Slowly but surely, the Cabrillo sports program is coming of age. Ten years ago the school opened its doors for education, but once the Jaguars entered the talented Moore League, they started to get schooled.
“We were the laughing stock of the league,” says Cabrillo girls’ soccer coach Jorge Polanco. But growing up is hard to do, and this week Cabrillo can start to feel like one of the big kids as both girls’ soccer and basketball are headed to the CIFSS Playoffs for the first time in school history.
The basketball team will be headed to San Clemente as an at-large bid, and the soccer team will head out to Temecula Valley to take on a talented Golden Bears squad. It’s been a long road for both teams to finally make the playoffs, but the soccer team has the bruises to prove the road is tough, and seniors Claudia Toledo, Minerva Martinez, Jeanette Ramirez, Vanessa Mendez, Isabel Cisneros, Maria Lopez proudly wear most of those battle scars.
“We were losing to the big schools by large margins,” says Polanco. “All the playoffs contenders at that time like Millikan, Wilson, Poly and Lakewood. Close game before I got here was a 9-1 loses to Lakewood… no one wanted to play for a team losing by that number.”
Polanco coached the boys’ team at Cabrillo under Pat Noyes for 5 years and learned how to win, making the playoffs all 5 years. The Cabrillo graduate came back to coach under his mentor Noyes but, “when this opportunity opened up (Noyes) was the only one that recommended me.” Fate would have it that Polanco was the only one to officially apply for the job three years ago, and his coaching style matches his fortune. “I’m more of a reactor… I adapt.”
Needless to say, it’s working.
“I’ve learned how to listen because of the Hispanic culture for females. It’s always been clean, cook, baby-sit or even get pregnant and start a family. Little by little, we’re changing that. The girls have taught me how to be more humble and how to approach each of them differently. It’s tough at times, but making the difference in someone’s life is huge, and some of them count on me for that.”
Those six seniors listed above have been the test group for Polanco, but so are most of the seniors at Cabrillo. The football team and Coach A.J. Luke continually talk about how important seniors this year are to the future success of the program.
“The seniors are the example our returners follow,” says Polanco. “For years to come, they’re the ones that put the pieces together and keep this team together. They’ve earned this moment… they’re the ones that could’ve left, but stayed by choice, and cause they trusted in me… I have them to thank for that. They play a huge roll for this school.”