A.M.D.G.

October, 2002

To the Members and Supporters of the Let Them Play Foundation and Members of the Santa Clara University Community,

Welcome to the Let Them Play Foundation's website!

The goals of the website are two-fold. First, the Foundation's mission statement declares that the goal of the organization is to advocate the return of football to Santa Clara University. The website is an important part of achieving this goal. Second, the website plays an important role in the Foundation's goal to aid in the education of interested parties regarding the real issues surrounding football at Santa Clara University. By exploring the website, you will become familiar with Santa Clara football history and the pertinent issues about it in order to foster intelligent discussions about football at Santa Clara.

It is also our hope that our football alumni will use the website as a way to keep us, and their former teammates, informed about their lives and professions. Please e-mail us with any updates that you wish to share on the website.

Some of you may ask, "Why is this still an issue? After all, Santa Clara played its last football 10 years ago and the University is doing fine?"

The answer to this question requires you to put yourself in the shoes of the young men who played football at Santa Clara and the countless people who have come into contact with them.

If we are to trust that the Society of Jesus is sincerely committed to the education of the whole person - spirit, mind and body, so that God's people can become leaven for the world, then the answer to the question is evident.

Many young men came to Santa Clara to obtain an education and to play football. However, what they experienced at Santa Clara was much more profound. Their lives were changed by the experience. Lifetime friendships were made. Spiritual, ethical, moral values were taught and fostered by their interactions with the coaching staffs, teachers, fellow students and Jesuits. A whole new world was opened to many young men who came from widely divergent social, cultural and economic backgrounds. Playing football at Santa Clara was more than playing a game on Saturdays, it was a life-changing opportunity. If you played football for Santa Clara, and have reflected on your experiences as a player, then you undoubtedly realize that you were given a unique opportunity to learn and grow in ways that you probably couldn't have articulated when you came to Santa Clara.

We are grateful for this experience. Yet, we are also sad for the young men of similar backgrounds who will have not have the same unique experience that Santa Clara has to offer. The Foundation has a desire to have Santa Clara offer these same opportunities to many young men who would benefit from the same experience that we had. These are the men that God would give to the University so that they, too, could be formed into men dedicated to God, fathers devoted to their families, and leaders in their communities and professions.

We offer a sincere thank you to all of you who have supported our efforts. Too many times these efforts have been discouraging. Yes, the decision to abruptly drop the football program was a slap in the face of many members of the Santa Clara family. That questions still remain about the real reasons why the program was dropped, and that satisfactory answers cannot be found; should give us hope that Santa Clara football can rise again to fulfill a unique role in the development of young men and the promotion of the goals of the University.

Thank you for all of your support. We remain dedicated to the cause and the betterment of the University as it strives to serve all of its members. We are available to you to discuss any issue involving the return of football to Santa Clara.

Sincerely,

Don Bordenave, Director
Ron Chin, Director
Marte Formico, Director
Jim Ingram, Director
Rick Medeiros, Director
Ron Modeste, Director

Let Them Play Foundation, Inc.

© 2008, Let Them Play Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) charitable organization incorporated in the state of California. Not affiliated with Santa Clara University. Use of the words 'Santa Clara', 'Broncos', or other descriptions and accounts of Santa Clara Football are used solely within a fair use of same and is provided solely as a means of historical information and context to the public domain. All rights reserved.