Mehdi Siadat is such a coach, according to local players, parents and coaches and—after nearly 25 years of training both boys and girls of various competition levels—the California Youth Soccer Association. Siadat was honored earlier this year by CYSA as Boys Coach of the Year.

"I don't know of one person involved with soccer in our communities that has his heart so embedded in their players and the good of the game," said Paul Halen, a past president of the De Anza Youth Soccer League, in Soccer California, the official publication of CYSA.

Siadat, a longtime Saratoga resident and Cupertino business owner, was nominated for his recent work with the under 17 boys team of District 2's Olympic Development Program.

District 2, which includes the De Anza Youth Soccer League and 15 other leagues in five counties, is one of 16 districts in California. Each district receives recommendations from its leagues, before turning in nominations of a boys coach and a girls coach.

While serving a recent term as head coach for the ODP boys team, Siadat also was coaching the De Anza Clash (an under 17 girls team) and helping former college teammate Mani Hernandez train the successful Presentation High School squad. He currently is working with an under 12 girls team in Morgan Hill that was without a coach.

"I get my kicks not just from soccer, but from making people special," explains Siadat, who immigrated to Northern California from his native Iran as a teen-ager. "Sports opens the door to the future for kids. It helps them learn communication, teamwork and responsibility. Kids can always become winners in life."

Siadat, 54, played soccer at Oakland's Skyline High School and Merritt Junior College before moving on to San José State University, where he played from 1971 to 1974 along side of Hernandez for legendary coach Julie Menendez. Later Siadat played with the PARS team of the Peninsula Major League for about 20 years.

Siadat, who has been involved with the De Anza league since 1980, vividly remembers his first coaching experience.

"I was going to West Valley College for a walk, and I saw this coach—a French guy—all stressed out with about 30 kids," Siadat recalls. "He heard me talking to one of the kids and asked me to help.

"He said, 'If you have an accent, you must know soccer.' I thought he was just kidding."

His work with "the French guy," Leon Matriani, was the start of a friendship and the start of a love for teaching soccer to boys and girls who are willing to learn.

"I had a girl that came to me when she was 9 years old," Siadat remembers. "She had no soccer experience and all of the other girls on the under 11 team were 10. When she was playing under 16, she made the national team. That was tremendous for me to see."

The girl was Taylor Numann, who last February completed her senior season at Presentation for the squad coached by Hernandez and Siadat. Numann, considered one of the best players in the Central Coast Section, led the Panthers into the championship game of the CCS Division II playoffs in both 2003 and 2004.

Another Presentation athlete who learned soccer in the De Anza league from Siadat was cross country standout Melissa Grelli, now a freshman at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

"He was willing to work with me even though I was not ready for his team (the Clash)," said Grelli, who later would become a starting forward for the Clash. "So for nearly one year I practiced with his team. He treated me with the same respect, enthusiasm and guidance as his other players."

Former player Angela Nunez told the CYSA publication, "He saw potential, spirit and willingness to learn in one of the worst players on the team." Nunez went on to make the state ODP team.

Siadat's passion and abilities have affected adults as well.

"Because of Mehdi, I ended up coaching a girls recreational team for 10 years," said Martin Fenster, whose son and daughter both played for Siadat.

Coaching youth soccer also has created tighter bonds within the Siadat family. Mehdi has coached both his son Rayvon, a Bellarmine Prep and college graduate, and daughter Christina, a 2004 Presentation graduate that now attends Regis University in Denver. Lorraine, Mehdi's wife, also has been active in CYSA administration.

Although coaches of Siadat's caliber (he holds a C license from the U.S. Soccer Federation) are paid by local leagues, he chooses to be a volunteer coach. "I think I need to pay back to the community," he says.