Arnoldo Zelaya is the Athletic Director at Mission High School. He has been working here for 21 years and is located at room 240. He is notably the head coach of the boys varsity basketball team. If you ever see him in the hallways make sure to say hi and he can answer any questions related to the school sports.
Since Mr. Zelaya has been at Mission for over 2 decades, I asked what has kept him here.
“The kids, I really feel at home here. I was born and raised in San Francisco. I grew up in the Mission District and I was supposed to come here, but my parents sent me to a private school.”
He has vast experience in athletics, and has coached multiple sports at Mission.
“I’ve coached basketball. I have coached football. I have (even) coached softball when I have been here.”
Mr. Zelaya has experienced some great memories during his time here as a coach.
“Best memory as a coach was winning the state championship in 2017. We almost blew it. We were up 7 points with a minute left and kept missing free throws. But we pulled through.”
Even while being the head basketball coach, he primarily played a different sport during his youth.
“In high school I played football. I played a couple summer leagues but it was mainly football. I would’ve played more if I knew what I knew now. But I was fixated on one sport.”
For football he played as a strong safety and fullback.
He has also made some great memories as an athlete in high school. Zelaya talks about his favorite memories.
“Honestly, the bus rides. The bus rides where you kind of connected with classmates. The bus rides were always fun because you connected in a different way with people. Some of those memories were pretty amazing.”
Coach Zelaya is a strong believer in high school sports’ benefits for teens.
“I think sports is really important for people in general because it teaches you to work together with people who come from different places. Team sports allow you to give up some of yourself for the success of others.”
Even while coaching, he has learned some important lessons.
“The best lesson I’ve learned while coaching over the years is that every single kid matters. From top to bottom talent, everyone matters. In the 2017 year, one of the most important players was on the bench. But he would keep the bench together and totally calm. You can’t just think one person on the team isn’t important and everyone owns a role.”
When asked about what the lesson he learned as a player was, he said:
“[The] best lesson [I] learned as a player was to really count on your teammates and realize that they are really counting on you as well.”
Wise words from a wise man.
