By Dennis Miller
When you’re younger, playing ball with your buddies at the park, you might dream about playing in the World Cup, Super Bowl, and World Series, but realistically, there’s not a lot of conversation about individual glory as that’s the furthest thing from your mind.
It’s all about being with your buddies and having a great time with the future a distant thought.
As you grow older, the days at the park with your buddies dwindle but friendships never do. Pickup days playing a multitude of sports are gone, giving way to organized sports through high school.
The fortunate ones continue as teammates all the way through high school. And while the talent level becomes clear and continues to separate the older you get, the fact that everyone is still teammates allows the memories to continue to build.
I honestly feel at that point you don’t truly understand how the moments will go through the rest of your life. They do – trust me.
After high school, separation begins as people usually carry on their careers at different colleges or stop playing competitive athletics altogether.
A very few of the fortunate ones make to the professional level and as they move forward to compete with the world’s elite, whether they realize it, they carry forward a part of their buddies and the memories forged so many years before.
The sense of pride their friends feel when they see one of their life-long friends reach the pinnacle of their sport. It’s not something everyone gets to experience but if you do, consider yourself blessed.
And I do.
Saturday night before the San Jose Earthquakes professional soccer game at PayPal Park, the 2025 Cal-North Soccer Association Hall of Fame inductees were honored.
Kevin Crow, a 1979 graduate of Amador Valley High, and an alumnus of the Ballistic United Soccer Club, was one of two inductees on the night.
And true to the foundation of the person Crow has become, he brought along one of sisters, his son, and two lifelong friends that were there as teammates and buddies for the entire ride from playing pickup ball through high school.
While the night belonged to Kevin, his sister Kristy, son Kamron, Steve Wilcox and I carried tremendous pride as Kevin was honored.
Sunday morning, we had a text exchange about what a night it was.
Increasing my joy of the night is that my parents Harry and Georgianne Miller, who were inducted in 2000, gave me a chance to see their names on the Wall of Fame was amazing.
My father Harry passed away in August of 2021, but mother is still alive. The pioneers and founders in the Ballistic United Soccer Club and I was honored the Cal North organization had Crow and I take a picture pointing to their names on the plaque.
I want to thank the people from CYSA for the thought of getting the picture.
I’ve written about Crow’s accomplishments several times, including in the last couple of months with the announcement of going into the Cal North Hall.
In a nutshell, he was an all-league performer at Amador Valley, then an all-league selection and all-American at San Diego State. Professionally, he was the last natural born American to make first team all-league in the outdoor North American Soccer League.
From there professional soccer moved indoor for the popular Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) and he was named Defensive Player of the Year five times for the San Diego Sockers, a team that won multiple titles.
He represented the United States in Olympic soccer twice and played many times for the U.S. Men’s National team.
It was a sensational night, allowing those of us that grew up together to celebrate the accomplishments of our best friends and give us all a chance to reflect on our amaz
