League after nearly four years.
The absence of PAL left only two options for kids here who wanted to participate in sports: either play Little League baseball and make the trek to Brawley everyday where more activities were available, Calipatria PAL President Arturo Aguayo explained.
Prior to the program being brought back in 2018, it had been shut down for 3.5 years, which was the result of a lack of a strong foundation, communication and leadership, Calipatria PAL board member Elisa Ruiz said.
The revived PAL returned with a soccer and cheerleading program that drew in some 50 young soccer players and more than 20 cheerleaders.
“The community was glad that sports were coming back,” Calipatria PAL vice president Victor Fierro said.
After receiving numerous inquiries from the community during the hiatus, the officer in charge of the program eventually held a meeting last year, during which he announced he would step down from the position.
“There wasn’t a strong foundation that was able to lead people in that right direction,” Ruiz said. “It was just kind of, ‘OK, it’s there, but we’re not doing anything.’ I think they needed more of a leader to go ahead and say, ‘OK, you’re in charge of this and that.’”
Unexpectedly, Aguayo, who simply attended the meeting in hopes of bringing back PAL’s flag football program, was unanimously elected president.
Having been both a former player and coach for Calipatria PAL flag football, Aguayo said it was tough to see the program die, and that he was ready to take on the challenge of restoring it in the community.
After a “rocky start” to establishing a board, a core group of members — including Fierro, Ruiz, Marco
Ramos, Raquel Uribe and Sarah Fierro — was found.
The current board members all have children in PAL, are either lifelong or long-time Calipatria residents and also served on the Little League baseball committee.
“I think if we communicate together, and we’re all on the same page to help it grow for the kids, I think we’ll have it under control,” Ruiz said.
“I think we all took a position here with the intent to make it for the kids, not for one’s self,” Aguayo added.
Established in the early 1990s, Calipatria PAL is one of three active Police Activities Leagues in the Valley, the others being El Centro PAL and the Imperial County Sheriff’s Activities League.
Setting PAL apart from a Parks and Recs Department featured in cities such as Brawley and Imperial is the contribution needed from volunteering parents and donations.
The amount made from a raffle sale for the cheerleading program and menudo sale for the soccer program truly showed how much the community supported the return of PAL, Aguayo said.
“I did not expect anything close to what we made,” he said. “And we made a decent amount of money.”
While Calipatria PAL did receive financial support from the community last year, running a successful season was mostly the handiwork of the board itself, as members coached, did field work and worked the snack booth, among other things.
“We don’t have so much parent help, it’s like minimum,” Ruiz said. “It was pretty much just us that helped each other out during the season. We knew we needed to make it stronger because it was nonexistent before.”
Despite the program’s name, the Calipatria Police Department has minimal involvement in the program.
The support that the department does provide, however —free background checks on adult volunteers, support in fundraisers and the chief of police serving as the program’s director — is heavily appreciated by the board.
“If we ask for support, they do support us,” Aguayo said. “We’ve just never really asked for it. We handle most of it.”
After noticing that the PAL soccer teams were playing in the dirt lot in the east side of town, Calipatria Unified School Superintendent Douglas Kline reached out to Aguayo and offered the high school’s field for use.
Ruiz believes the program is bringing together Calipatria in a much-needed way.
“I think the PAL sets some type of realization like, ‘OK, there’s more out there; we’re not limited.’ We don’t have to go to Brawley to go play baseball or we don’t have to go to Brawley to play soccer. We can do it here,’” she said. “We’ve been here all of our lives, so we know what there is here. And there are things here — it’s just getting it started and keeping it going.”
Before the going dark for that nearly four-year stretch, PAL was offering only soccer. This year, the board hopes to bring back its soccer and cheer program, and also possibly create a flag football and wrestling program. Earlier this year, PAL hosted a new adults and kids fitness camp.
PAL will be accepting sign ups starting Aug. 1 at a rate of $55 per player, with a $5 second-sibling discount.
For more information, contact Aguayo at (760) 216-1842.