Alfonso “Poncho” Renteria

Modesty is a medium-sized word, but in athletics it is monumental. And hard co find. When “Poncho” Renteria was asked to submit a briefbio of his personal and athletic background, he wrote: ” … playing sports was for the love of the game and not for the limelight. After my junior year of football, I vowed never to read the clippings of myself in the newspaper.”

Had “Poncho” read those clippings when he was a junior, hewould haveseen this: “lstTeamAll-Channel League Football and Soccer; 1st Team All-CIF Soccer; 2nd Team All-League Baseball.” If he had been more in to “Poncho” as a senior he would have read: “Channel League Football MVP; All-CIF Division II Football; 1st-Team All-League Soccer; 1st-TeamAll-CIF Soccer; 1st-TeamAll-League Baseball.”

Can an athlete of that caliber, with a CIF football championship in his resume, be humble, modest, and unselfish? Ask Fred Warrecker and Lito Garcia, his high school coaches, that question. T hey’ll smile and tell you that he epitomizes those qualities.

That sense of modesty and team-oriented attitude masked the tremendous athleticism of a young man who was one of the best to have ever participated at his school.

What he considers a mediocre performance led to a 2nd Team All-Conference berth at SBCC as a junior. As a senior, an improved team (10-2) and a Potato Bowl bid brought “Poncho” a conference offensive MVP.

He finished his career at Cal Poly, returned to SB, married Leticia, is a member of the Dons football staff, loves working with kids, and plans to complete his educational and career goal of teaching and coaching.

May athletes all be like you, “Ponch!”