The winter sports this year have been very exciting. Winter sports include boys and girls basketball, wrestling, and boys and girls soccer.
This season for boys and girls soccer was awesome. Soccer coach Jaime Suarez said, “Varsity boys went 9-11-5 and 3-4-1 in league. The JV boys soccer team had 11-3-4 and 5-1-3 in league they had one loss.”
What was the most exciting thing about being able to coach the players?
Suarez: “The most exciting for me is the ability to increase their Soccer IQ (intelligence), by showing or explaining strategies in a different way. Or by training them to look at the game differently. It’s exciting when it ‘clicks’ and they understand the topic of the day.”
What school was the most difficult to play against?
Suarez: “This year, the schools were not difficult, BUT the most difficult thing to overcome with boys soccer was their mental preparedness. Before some games, we were OVERconfident and started too relaxed. Other games we gave too much respect to teams when they were a lesser team.”
What made you want to coach soccer?
Suarez: “Coaching is very similar to teaching. I enjoy providing lessons during practices. I enjoy modeling the expectations and then giving players a chance to prove themselves. It’s exciting.”
Mr. Suarez also mentioned that he is excited to compete against the schools next year again and JV and Varsity will have a great season next year.
The win and losses for wrestling this year was 10-0 for the JV leagues championship, girls league championship, boys league, and Section championship. The girls were 5th in state and the boys were 13th.
Head wrestling coach Adam Vasconcellos elaborates: “The Pitman Wrestling Team broke a ton of records this year. 10 State qualifiers, Won every league championship possible, 4 State medals, 3 state medals and Baya Austin (10th) was a state champion. Baya is the 5th state champion in school history. Our school has had a state finalist 5 years in a row and we have had 6 State finalists in the last 2 years. Mason Ontiveros and Lily Dizon both made the state finals also. Lily is a FRESHMAN and Mason is a Sophomore.”
What was the most exciting thing about being able to coach the wrestlers?
Vasconcellos: “It is a great opportunity to learn about others. We have kids from all over the world. Every single one has a different story and different set of circumstances. My favorite part is finding a way to help someone that doesn’t always have support or someone that believes in them.”
What school was the most difficult to Wrestle against?
Vasconcellos: “Ponderosa HS. They have the most section championships in the SJS History… It was a great match with a great program. We were very fortunate to have three hammers ( Mika Ontiveros, Brayden Silva, Angel Villasenor) to seal the victory.”
What made you want to coach in this sport?
Vasconcellos: “I am the middle child of three brothers. We were extremely poor and struggled to pay for food and clothes. The one sport we could afford to participate in was wrestling. It has changed my life and my brother’s life. The life lessons learned in wrestling are second to none. The dedication and hard work are not possible for some. This sport truly changes your life. The great Dan Gable from Iowa once said “After wrestling, Everything else in life is easy.”
What’s something you look forward to for next year’s team?
Vasconcellos: “I look forward to coaching this team next season because we will have 12 of our 14 starters back and all of the girls back except for Lexie Capote (going to miss you Lex). We are in a special time for our program. Our team is very young but driven and filled with special individuals that have high aspirations. The next two years are going to be very special because we are blessed with young leaders like Mason Ontiveros, Troy Ceja, Baya Austin, and Lily Dizon. Teams like this are rare. It’s my 21st year coaching and teams like this don’t come around.”
The last person I interviewed was basketball coach Harvey Marable.
What was the most exciting thing about being able to coach the players
Marable: “The opportunity I’ve received each year to be in this position. I can never take it for granted. It’s a front row seat in watching returning players grow as players and young men. New additions to our team allow me to see how quickly they adapt to varsity competition and the impact they make to our culture.”
How many wins and losses?
Marable: “Overall 21-8 and 9-1 League.”
What made you want to coach this sport?
Marable: “Basketball was one of two sports I was passionate about, in my youth. The other was baseball. My actual decision to get into coaching basketball occurred one day while I was commuting to Oakland for work. I looked back on my participation in sports over the years and realized all the opportunities I was exposed to during those times. (Ex. Immediate connection with teammates in college, networking, job opportunities, mentors and traveling.) I also thought of my friends and other athletes that did not recognize the tremendous opportunities provided by participating in sports. (Ex. Leadership skills, problem-solving, time management, being self-less and learning to ask for help). I also wanted to help students who may fall between the cracks and receive the support they need to taste success on and off the court. Many of my friends and teammates suffered through unpleasant experiences in school and on sports teams.”
Can you tell me any extra information about the season and sport?
Marabel: “We just achieved the most wins in Pitman basketball history. I got to coach our career leading scorer, a top 5 career scorer and a top 13 career scorer all on one team. 2 of the players are returning next year. We were able to have a student in Video Arts (Santana Gonzales) create a mini documentary/highlight video of our season. I can’t leave without thanking the parents for transporting our kids to various games during the summer. I also learned that we have a number of players who can actually dance.”
Athletic Director Dustin Curtiss said there were “4 varsity league championships (girls wrestling, boys wrestling, boys basketball, girls basketball), 1 second place (girls soccer), and 1 third place (boys soccer). 53 athletes made Academic CCAL -3.5 or above unweighted GPA.”
Overall, the season for all these sports seems to have been great. Congratulations to every team that played. I’m sure your coaches are all very proud.
*We reached out to the coaches for girls basketball and girls soccer, but did not receive any responses.