On Monday, December 10, it was announced to all high school flag football coaches in the California Interscholastic Federation Southern section that they had the opportunity to be nominated to be in the running to earn $2,500 for their flag football program from the Los Angeles Rams Foundation. These coaches included our very own Coach Amy Campbell who has coached the Ayala Flag Football program since its start last February. 

For each section, all of the flag football coaches were given the chance to be nominated as “Coach of the Year.” The coaches that get the most votes in the first voting round moves on to the nomination section where people can vote again for the winner of “Coach of the Year.” Students were allowed to vote up until Friday, December 13, to help support their favorite coaches. 

Although this opportunity to be nominated is only for the coach, Campbell believes this opportunity is not just about her, but her whole team. She would rather the hard work and dedication of the girls to be recognized rather than her being known as the “Coach of the Year.”

“I really wish that it would just say Ayala flag football to nominate versus Coach of the Year, because I really feel like I wouldn’t be the coach I am without the kids,” Campbell said. “They deserve all the recognition 100%.”

While she does believe that everything is about the girls, the players believe that she deserves it just as much as they do. The dedication that she shows to help the girls be the best they can does not go unnoticed and is appreciated by every player, no matter the skill level. 

“She really worked hard to push us and help us strive to be the best we possibly could in flag football and as an individual,” flag football player Audrey Raglin (11) said. “Overall she is an incredible person and an amazing coach [who] makes sure to help each and every player on the team.”

While the Ayala Flag Football team was not known for winning league or making CIF, everyone’s hard work and dedication built this team into what it is today. In some way, this shows how everyone on the team including the staff and players helped each other be the best that this team can be and just that in itself deserves recognition. 

“This nomination is not only huge for our coach, but it’s huge for our team because it reinforces that all the hard work going into this program from coaches and players is being recognized,” flag football player Nevaeh Lima (11) said. “It reminds us to keep pushing, growing and ‘rowing’ together.”

This hard work and dedication shown by the coach makes the whole school proud. 

“Coach Campbell isn’t just our coach; she is our cheerleader on and off the field, she is our mentor as we figure out school and sports balance, she is extremely honest with us when we need it, she teaches us so many life lessons, and she sacrifices a lot of time to do all this,” Lima said. “She sets the tone for the culture on our team and is the definition of ‘Coach of the Year.’”

To vote for the Los Angeles Rams Girls’ Flag High School Coach of the Year, follow this link.