Aragon’s football coach Steve Sell won the 2014-2015 CIF Coach of the Year Award, an award only given to 14 coaches throughout the state of California. Each year, the local CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) office nominates two coaches who exhibit the six core ethical values: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and good citizenship.
Sell has been coaching varsity football since 1992 and is in his 14th year as head coach. As a former Aragon student, Sell knows the principles put forth by the Aragon community and works to be role model for his players and students.
Sell believes that the most important quality that he can teach to his players is empathy. He says “I support them on and off the field, and I think the way I treat kids has a lot to do with how we do things on the field; we’re a team that has a zero tolerance policy for unsportsmanlike behavior.”
As a school, Aragon boasts a different mission than most club or professional organizations do. According to Sell, this system places a stronger emphasis on education. He says, “I don’t think my mission is to win championships, the mission is to help the kids develop a different set of skills than they would develop in a classroom in terms of working with other people, perseverance, teamwork and cooperation.”
First year varsity player sophomore Tomislav Medan says, “Football is tough and [Coach Sell] is not going to lie to you about anything, he’s not going to make anything easier than it needs to be, that’s what I respect about him.”
Medan believes that what Sell teaches them on the field leads into his everyday life. “He incorporates what football means for you being a student, how it’s going to help you for later in life with being responsible, being on time, and just doing your job and not slacking off,” he says.
Building these skills are only one of the reasons why Sell stresses the importance of sportsmanship. He understands the active lives his players lead both on the field and in other aspects of their high school career. Sell adds, “When a kid graduates from high school, they can look back and they say, ‘being on the football team was a really cool part of my overall high school experience.’ But it’s not the whole experience. I think we can take it seriously here and we try to win, but I don’t think a kid should give up his childhood to be able to play football, they should be able to do other stuff too.”
Senior linebacker Curran Brandt says, “He also helps us off the field with grades. If you don’t have good grades, you can go study instead of going to practice.”
The players condition every day and practice their plays without being too stressed. “Doing things the right way translates into winning games,” says Sell. “When you treat the kids with respect, they play hard. We’re able to get kids to play football because they want to play and because they know they’re going to be treated well.”
Football team captain and senior James Fononga says, “I quit the [junior varsity] team because the ‘star quarterback’ told me I wasn’t good enough. The next week, Sell called me in and told me that I’d be a great football player, so he brought me up to varsity sophomore year.”
Sell says, “Students know good teachers and good coaches. If you think about who your best teachers are, they are probably very compassionate and empathetic people and they can communicate well with the students.”
Senior Kono Filimoehala-Egan agrees, saying, “He’s a teacher. He doesn’t yell or scream at you, but he’ll correct you and help you improve.”
