By Crystal Hui
Born, raised and still residing in Fountain Valley, Mr. Schultz grew up as a Baron his entire life.
Photo by Tue Duong.
During his own high school career, he was involved in both volleyball and basketball. Now as the new varsity basketball coach, it is ironic that this Baron was once cut from the team he is currently coaching for.
“I actually ended up getting cut from the team, so it’s kind of remarkable that I am now the head coach of the team I was cut from,” said Schultz.
Prior to becoming the head coach at FVHS, Schultz coached eighth grade teams, coached at Fountain Valley for seven years, and Los Al for four years as the head JV coach and last year as the top assistant varsity coach. This year marks the twelfth year that he has been coaching basketball.
Schultz began his career at FVHS as the freshman coach, then trained JV for five years, became the assistant varsity coach for 2 years, and eventually also became an English teacher here. The year he began teaching at Fountain Valley was the year he began coaching at Los Al.
Schultz draws his coaching inspiration from John Wooden and became inspired when he first came across Wooden’s book when he was 18. He was fascinated by the relationships that Coach Wooden formed with his former players. When he was 90, he still met with his former players for breakfast and for lunch and held lifelong relationships.
“I hadn’t spoken to any of my former coaches and my former teammates, and none of my friends spoke to their former coaches so I never knew the idea was possible,” said Schultz. “And to finally hear a guy talk about how it’s bigger than basketball and you can use basketball to teach life and leadership and relationships, that excited me more than winning games.”
“I wanted to try to emulate John Wooden that way, to use basketball to elevate lives,” Schultz stated. “When I used to coach here, I used to take my teams every summer to meet Coach Wooden before he passed away, giving them a chance for them to meet my hero.”
To coach his teams, Schultz uses John Wooden’s pyramid of success.
“You have to instill high expectations to do well, but I want to take away more than just a trophy, because banners fade but family is forever,” said Schultz. “That’s what our core of law for these guys we call it our personal best philosophy: ‘everyday be your very best and everyday make your best better in some way.’ If you do that you will always have success in someway. It’s simple, but not easy.”
As the head coach, Schultz has made the new motto for the Baron Basketball team, “Love, Lead, Elevate!” Each player will be given “Brother Bands” with the motto inscribed on it, which will be taught and emphasized throughout the season. Love: Love yourself, love your teammates, love the game. Lead: Lead yourself, be a leader for your teammates, be a leader on campus and in the community. Elevate: Elevate the lives of everyone around you and elevate yourself by every day giving your best effort and making your best better every day.
“I’ve had many offers to leave, coaching offers and teaching offers,” he said. “People often ask me why I haven’t left, I think it’s just the relationships I’ve built with so many students here on campus, I would feel like I’m abandoning them…The bonds are real and you don’t want to walk away from family…So many students and players become my family for me … I love them and you don’t want to leave what you love.”
