R-I-O-R-D-A-N!!!

My youth’s character building… Football…

This shoot is of the ARHS 2006 Football team. They had just hired a new coach to return the program to its competitive stature and I was able to attend and see a lot of alumni on one of the first games of the year. Here is a shot of one of their starting running backs waiting to get in…

| Riordan RB | ARHS Erskine Field | San Francisco, CA |

Rob Jones, pictured next, was actually one of the Riordan sports stars, starting at TE and DE, but was best known for his basketball game… Riordan is very well known for the Basketball program and really their sports program in general…

| Rob Jones | ARHS Erskine Field | San Francisco, CA |

I like this next shot of the Defensive huddle – a really simple and easy shot to capture, but something that has a bunch of character to it.

| Riordan Defense | ARHS Erskine Field | San Francisco, CA |

It is my goal in life to spend my “retirement” as a high school teacher and football coach. Retirement in quotes because to me, retirement isn’t sitting around and doing nothing – in fact – I don’t believe we are called to just sit around and do nothing in retirement – I really feel we are called to activity for our whole lives and what better way to serve then to go back and serve where I was served – because I was fortunate to have great coaching influences through my entire football experience (Coach P, Coach Nuila, Coach Diaz, Coach Herning)...

| Coaches and the O-line | ARHS Erskine Field | San Francisco, CA |

I love that picture because it just captures so much – my coaching goals, intensity, trust, teamwork, respect…

This sport has a pretty particular place in my growing up and so does the High School that I played it at… Football was the growth experience that not too many people get the privilege of having in their high school life. In my freshman year at ARHS I decided right away that I would try out for the football team… I look back at myself now on film and would probably consider myself a bit awkward in my young football life (I think that all freshman are actually – haha)… During tryouts, close to a hundred kids are shootin for 60 spots - so it was reasonably competitive. But, at the time, I didn’t realize how competitive. On the final day of cuts I still had not been selected to make the team. There were probably about 30 students left for 15 spots. I remember the night before, I was so frustrated – and all I remember my dad saying was, “just show ‘em what you can do, and that’s all you can do – don’t worry about it”… I ended up being in the last batch that made the cut and finally received my jersey number and football pads. I picked 56, the only really good number that I liked that was left.

I am convinced that because I made the team the way I did, it shaped a large part of the fighting and appreciative character I possess now. I appreciated what I had and took nothing for granted. I ended up starting 3 ways as a freshman and became a captain – I almost never left the field as a left guard, middle linebacker, and special teamer… My final varsity year as the starting left guard ended up like a movie story… we won WCAL (the most competitive athletic league in the entire bay area) – a feat never accomplished by ARHS in a league dominated by 2 other teams for 25 years…we then went to the finals in State Sectionals and lost by 3 in an intense and close game ending the year 11-2...

Perseverance and life learning from beginning to end – I have a lot of reasons to thank God for the chance given to me to grow in this experience.