rather play basketball or some other sport. When you’re down, it’s hard to pull kids into the program.”
St. Monica does have it rough. Not only are they a small school with only 40 or so players on the squad, the football team does not have a practice field to call its own nor a nearby home field. Players must practice on a makeshift gridiron that they have to paint themselves and play their home games at St. Bernard High School in Playa Del Rey, making their homecoming anything but welcome.
On top of that, players have had to deal with three different coaches during the last three years, each one with different attitudes and philosophies.
The players have taken notice and are hoping that Ritter stays for awhile, helping to maintain some kind of consistency.
White has already noticed a difference. “He has really formalized the program,” White said of Ritter, who served as an assistant coach last year. “We saw a lot of activity in the summer and early fall, just getting the kids ready. There’s a lot more accountability for the kids this year. They are very involved and are working hard.”
White and Ritter said more freshman have signed up for football this year and they hope to make that a trend.
FRESNO STATE-ESQUE Another reason for the Mariner’s losing ways could very well be scheduling. In years past, coaches have pit their teams against some powerhouses in Southern California. They have played against schools with more than 3,000 students and more than 100 players. St. Monica has roughly 40 players, with more than a handful being underclassman.
One of those tough teams was Santa Monica High School’s Vikings. They were on the Mariners’ schedule the last three years, an attempt to breed a cross-town rivalry. But that backfired as the Mariners were defeated handily in all contests, including last year’s 52-0 drubbing.
Ritter said scheduling larger schools like Santa Monica was a mistake.
“The coach a few years back thought it would be good for the community to start a rivalry, but you can’t have much of a rivalry between a nail and a hammer,” Ritter said. “We were just not competing and it made no sense for one of our guys to get injured or one of their guys to get injured for a game that really wasn’t competitive.”
To make matters worse, the Mariners play in a league stacked with talent. Verbum Dei and La Salle, two of St. Monica’s league rivals, played against one another for the division championship last year.
“Our league is on a tremendous upswing right now,” Ritter said.
To make it to the playoffs, St. Monica will have to finish in the top three. There are only four teams in the league.
STAY FOCUSED To advance to the playoffs, Ritter would like for his team to keep it simple and stick with the basics. His philosophy is to take care of the little things and then the big things will take care of themselves.
“This year our motto has kind of been to just forget it and drive on,”Ritter said.“If you make a mistake, put it behind you and just go on to the next play. Obviously, we haven’t followed that with a whole lot of success.”
But that’s fine, Ritter said, because no matter what happens, there are always lessons to be learned, even in losing.
“As a football coach, you leam more than just the game,” Ritter said. “You are responsible for teaching life lessons as well, and that lesson here is that in life, you are not always going to succeed. Losing does build character. I think we’ve built plenty so far. We probably need to win.”
Ritter believes that there is too much coddling in sports. He said there comes a time when not every athlete can get a medal or a trophy.
“Part of the problem in society today is that nobody wants kids to fail,” Ritter said. “In this world 10 guys will run a race and all 10 will get ribbons. That’s good for younger kids, but at some point they’ve got to learn failure because that will make them more able to handle it in the real world.”
Injured quarterback Dana Soto- Campos knows this to be true. As he struggles with an injury he is still at practice encouraging his teammates to work hard, and have fun at the same time.
“It’s not easy to sit out and watch the team losing, but life isn’t easy either,” Soto-Campos said. “All we can do is continue to work hard and never give up hope. We know that as long as we play hard, nothing else matters.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 13, 2007. Read the original PDF.