I interviewed my all-American Azusa Raider coach, David Ochoa. He is 40 years old and has been coaching since 2015, working with different generations of players. He coached my brother; this year was my first and last with him. I wanted to learn more about him, so I conducted an interview.
One day, I asked him if I could interview him, and he agreed. My first question was about why he wanted to coach football. Personally, I don’t think I would have the patience to coach an all-American football team when I grow up. He told me that he wanted to mentor the youth and help them improve their football skills.
Next, I asked him what motivates him to continue teaching football. He responded that the joy of seeing the kids he coaches happy after winning a game, and watching the kids he coached mature in football are the things that motivate him. I then inquired about where he started as a coach and whether he was nervous or excited at the time. He admitted that he was nervous and sought advice from his high school football coach. This also answered my subsequent question about who he turned to for coaching advice. His high school coach told him to first try coaching all-American football to get used to coaching and later on go back to high school coaching. But he never had the thought of going back to being a high school coach. Instead, he stayed the Azusa all-American football team coach.
Finally, I asked Coach Ochoa if he ever played football himself, which I suspected he had since he mentioned his high school coach. He shared that he played as a running back and outside linebacker, which must have been intimidating for the opposing team\’s defensive linebackers, considering Coach Ochoa is a tall and large man. I asked Coach Ochoa if he ever worked in any other profession. He told me he coached high school football and also works for the city of Azusa doing all-American and parks and recs programs.
I asked him a question about who gave him the offer to be a coach and immediately he responded by saying that no one gave him the offer to coach but he was a volunteer and was put into the all-American Football League.
After interviewing my coach, David Ochoa, I had newfound respect for him and the work he does with athletes he has dedicated his life to teaching.
