Michael Lindeburg
SAYSO Coach 1992-present
Hometown: Belmont
Coaching Licenses: SAYSO Platinum certification; CYSA D license; CYSA Goalkeeper G license; AYSO C license
Referee Licenses: USSF Assignor license; USSF Grade 8 license
Certifications and Awards: Positive Coaching Alliance
Other Credentials: BS and MS degrees in engineering from Stanford University; licensed Professional Engineer, State of California; Community Colleges Lifetime Teaching Credential in Mathematics, Engineering, and Business; a lifetime of experience in training and education, with thousands of hours teaching in the classroom; author of approximately 50 college-level and above engineering textbooks; founder of multiple for-profit and nonprofit corporations; member, American Society of Engineering Educators. Commercial driver's license with bus endorsement for driving SAYSO buses.

I have been a professional teacher since age sixteen, when for five years I held a 6-day per week job as lead guitar instructor at Goetz Brothers in Redwood City. After graduation from college, I taught engineering courses for up to four evenings per week at De Anza College in Cupertino during the evenings. I subsequently founded the Professional Engineering Institute in 1978, a nonprofit engineering school that continues with few changes to this date presenting engineering training courses in dozens of locations in California and other local states. As a consultant, I have been been hired by such companies as Lockheed, IBM, Bechtel, Ampex, Memorex, and the US Navy to conduct week- and month-long training programs for their engineering staffs.

As a youth soccer coach, I have been 'teaching' children for more than 20 years, starting in AYSO and progressing through the highest levels of competitive soccer.  I have three times already heralded a group of girls from U6 to U18, and I am now 'working on' my fourth and fifth. I have coached at the varsity, junior varsity, and frosh-sophomore levels in high school, both as a paid coach and as a volunteer. Although I accept no payment from SAYSO for my coaching, I have served as a paid 'professional coach/trainer' for non-SAYSO teams in the past.

I have a dozen years of service on both AYSO regional and CYSA soccer administrative league boards. For the local (CYSA) Redwood Junior Soccer League , I have served as Secretary, Treasurer, and Referee Coordinator. I have been hired as the referee assignor for large local soccer tournaments, including several D2 District Cups, the Kellogg's Cup, Juventus Tournament of Champions, and Palo Alto Tall Tree Tournament. I have conducted numerous summer soccer camps, including developing their curricula and training the camp coaches.

I have taken youth teams to prestigious tournaments such as the San Diego Surf Cup, tournaments in other states, and tournaments in England, Sweden, and Holland. I have coached five teams to local AYSO Regional Tournament championships, one CYSA youth team to a California state (Association Cup) championship, and several high school teams through league championships and into CCS knock-out rounds.

My playing history includes playing on local men's outdoor and indoor amateur league teams. I was the captain of a men's over-35 indoor team for five years. Although I have played as a field player, most of my time has been in the nets. I am a two-time participant graduate of Joe Machnik's No. 1 Goalkeeper Training Program. Joe Machnik is currently the Vice President of Game Operations for MLS, the United State's professional men's soccer league.

As a licensed referee, I have over a decade of refereeing experience at the youth, high school, and adult levels. I am comfortable refereeing indoor arena as well as outdoor games on grass and turf involving teams of all levels (recreational to highest-level competitive), all ages, all genders including coed, and all ethnicities.

Professionally, I am the President and Editor-in-Chief of PPI (formerly Professional Publications, Inc.), a 30 year-old publisher of technical (engineering, architecture, surveying, interior design, etc.) college-level textbooks and industry handbooks sold throughout the world. Of the more than 50 textbooks that I have personally authored, several have been translated into other languages, most are sold internationally, and many have been selected numerous times as Book Club main and alternate selections. I was previously active in local politics, including serving as the President of the Belmont Chamber of Commerce, participating in several multi-year city taskforces and committee (including helping select new police officers), writing new and revising existing city ordinances, and acting as Chamber Ombudsman in disputes between businesses and the city. Over the years, I have held various offices and served on boards of directors for professional and nonprofit organizations. As a veteran, I've served in the US Army (Military Intelligence) and California National Guard (MASH) and have received numerous military awards, including three Army Commendation Medals, service ribbons, Awards of Military Excellence, and other performance and skill achievement awards.

I am married and have two grown children, both of whom played both AYSO, class-3, and class-1 CYSA soccer, and one who played in college and subsequently on a premier amateur team after graduation. My wife is a credentialed (though, recently-retired) public school kindergarten teacher. Our family has traveled traveled extensively throughout the world, having spent time in Canada, Mexico, South Africa, England, Sweden, Holland, Israel, Jordan, and Jamaica. All four of us are accomplished snow-boarders. Our family is extremely close and can draw on memories of uncountable soccer-related all-family experiences.

Betsy Cordoba
SAYSO Coach 2005-present
Hometown: San Jose
Coaching Licenses: SAYSO Bronze Level Certification
Referee Licenses:
Certifications and Awards:
Other Credentials: Member, Costa Rican Women's National Team

I am a Costa Rican with a passion for children and soccer. I have been playing soccer since age 5. As an older child, I grew up in San Francisco where I played Class-1 soccer with the San Francisco Vikings Club. I was the captain of the Skyline College Women's Soccer team for two years, during which time the team was twice the college league champion. In 2003, I had the honor of playing for the Costa Rican Women's National Team. I am currently playing on the Menlo College women's soccer team.

In 2006, I served as the head coach for SAYSO's 94G White team, where the players finished the fall season with an outstanding winning record of 7-2-3. I am also active in coaching SAYSO's weekend Crickets program for 5-, 6-, and 7-year olds as well as SAYSO's indoor soccer program.
 

I feel strongly that being a positive role model for the girls in our club is key! Building their self-confidence, esteem, and the love of the game is my long-term goal as a head coach.

I love children. I spend as much time as I can with SAYSO, but when I'm not coaching or playing soccer, I'm working at the Boys and Girls Club in Redwood City. I'm also a student at Menlo College in Atherton. I have four sisters, two brothers, and 14 nieces and nephews. Besides children and soccer, Afghan food, candy, Doritos, shopping, movies, cooking, and baking put a smile on my face!

Greg Costanzo
SAYSO Coach 2002-present
Hometown: Foster City
Coaching Licenses: SAYSO Platinum certification; CYSA E license
Referee Licenses: USSF Grade 8
Certifications and Awards: Positive Coaching Alliance

I have been involved with youth sports and activities for many years with my three children ages 15, 12 and 10. I have coached youth soccer, baseball, and basketball and have been a board member and helped run a youth hockey program while my son played ice hockey. I currently help run SAYSO with roles as Club Referee Assigner and Secretary.  

In regards to soccer, I have coached girl’s soccer for over 5 years, including competitive girl’s soccer (CYSA, US Club) for 3 years; and I coached AYSO recreational teams for more than 2 years prior to that. I have been the head coach of a girls U10 Class 3 team that finished 1 point out of first place during the Fall 2005 season, with a 9-0-2 record, and beat the first place team decisively during the season. That team was able to move into Class 1 in the Spring of 2006 and was competitive in the Fall of 2006, including finishing 3^rd in District Cup, with the only weekend loss coming during penalty kicks.  I also have experience as an assistant coach for the SAYSO U12 Girls Class 1, Division 1 team and have coached a number of SAYSO indoor soccer teams.   

I hold a CYSA E Coaching license and a USSF Grade 8 Referee license. I am also a member of the Positive Coaching Alliance.  Despite the focus on winning above, I believe it’s very important to develop all players and their skills. I pride myself on balancing learning and player development with competition and winning.

I am very active athletically personally, having completed 2 full marathons, 5 half marathons and other numerous running races, in addition to playing recreational basketball, soccer, and tennis. I also enjoy skiing, hiking, and snowboarding. I believe that athletics play an important role in a healthy, happy life for all ages, from youths to adults.

Maryn Craig
SAYSO Coach 2007-present
Hometown: Foster City
Coaching Licenses: SAYSO Copper certification; CYSA F license
Referee Licenses:
Certifications and Awards:

I am currently a student and soccer player at Menlo College. In 2007, I was the assistant JV soccer coach at San Mateo High School. I also have worked for 5 summers at youth camps, including the Notre Dame de Namur camp, and have volunteered during high school for AYSO. I have played the game since I was 5 years old, have played club socer since I was 10, and haven't stopped playing since.

I started playing “the beautiful game” at the age of 5. I fell in love with it, and I have not stopped playing since. I was able to learn from some of the best coaches that California had to offer at the time and even from some of the best coaches in the nation. With their wisdom and experience, I was able to develop into one of the best players, for my age, in California and the Western United States. 

In high school, I played in the Olympic Development Program for U16 and U18 teams. I advanced to be an alternate for the Western Regional Team. I was recruited by several Division I colleges and eventually accepted a scholarship to play at the University of New Mexico. At UNM, I majored in Biology with an emphasis in Zoology. While playing in college, I received such honors as All Tournament Teams and All Western Athletic Conference Team player. 

After college, I began a 1-1/2 year Exotic Animal Training and Management Program, at Moorpark College. Upon, graduation, I headed to the Bay Area to be part of the San Francisco Zoo that was building a new lemur exhibit, the zoo's Lemur Forest, which I and my colleagues opened. From an early age, I had planned to work with animals, and my dream came true.

At the same time, I also joined the Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL). WPSL is currently the highest level of women’s soccer in the United States. I have played for the San Francisco Nighthawks and the Sacramento Storm, both highly-ranked semi-professional teams. As a player, I am now in hiatus, as I have recently become a mom to a wonderful baby boy.

I started my coaching career with the University of New Mexico’s Women’s Soccer Camps in 1995. I helped train children aged 5 through 13. I also did personal (one-on-one) skill training from 1996 to 1998. 

Taking a break from the zoo, I joined SAYSO in 2004. and have been coaching ever since. I also help do youth clinics with the San Francisco Nighthawks.

Interestingly, I almost took a course to get my USSF C coaching license while I was at UNM. But, at that time, I figured I was destined to work only with nonhuman animals for the rest of my life. Life is funny. During my first season with SAYSO, I acquired the Positive Coaching Alliance Certificate, as well as the SAYSO Coaching Course Certificate. I then went on to receive my CYSA F Coaching License in 2005. I am currently registered to take the NSCAA National Diploma Course in June of 2007.  

Rick (Peter) Holland
SAYSO Coach 2007-present
Hometown: Woodside
Coaching Licenses: NSCAA Advanced National License; Level 1 Goalkeeper License
Referee Licenses:
Certifications and Awards:
Other Credentials: Masters in Sports Coaching

I moved in 2007 to Palo Alto soccer community from Europe where I had been coaching soccer at the American University of Greece and playing for Helandri Football Club (a 4 ^th division club in Athens). I coached in St. Louis, MO at a division III school for two years before that, while earning my Masters degree in Sports Coaching. I currently hold an NSCAA advanced national coaching license and the level I goalkeeper license. I have coached both men's and women's soccer at the high school and college levels.

I was born and grew up in France. Like most European lads, I started playing soccer as soon as I could walk. As a young adult, I played on a team that won the Paris Cup one year and finished in the quarter-finals another year. As an adult, I played for the semi-professional Stade Francais (founded in 1888) team out of Paris. I am an accomplished player.

Here in the United States, I have coached AYSO soccer in the U6 through U10 age groups. I served as an assistant U9B coach for SAYSO.

I am originally from Modesto, CA, but am currently in my junior year, at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, CA. I play on NDNU's Women's Soccer team, which is an NCAA Division II team. I will be a team captain for the 2006-2007 school year. I also play on the MR Scorpions, a women's indoor team at World Class Indoor Soccer.

I have been playing soccer for 10 years, and I've had plenty of experience at different levels. I've played at the club (Ajax United), high school (Peter Johansen High School), Premier (SJSFC Elite and Turlock Tornados), and Olympic Development Program (District 8 ODP, U15 and U23 State ODP, and Region IV U15 regional ODP) levels. I also am planning on playing for the Filipino International Soccer team starting Winter 2007.

I have a rich and varied background in coaching young athletes, including working in Paul McCallion's and Tisha Venturini's soccer camps. I have two years of experience coaching at the club level. Although this is my first year coaching for SAYSO, I am currently coaching five SAYSO indoor teams (Merlins, Condors, Unicorns, Dragons, and Pumas) whose players are between the ages of 8-11. 

I've always had a passion for coaching young athletes. I feel that having a positive and encouraging role model are key in a young athlete's success and enjoyment of the sport. I intend to continue being involved in soccer, inspiring young athletes to love the game as I do and to reach their full potentials - in soccer as in Life.

I first started playing soccer in Mexico at the age of 12. Prior to that age I was more interested in basketball, baseball, and football. I have subsequently played in AYSO, in high school, and in college. At the age of 15, I began playing in the Internazional adult league within the Peninsula League.

I really enjoy coaching soccer. Being part of SAYSO is the best thing that has happened to me in this regard. I love working with children, and being part of SAYSO gives me the opportunity to share what I have learned about the beautiful game. I hope to continue coaching and playing soccer for many more years, as I learn something new every time I step on the field.

I was born in Glasgow, Scotland where Football (soccer) is our national sport. I have played and followed the sport all my life. I started coaching youth soccer in 2004 when my daughter started playing. I joined the SAYSO coaching staff in 2005 and have been active ever since. It is a pleasure watching the children practice, play, and enjoy this great game. I am currently an assistant coach with the U8 girls program.

I am married with two children, Jennifer and Jack. Jennifer plays with the U8 girls, and Jack will begin his soccer career next year at the grand old age of 4. I am a Licensed roofing contractor, specializing in slate and tile roof installation on custom homes throughout northern California (Pebble Beach to Sonoma). I have Installed slate roofs in Scotland and in the US. In 1995, I  traveled to Thailand to install a slate roof for the King of Thailand on his new summer palace.

I’m very happy to be the U8 Boys Coaching Coordinator along with my wife Caroline who is the U8 Boys Division Team Manager Coordinator. We are enjoying making new friendships with the families that are part of the SAYSO organization. Together with the fantastic coaching staff that SAYSO has in place for the U8 Boys Division, I look forward to continuing to watch the boys develop there soccer skills and talents.

Alex Saunders
SAYSO Coach 2007-present
Hometown: Burlingame
Coaching Licenses: English Football Association Level 1, NSCAA State and National diplomas
Referee Licenses:
Certifications and Awards:
Other Credentials:

Alex Saunders was formerly the director of coaching for Major League Soccer (MLS) Camps, training and guiding the activities of over 190 MLS coaches assigned to clubs and AYSO regions over 14 western states. He is a player and an experienced coach. A native of England, he has numerous FA (Football Association) credentials, including a Level 1 license. He has both NSCAA State and National diplomas as well as CYSA certification. Alex brings a wealth of international knowledge, experience, and contacts to SAYSO. Alex coached in SAYSO's 96G program during fall of 2007. In additional to serving on SAYSO's board of directors, Alex will be coaching in SAYSO's 99G academy.

Robert Tjan

I combine a strong competitive spirit with a passion for helping young athletes achieve their athletic potentials.

I have over 9 years of coaching experience in AYSO, during which time I coached each age group from U6 to U16. In addition to coaching CYSA soccer teams in SAYSO since 2005, I have also served as an assistant coach for the U15 CYSA boys team in San Mateo.

Outside of soccer, I can boast of having coached Track and Field at Bowditch Middle School in Foster City as well as teaching karate for 13 years to various ages. Further, I have teaching and coaching experience at the Montessori school in Tustin, San Mateo Boys and Girls Club, Orange Coast County Junior College, and UC Irvine.

In college at UC Irvine, I played college rugby, while also playing club rugby for four years in the Irvine Coast Rugby Club. I am a member of the National Team for Japanese style karate, having competed in AAU karate and placing 2nd. I am an AAU swimmer, but I enjoy competitive boating. I am a member of the U.S. Dragon boat team and participated in the 2002 World championship. I enjoy outrigger paddling and have competed in races in California and Hawaii.