Mehdi Siadat, who has coached various levels of youth soccer for boys and girls during the past 25 years, received a surprise on Christmas Eve.

The surprise came in the form of a congratulatory letter from United States Youth Soccer. In its letter the organization informed the Saratoga resident of his selection as the Adidas Region IV Boys Coach of the Year. Region IV is comprised of 14 western states.

Siadat, who last spring was named California Youth Soccer Association's Boys Coach of the Year, will be honored at U.S. Soccer's national convention at Salt Lake City in February. The regional honor makes Siadat a nominee for the National Coach of the Year award, which will be awarded at the convention.

Sports writers

High school sports writers are encouraged to participate in the annual scholarship program offered by the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame.

Three scholarships ($2,500 for first place, $1,500 for second and $1,000 for third) will be presented to juniors and seniors who have written about high school sports for their school publications.

The contest, established in 1992 by Hall of Fame President Lou Spadia in honor of San Francisco Chronicle sports columnist Art Rosenbaum, is open to Bay Area high school students.

Students should submit two entries published during the period of April 15, 2004, to April 15, 2005, to the Art Rosenbaum Sports Writing Scholarship, Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame, 235 Montgomery St., 12th floor, San Francisco, CA 94104. Entries should be sent on April 15 and nominees will be notified of their status in May.

Track coaches

Saratoga High School is looking for assistant track and field coaches for the throwing and jumping events. For more information, contact Rick Ellis at 408.867.3411, ext. 340, or at richard.ellis@saratogahigh.org.

Baseball tryouts

BayArea Baseball will hold tryouts for the 2005 summer season in January. The organization fields teams in the 18 and under, 17 and under and 16 and under age divisions, and teams will travel to showcase tournaments in Arizona, Southern California and Hawaii.

For more information visit www.bayareabaseball.com or call Jason Ryback at 510.825.3022.

Didn't find what you were looking for in today's paper? Send us an email, give us a call, ship us a fax or drop us a line. Email dsparrer@svcn.com or dispar@aol.com, fax in your sports results to 408.354.3917, or give Dick Sparrer a call at 408.354.3110, ext. 31. We look forward to hearing from you.