Both the varsity (1-8 overall, 0-5 Peninsula Bay League) and junior varsity (1-8 overall, 0-5 PBL) football teams forfeited the Nov. 1 games against Menlo-Atherton (6-3 overall, 4-0 PBL). This decision was made by head coach Steve Sell along with principal Patricia Kurtz, superintendent Kevin Skelly, the league commissioner and players.
“The bottom line was, I wanted to do what was best, what I felt was best, for our program,” Sell said. “Just like any other judgment decision, not everybody’s going to agree with the judgment, but the motivation behind it was that it was what I felt, for this week, is what was best for our kids.”
The team had little success in the last four weeks. They’ve lost by at least 40 points against Burlingame (4-5 overall, 2-3 PBL), Sacred Heart Prep (6-3 overall, 3-2 PBL), King’s Academy (7-2 overall, 2-2 PBL) and most recently, Terra Nova (6-3 overall, 3-2 PBL).
After losing 41-0 against M-A last year, the Dons knew their game- against the top team in the league was going to be difficult.
“It is the caliber of their team, the size of the team, the mental state of ours. It was more about the mental state of our own kids. And having been with these kids on Saturday mornings and all, after these games, these four weeks, I got the sense that the kids were not looking forward to this game,” Sell said. “Not a majority, but enough that it concerned me. And then when I saw [Menlo-Atherton] on film against Sacred Heart Prep, I became very concerned about our ability to keep, specifically our ability to keep, specifically our kids who are running the football, safe.”
With more consideration, it became apparent that the risk and reward for playing the game were not balanced. Sell started to consider if there were any benefits at all of playing the game, and if so what they were.
“I started to ask myself: ‘what’s the upside to us playing this game as we are right now, physically and emotionally kind of beat up?’” Sell said. “The risk dwarfed any type of possible reward that could come out of playing the game.”
Last November, an annual meeting was held to consider where the team should be placed for the 2019 season. At the meeting, each coach is allowed to speak about their thoughts on which league the team should be in. Sell expressed his concern for this season.
“At last year’s meeting I said we’re not a Bay Division team,” Sell said. “They’re good kids, they’re good players, but they’re just not Bay Division caliber kids. And [the board] voted us into the Bay anyway.”
Some suspect that because of the team’s less successful record the past two years, the Dons will be placed in the Ocean Division for the 2020 season.
“I will say that if for some reason the coaches vote us into the Bay Division,” Sell said, “I will go independent and just say that I’m not doing this to our kids again.”
The majority of the team agreed that they wanted to forfeit. This would allow the team more time to prepare for their final game of the season against Hillsdale (6-3 overall, 3-2 Peninsula Ocean League) on Nov. 8.
“[Sell] said that it was our decision and that he’d try to see what he could do,” said senior outside linebacker and offensive tackle Eduardo Jimenez. “We had a team meeting with no coaches and we had a majority decision of who wanted to play and who didn’t want to play. We wanted to go into the Hillsdale game two weeks strong, so we didn’t want to get hurt playing against M-A.”
Because the majority of the team was in agreement about wanting to forfeit the game, Sell had an easier time making the final decision.
“I had my paternal instincts on high alert and I was just really trying to analyze what was best,” Sell said. “Their position was, when I presented the idea of not playing, they were open to it,”
Some parents were disappointed that their kids would have to miss out on a game, and expressed this concern at the meeting.
“As a senior parent, it was kind of frustrating to know that they forfeit the game,” said Rachel Gilman. “But especially now having a son that has been a water boy [and] has played on the team since freshman year. And to go out senior year knowing that he had to forfeit a game, is really disappointing. I may not agree, but I respect [Sell’s decision].”
Parents also voiced their concerns about the precedent the forfeit would set for players. Some thought it suggested people should give up when faced with a challenge.
“It just seems to set the wrong tone,” said parent Jonathan Dreyer. “It’s just really terrible for life itself and being a team and a teammate. It’s frustrating as a parent.”
Players and students from Menlo-Atherton were also upset with the decision.
“Most of the school and the team were frustrated because it was our senior night and all,” said Menlo-Atherton senior running back Francisco Sanchez-Borrero. “Many people had plans of attending: clubs had plans on performing and families wanted to fly out and watch their family members in the team play.”
Menlo-Atherton’s players and students were informed of the final decision on Oct. 29.
“We were aware Tuesday morning when we arrived at school. It was very surprising it being so sudden and short notice,” Sanchez-Borrero said. “Everyone was really looking forward to enjoying their last home game and watching everyone walk down the field with their families.”
Unexpected injuries and illnesses prior to Nov. 1 also caused Sell to forfeit the game.
“As it turns out, I didn’t know this Monday when I made the decision, but because of illness and unforeseen injury, three of our four defensive backs would not have been able to play Friday night,” Sell said. “So it really ended up being, I think, a good decision.”
Although it might not be obvious to those watching the games, there have been many individual improvements in the team throughout the season.
“We’ve really just focused on our development and improving and competing. Whether they’re freshmen, sophomores, juniors or seniors, our focus has really been on improving every week and improving skills and getting stronger in the weight room,” Sell said. “We’ve had a lot of success that I’m very proud of this year in terms of individual players really improving. But when you’re playing teams that are bigger, faster, stronger and older, sometimes it’s not as easy to see that progress.”
Even though the team is struggling, the team hopes that they will progress next season. As there are currently nine sophomores and one freshman on the varsity team, the belief is that these players will help the team improve as they continue their football careers at Aragon.
“It’s definitely foreseeable that we could be competitive with Sacred Heart Prep and King’s Academy in the future. And the narrative that I’ve heard out there is that Aragon’s going to be great. They have these sophomores, they have these juniors, they have a freshman on there,” Sell said. “We have guys in the right spots and the kids are playing hard and they’re getting so much better. They’re improving so much. It’s just that they’re out of their weight class.”
The Don’s next and final game of the season will be against their rival Hillsdale on Nov. 8 where they hope to have a higher morale and a more competitive match.
