Dawn Cobb

Soccer fans can now purchase their apparel at The Soccer Place on 3001 N. Elm St., No. 201, in Denton. Owners Ruben Rivas, 26, and his wife, Marlene Faria, 27, decided to take ideas from stores in Dallas and Lewisville and create their own version.

Rivas, originally from San Jose, Calif., and Faria, born in Pico, Azores (an island near Portugal), have one daughter, 6-year-old Tatiana.

“We got into it because our daughter enjoys playing, and we got involved with it,” Rivas said about the inspiration for the new business. Rivas is the coach of his daughter’s recreational soccer team in the Denton Soccer Association.

Rivas and his wife moved from California to Denton in 2006 mainly to purchase a home and thought it was a cool thing to start the store two years later. For information, call 940-382-2030.

Jim Kuykendall, president of the Denton Regional Foundation, a nonprofit organization, announced a $10,000 grant to be given to the People’s Clinic of Denton County for the initial funding of a childhood metabolic clinic.

The grant was made possible by support from the Texas Motor Speedway-affiliated Speedway Children’s Charities, according to a news release.

The People’s Clinic of Denton County will identify an initial group of children who exhibit risk factors for metabolic syndrome.

The program’s pilot site will be centered at Strickland Middle School.

Roberta Dockery, Strickland’s school nurse, will coordinate participation in the program, which also will feature services from the University of North Texas.

Counseling and kinesiology departments from UNT will participate in the project, as will Lydia Gil Hartman, bilingual coordinator for the Prairie Area Health Education Center.

Some risk factors for metabolic syndrome are associated with obesity and insulin resistance.

The program will identify methods to decrease each student’s risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

For information, call 940-387-2020.

Daphne Zollinger, a broker of Daphne Real Estate Inc. of Denton and Krum, recently earned the EcoBroker Certified designation, according to a news release.

She completed a training program on energy and environmental issues that affect real estate transactions.

Randy Robinson, bank president and chief executive officer for Access 1st Capital Bank, was named chairman of the bank’s board of directors. He was elected to the position in an April board meeting and will serve on the board in addition to his roles at the bank.

Bank officials also announced Benjamin Goff as the president of the bank’s professional services division. Goff, who served as the bank’s first board chairman, will now oversee the development of the professional services market from the bank’s North Dallas loan production office.

The bank opened its Denton location in October 2007 and is expected to begin construction on a permanent facility soon.

Gus A. Gonzalez, M.D., of Denton, recently received a three-year appointment as a cancer liaison physician for the cancer program at Denton Regional Medical Center. He will be among a network of more than 1,600 volunteer physicians who are responsible for providing leadership and direction to help establish, maintain and support the facilities’ cancer program.

The Martinez family provided a $15,000 donation to the Denton Hispanic Chamber of Commerce from the Estate of Gilbert Martinez, past chairman of the association.

Gilbert Daniel Martinez passed away last April 6, 2007, from an automobile accident. In addition to serving for years on the DHCC board, he was a LULAC member and was appointed to the Denton Housing Authority board.

The donation was provided to the DHCC at the Denim and Diamonds Gala last March. The funds have been designated to the building fund of the organization.

Staff writer Karina Ramírez contributed to this report.

DAWN COBB can be reached at 940-566-6879. Her e-mail address is dcobb@dentonrc.com.