Velasco provides leadership
The Santa Ana safety tries to serve as an example for his team on and off the field.
There Ramiro Velasco was, picking up watermelon slices and bread crusts off the floor. It was maybe the hottest part of the afternoon, and about 40 of his teammates had just left the scene.
The Santa Ana football players were in the midst of two-a-days. Each day they received lunch between practices, and each day there was a new mess.
Sometimes Velasco asked two teammates to clean it, sometimes he and a teammate did it together.
"The amazing thing is, he's quiet about it," Santa Ana coach Scott Daniels said. "He's a quiet kid. He lets his actions do the talking. If the team needs some discipline, he'll be a disciplinarian. But he won't yell and scream. He's not that kind of kid. And the kids respect him for it."
The first-year coach, who has been an athletic director for the Saints since 1999, met Velasco three years ago. That is when everyone met him. As a freshman, Velasco played outfield and batted .363 for the varsity baseball team. But it was not his talent that made him different.
"I was just impressed with his politeness," Daniels said. "Even to this day, it's, 'Yes sir, no sir. How can I help you coach?' Or he'll grab someone and say, 'Help me help the coach.' "
On the field, Velasco has been helping several coaches. A year ago he played linebacker and defensive end — and some quarterback and running back — and made all-Golden West League for the second consecutive year. This past spring, he led the county with a .629 batting average.
He begins this fall at strong safety. With his size (6-1, 215) and speed (4.7 in the 40), Daniels does not foresee anyone running past him or through him.
"If you had to pick one guy and say you want 11 of him, he'd be the guy," Daniels said.
Velasco is looking to be that guy next year as well. He just doesn't know where. Arizona State, Oregon State and others have been recruiting him in football, and UCI in baseball. Velasco called it a privilege. But also a wakeup call.
In July, he was trading text messages with UCI baseball coach Dave Serrano, who told him his 2.8 GPA needed improvement.
"It reality hit me in the face," Velasco said. "You got to do academics, or high school is all you're going to get."
For his father, Ramiro Sr., and for his mother, Maria, high school is not enough. When Velasco was young, they would tell him that going to a university was not an option but a requirement. He didn't get it.
To Velasco, good grades meant more video games. A university was just some place he commonly mispronounced as "universal."
"We remind him every single day, in order to provide for your family, you need to have a good education," Maria said. "I'm very proud of the person he's become, not so much because he's a good athlete. He has a very kind heart. He's very humble. Sometimes they're so young, and being a good athlete is all that matters."
Before, yes, but an older Velasco knows better. He realizes he is on the cusp of becoming the first in his family to attend a four-year college. He is well aware of the struggle his parents faced after migrating from Mexico. For years he could not understand why his uncles, who knew little English, did not respond when addressed rudely by other people.
"It motivates me to make a name for them," Velasco said.
Maybe the 17-year-old already has.
Contact the writer: amaya@ocregister.com
| I have known Ramiro since he was 8 years old. He and his brother played with my son at North East Santa Ana Little League. His parents are centered, supportive, kind and intelligent. They base family value above all and do not get all crazy about sports? This is the support that our children need to grow as students, athletes and leaders in our communities. And this is why he has the respect of anyone that knows him. |
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| christy - Sep 07, 2007 07:47:20 PM | Remove Comment |
