On Saturday, July 6, 2024, at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, Fillmore’s Jose “Froggy” Estrada fought with great heart and sportsmanship against his opponent, Devon Brock, who by judges’ decision after the hard-fought rounds, was named the winner. Photo credit Joe Woods.
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Pictured right is Jose “Froggy” Estrada along with his Coach Brain Espinoza after the match. Photo credit Joe Woods.
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By Joe Woods

Sometimes life doesn’t seem to go as planned. Saturday evening, at the Commerce Casino, Jose “Froggy” Estrada fought with heart, showed great sportsmanship and defeat. His opponent, Devon Brock, came in 10 pounds overweight; Froggy could have taken the win and not fought, but he showed his love for the sport and like a true man of his word, his fans and team, he took the fight. By fight time, Brock outweighed Froggy by 25 pounds.

With no excuses, Froggy fought with heart and determination and most of all, no excuses. The first round both fighters came out toe to toe to see what each fighter had within him. Brock had a strong jab with a longer reach, but that did not stop Froggy. Froggy countered a couple of times with punches to the head and in this writer’s eyes, a draw.

“I came out with a game plan and tried to stick with it,” said Froggy. “I knew he was bigger than me and I knew he was a puncher, and it is what it is, so I just kept on fighting to look for an opening.”

In the second round, Brock came out with more aggression, still wanting to stand and fight. More jabs were thrown, opening a small cut over Froggy’s right eye. “Yeah, it took a couple of stitches after the fight, but to me pain is pleasure,” said Froggy. “And even though he was 25 heavier, I wanted to give it my 100 percent, and wanted to have fun doing it”.
I feel while watching the fight that Brock won the second round due to his jab and his abilities to keep Froggy from using his wrestling to attempt to take him to the ground, while he never backed down and he fought with heart.

The crowd erupted and showed support for Froggy from the very start of the fight and stayed with him until the end. “After a five year’s absence from fighting in front of my hometown crowd, it sure was nice to hear it again,” stated Froggy. “Yeah, I miss that crowd noise. I heard it and felt it and wanted to thank everyone who was supporting me. I heard it, and it motivated me to keep on going”.
In the third round, Froggy tried again to take the fight to the ground, however, didn’t succeed. “I wish I could have used more of my jiu jitsu and wrestling skills on him, but his jab and reach and size prevented me from succeeding at that,” said Froggy. “And then he rocked me with a good right, and I said to myself ‘that was a good punch’ but I kept coming at him.”
When the fight was over the judges awarded the fight to Brock to the disappointment of Froggy’s fans. Froggy showed great sportsmanship and devotion to the fight and his opponent. He fought hard and never gave up by showing that he was a true fighter and true man.

“I would like to fight again by the end of the year for the UNF, and I would like to go back down the 145 (weight class). I feel more comfortable at that weight” said Froggy. “I came out of this fight healthy and if I just heal my cuts, I’ll be back in no time. But I feel good, and I can’t wait to get out there again in front of the crowd. That supports me.”
It was hard to see Froggy go down in defeat; however, it was great to see Froggy fight again with such heart and determination with the ability to always persevere. “I want to say thank you to all of Fillmore for always supporting me,” said Froggy. “I want to thank all the people who came out and I hope to see more of you all by the next fight. I will always try to represent Fillmore… It is always great to hear the crowd again.”

With support, going back down in weight, to the 145 weight class, and with his team at West Coast Gym of Oxnard and coach Brain Espinoza and his brother Francisco “Turtle” Estrada and girlfriend Jordan Johnson, I know that Froggy will be working hard in the gym to succeed in the next fight.

Introduction of letter by an AYSO parent

On Friday, June 28 a letter was sent out by Fillmore AYSO Regional Commissioner, Arnold Muñoz, urging AYSO families to speak out about their concerns with having to share Two Rivers Park with another youth sports organization at the next city council meeting scheduled for Tuesday, July 9 at 6:30 p.m. at city hall.

The AYSO soccer program in Fillmore has multiplied throughout the last 45 years, and with almost 700 athletes, AYSO is the largest youth sports organization in the community, and needs a larger park like Two Rivers to accommodate that many players, not only for games, but also practice.

The last few years, AYSO has been submitting their park request application for Two Rivers Park but has only been granted limited access due to the contractual agreements between the city and the Fillmore Raiders organization, which gives them a right to first refusal to practice at Two Rivers Park through October.

This decision has created a difficult situation for many parents and coaches who have multiple children and are having to travel back and forth between parks for practice and has created an abundance of complaints to the AYSO organization. Parents were really hoping that things would change this upcoming season, however, it doesn’t seem to be the case.
AYSO is committed to serving the Fillmore youth and will continue to work on a dialogue with the city about this important topic in hopes of finding a way to best accommodate two great youth sports organizations.

The letter sent by Fillmore AYSO Regional Commissioner, Arnold Muñoz, can be read below:

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AMERICAN YOUTH SOCCER ORGANIZATION
Region 242, Fillmore, CA.
fillmoreayso@gmail.com

AYSO Region 242 Parents, Players, and Volunteers,

This letter is to be as transparent as possible with the players, volunteers, and parents of Region 242 about the challenge we are currently facing, which is preventing us from using Two Rivers Park for practice.
As some of you may know, we always submit our park requests as early as March every year. This year was no different. We requested the park in March and received the approval on April 2. However, on June 12, we received an email from the city of Fillmore stating that:

“Unfortunately, we have encountered an unforeseen scheduling conflict Despite a contract being signed, Fillmore Raiders have precedence for the use of Two Rivers Park, and we have to cancel your contract and create a new one for Shiells and Delores Day Park until mid-October because that’s when Fillmore Raiders move to Shiells Park and AYSO moves to Two Rivers Park.”
This has been a recurring issue every year, despite our multiple requests. We always receive the same treatment.

AYSO is the largest youth sports organization in our community with over 650 players and approximately 70 teams. Raiders Football has 215 players and 6 teams. As our region has grown we no longer fit at Shiells Park. With AYSO having the largest number of players and teams it would be more appropriate for AYSO to utilize Two Rivers Park for practice, and Raiders to use Shiells and Delores Day Park for their practice.

AYSO Region 242 will address this issue at the next City Council Meeting on Tuesday, July 9, 2024 at 6:30pm. We would greatly appreciate community support as we present our concerns to the City Council members. Our families will face the challenge and difficulty of moving multiple children playing in different divisions from park to park, especially the October move from Shiells Park to Two Rivers Park. Utilizing Two Rivers park as one stop park for all of our families for the whole season, alleviates these issues.

Our hope is that we will be able to resolve this issue with the city and that we will be able to provide a quality, world class youth soccer program that enriches children’s lives for the Fillmore community.
Best Regards,

Arnold G. Muñoz Regional Commissioner AYSO Region 242 Fillmore, CA.