Our People, Our Passion
Play for a Stray takes our passion for youth sports
and applies it to canine rescue.
Play For A Stray revolutionizes Dog Rescue fundraising by combining traditional non-profit revenue generation with our Play For A Stray Fundraisers; allowing us to raise money for rescue dogs while enriching the lives of families in our community.
Through donations, sponsorships, merchandise sales, and fundraisers, Play For A Stray raises money for our Dog Rescue Fund. This fund is used to rescue dogs from shelters and transfer them to one of our partnering rescues, along with money to cover the rescues financial commitment to the rescue dog.
Our P.E.T.S. core values emphasize partnerships, execution, transparency, and strategy. At Play For A Stray we believe in PARTNERING whenever possible with rescues, shelters, and sanctuaries to maximize the number of dogs we can get out of the shelters. We prioritize and EXECUTE a rescue plan for each dog, assisting with the rescue, transportation, financial assistance, rehabilitation, adoption marketing, and rehoming. We practice complete TRANPARENCY to the community by listing on our website how our Dog Rescue Fund is being spent. Our management team, board of directors, and advisory board work together to ensure that every project has been STRATEGICALLY planned to maximize our effectiveness and efficiency.
With Play For A Stray, rescuing a dog has never been so much fun!
Play For A Stray’s Dog Rescue Financial Breakdown
Supporting our Dog Rescue Fund:
- 100% of donations
- 100% of sponsorships
- 100% of merchandise sale profits
- 70% of fundraiser profits
The Dog Rescue Fund is used to rescue dog’s from shelters and transfer them to our partnering rescues (both in-house and 3rd party), along with a check for $2,500 to pay for training/rehabilitation, boarding, vet bills, food, pet supplies, staffing, and readoption.
Supporting our Dog Rescue Mission:
- 30% of Fundraiser profits
- 10% of Youth Sports Registrations (from our family of youth sports companies)
- 100% of grants
- 100% of adoption sales
The Dog Rescue Mission Fund covers the expenses of our in-house dog rescues including staffing, fencing, rent, dog food, dog supplies, vet bills, adoption marketing, etc.
Meet the Play for a Stray Sports Team
Coach Yoshi
Chief Operating Officer
Regional Manager for Play For A Stray and has been with the company for 2 years. She grew up playing competitive soccer and basketball and loves sharing her passion for sports with kids of all ages. Reach her at extension 703.
Coach Tweety
Director of Sports Operations
Tweety joined the Play For A Stray team to use her expertise in sports management to fulfill her dual passions of helping kids gain confidence through sports, and animal rescue. Her job is to oversee all Pack Sports operations and manage our amazing team of sports directors and coaches. Her goal is to maximize the number of kids and dogs we can help in our communities by revolutionizing youth sports instruction. Ext. 701
Coach Maui
Regional Manager
Straight from Maui, Hawaii, he brings multiple degrees and certifications in all things health, fitness, and nutrition, with an unofficial PHD in “Energy and Loudness”. As a Master Certified Fitness Trainer he is passionate about maximizing athletic performance for older individuals, while being all about unleashing the most fun possible with teaching sports for younger kids. Coach Maui likes the ocean, buffalo wings, cold juice, laughing, and trying to improve the lives of his Coworkers, and youth athletes of tomorrow. Ext 704
Coach J Byrd
Director of Proceeds
3-sport varsity athlete at El Cerrito High School and division one baseball player at Mississippi Valley State. Scheduled to graduate from LSU graduate school in August with a Sports Management master’s degree. Unanimously voted cooler than Coach Maui! Ext 705
Coach Koko
Director of Marketing
Former Skyhawks Intern, and recent Kinesiology Graduate from Cal State East Bay, has been a part of the Play For A Stray Team since 2020. Playing sports from a young age. Specializes in Volleyball, Basketball & Soccer for youth ranging from 2-12 years of age. Ext 707
Coach Buck
Regional Manager
Born and raised in the Bay Area where he played baseball, basketball, and football. He has coached baseball for over 10 years in Northern and Southern California. Ext 712
Coach Marshmallow
Director of Merchandise
Loves working with kids and believes it is very important at this age for kids to learn the fundamentals of sports and gain confidence in themselves by doing so. His favorite team is the Los Angeles Lakers and favorites sports are basketball. Football, and baseball which he played since a kid. Also loves to travel, exercise, and is a music producer in his free time. Ext 709
Coach Dougie
Pack Football Club Director
Loves football, baseball, and basketball. Played intercollegiate baseball and is a fan of the LA Clippers and Colts. Ext 708
Coach Wolf
Area Director
From Concord, CA and grew up playing basketball, baseball, and rugby. Graduated from Saint Mary’s College in 2020. Favorite athlete is LeBron James. Ext 713
Coach Soap
Area Director
Coach Soap is from Brentwood, CA. When he’s not coaching, he likes playing softball with his brothers! Ext 714
Coach Taki
Program Director
Started playing baseball at the age of 3 all the way until Junior year of high school when his career was cut short due to an injury. He loves being able to coach and inspire young athletes and grow their love for sports.
Coach Mochi
Program Director
“Aloha, my name is Kelsey Chan and I have been in the volleyball business for about 15 years. I love meeting new people, helping young athletes find their passion for sports, discovering ways to make sports fun for all, and finding the perfect training technique for each student to help them grow into strong minded athletes.”
Coach Holland
Program Director
Student athlete who enjoys playing, coaching, and referring soccer. Plans to study European and International Law at Maastricht University. She likes to spend my time with her dog Clover.
Coach Lynx
Program Director
“Hello, I am Coach Lynx from Oakland, California; I grew up heavily involved in Martial Arts, Cross Country, Basketball, as well as Football and Track/Field. I believe the present moment is all that matters.”
Meet the Play for a Stray Dog Rescue Team
Billy Goldstein
Director of Dog Rescue Operations
Billy’s job is to coordinate with local rescues/shelters, our advisory board, and staff to make decisions on which dog(s) to rescue for our various dog rescue companies and partners. Billy also oversees all dog ranch operations and adoptions for Rubicon Husky Rescue. Billy started working for Play For A Stray to fulfill his passion and childhood dream of animal rescue. Billy’s goal is to use his experience in dog handling and mushing to rehabilitate dogs and train owners on how use a dog’s natural born ability and instinct to create a positive home environment with lots of love and mental/physical simulation for both dog and human. Ext 702
Julie Cohen
Director of Community Outreach
Julie decided to work for Play For A Stray to help these amazing dogs find the loving home they deserve. Her job is to work with donors and local companies to raise money and make sure our rescues have all the resources they need to give our dogs the best possible life while rehabilitating them for readoption. She oversees donations, fundraising events, corporate partnerships, adoption events, and other community outreach programs. Her goal is to use her connections and partnerships in the community to maximize the number of dogs that we are able to rescue and successfully rehome. Ext 706
Steve McCoy
Rubicon Husky Dog Handler
Steve started working for Play For A Stray’s Rubicon Husky Rescue to help solve the growing issue of Husky euthanasia due to overcrowding in shelters. His calm demeanor and natural dog handling ability allows him to rehabilitee, socialize, and train huskies who were previously marked as unadoptable. His goal is to create a fulfilling lifestyle for all our rescue dogs and create a training program that will maximize ever dogs chance of finding their forever home. Ext 710
Darrian Sander
Rubicon Husky Ranch Foreman
Darrian is responsible for developing the ranch to create a safe and fulfilling home for all our rescue dogs. His goal is maximize the number of dogs we can safely rescue, rehabilitate, and rehome by developing the land into a k9 paradise. Darrian works with Play For A Stray staff to make sure the dogs have everything they need at the ranch to live their best lives while being trained/socialized for readoption. Ext 711
Rubicon Husky Ranch
Our first of many dog ranches is located in Georgetown, Ca. Our 10-acre parcel is the current home of Rubicon Husky Rescue and Play For A Stray University (P4AS-U). Our rescue dogs come to the ranch where they attend our rehabilitation/training/socialization program known as Play For A Stray University (P4AS-U). During their time at P4AS-U, they progress through our 5-step training process and earn different color collars along the way for their achievements in obedience and socialization (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue) – if this sounds familiar, yes, we stole the idea from Karate.
Once the dog earns their BLUE Collar, they have graduated from our program. At that time our team decides if they are best suited for:
- Re-adoption to a loving forever home
- Transfer to one of our Dog Sanctuaries to live the rest of their life in K9 Paradise
- Stay on the ranch as a working sled dog to join the Rubicon Dog Sled Team
We are working on acquiring more land/property for our other Dog Rescue missions. You can help support our mission and speed up to the process by:
- Volunteering to work with the dogs at the ranch
- Signing up to make monthly donations to our rescue
- Donate land you are not using to the dogs
- Donate dog supplies to the ranch
- Sponsor a Fundraiser
- Join the Bay Area Rescue Committee (BARC Board)
- Choose Play For A Stray as your charity on Amazon Smile
- Buy P4AS merch on our online store
- Tell 2 friends
You can be a part of our cause! Help make these dreams a reality!