Services Set Thursday for Ex-Pro Soccer Player
A memorial service for John Craven, a former professional soccer player in England and the United States, will be 6:30 p.m. Thursday at McCormick and Sons Mortuary Chapel in Laguna Hills.
Craven, an Aliso Viejo resident, died after an apparent heart attack Friday night. He was 49.
Craven played for Blackpool and Crystal Palace of the English League, then later in the North American Soccer League.
Craven’s wife, Lolly Keys, is American Youth Soccer Organization public affairs manager.
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Taylor Dent of Newport Beach advanced Tuesday to the fourth round of the boys’ 16-and-under division at the Rolex Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships in Miami. Dent, who is unseeded, defeated Otmane Bennani Smires of Moroco, 6-1, 6-3.
In the boys’ 18s, Kevin Kim of Fullerton and Geoff Abrahms of Newport Beach lost in the third round. Matthias Schwarzler of Austria beat Kim, 6-3, 6-3, and 16th-seeded Florian Allguer of Italy beat Abrahms, 6-2, 7-6 (9-7).
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Senior quarterback Billy Blanton, a former Mater Dei standout, was named San Diego State’s most valuable football player for the 1996 season.
Blanton passed for 3,221 yards, an average of 292.8 per game, and 29 touchdowns. He gave up only five interceptions.
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Gerald Laird, a catcher for La Quinta High, has been selected to play for the Cincinnati Reds under-19 team for its trip to Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney, Australia. The trip, which begins Thursday, is sponsored by Goodwill Series Inc. Players are selected based on their performances in the Area Code Baseball Games, also sponsored by Goodwill Series.
