When an under-8 girls soccer team in Novato took on the name Angry Birds at the beginning of the season, coaches Denny Denhert and Nicole Choi started to make funny references to the Internet game during practices.

“All our drills have Angry Bird names,” Choi said. “Each week there is a player of the week who gets to take home a stuffed Angry Bird.”

So it was natural when Halloween season came around that somebody would put on an Angry Bird costume. That person was Denhert, who bought a wacky outfit and wore it at a soccer jamboree on Saturday at Loma Verde Elementary School.

"The look on the girls’ faces — not just our girls but all the kids out there — that made it a lot of fun,” said Denhert, a plumber. “It was comparible to dressing up as Santa Claus. I’ve never had that feeling before.”

Denhert said he isn’t usually the kind of person who does this sort of thing, but “I’d volunteer to do anything to lift the spirit of the team.”