SLHS Swim, Badminton Coaches Named HAAL Coaches of the Year

The city's young athletes aren't the only ones to receive regional, and even , recognition lately.  coaches Ruby Smart and Alicia Trujillo split the honor of “Coach of the Year” this year for the Hayward Area Athletic League.

Smart coaches badminton and Trujillo coaches swimming.

At the final HAAL coaches' meeting for the spring season, coaches voted for the most outstanding leader in each of their sports. Smart and Trujillo received the top votes, and were recognized at the meeting for all the hard work they've done to build their programs at San Leandro High.

Smart, who has coached badminton for four years at SLHS and taught there for 10, led her team to an 8-4 record and a third place finish in HAAL. The league is home to some tough teams, including Mt. Eden High School, which finished second in the North Coast Section high school sports region.

Smart's goals for the season were to finish in the top four in the league, and send some players to NCS. She said both of those goals were exceeded.

“The fact that we took third is a huge accomplishment,” Smart said in a phone interview. “Just being able to see the program thrive after six years — it’s a growing program and I’m very happy to be a part of it.” (The badminton program was discontinued for two seasons, then restarted about six years ago.) 

"The greatest challenge for me is just being able to keep the sport afloat,” she said. “I think because badminton is seen as not a very important sport, keeping it recognized as a sport that is worthy to be played at a high school level [is a challenge].”

With many graduating seniors, the Pirates badminton squad is looking to reload with a solid group of underclassmen. Smart said she is looking forward to “working with [her] potentials” and continuing to build the program. As far as goals for next season, Smart boils it down to “just being able to show that, yes, we are a team that improves every single time.”

Smart, who was a badminton standout at Arroyo High School, also helps her players improve in the off-season. She mentioned off-season training at the high school isn’t allowed by NCS bylaws, but she makes sure to play with her student-athletes at local badminton clubs throughout the year to help keep their skills sharp.

“Once in a while we just go out and have fun,” she said.

Trujillo, who started as head coach of the swim team in 2003, also rallied her team to a third place finish in the Hayward area league. Before the season, Trujillo set high goals for her team, including success at the North Coast Section meet. Her swimmers met this challenge head-on, she said.

“We had some really nice time drops at NCS," Trujillo said of the regional championship meet. "This year was exceptional.” 

This year’s NCS meet was, overall, the fastest in history, with some 11 of 22 records being broken over the course of the competition. Trujillo said she feels it’s important for her swimmers to experience one of California’s toughest qualifying meets.

“Sometimes their minds are absolutely blown,” she said. “Olympians go to that meet. It’s a really big deal to them.”

Trujillo’s other goal for the season was simply to get as many kids in the pool as possible. The team had 75 athletes on its roster.

“We’re probably the biggest we’ve ever been,” she said.

Trujillo said she had lost swimmers in the past because of complications with the high school’s pool, and that at one point the roster was reduced to 35. The pool has undergone many repairs and renovations over the last few years, sometimes leaving the team without a place to practice.

Trujillo said that even this season, “There was probably a good month and a half when we weren’t even in the water.”

The new swim center to be built with  bond proceeds is expected to be a huge step up in quality for the high school, but will probably displace the team temporarily.

Construction is set to begin in August, so the team will most likely practice at Chabot College or  next season, or until the construction is finished, Trujillo said.

Nonetheless, she's excited for her team’s eventual return to its home pool: “The best part of my day is always when I get to go to the SLHS pool and coach them. It has been that way for years,” she said.