Hello,
Today’s update dyer need for FUSD elected officials to take this seriously is regarding the direct impact to student athletes. Aidan Rocha started playing water polo his freshman year, the year Coach Lopez started (2018). Throughout high school he watched the program grow into a full fledged year round program that was able to maintain its most important aspects during the COVID period. Coach Lopez even helped him prepare to apply and interview with the City of Fresno to become a lifeguard.
The Summer before his senior year he was a lifeguard and helped coach Splashball (little kid water polo) through Echo Aquatics. The deck was full of energy and growth. That summer the boys had an opportunity to play in a water polo tournament in Santa Cruz. After that tournament things started to openly change. The head boys coach, Coach John Vinuela, left two boys in Santa Cruz so he could get home to watch a 4 minute fight on tv. Not only is he an FHS teacher, he is a PARENT! It’s confusing that an FUSD employee can be fired for incidents outside of work like their social media choices, but FUSD turned their head the other way for this situation.
Aidan’s final season was met with lack of working essential equipment, Coach Vinuela openly intimidating the boys if they sat near the girls or any of the other coaches, directly confronting boys for being supportive of the girls and their coaches, Coach Vinuela sleeping through practice (photos are available for viewing), Coach Vinuela spending time on the phone during their games (photos are available for viewing), and a shady donation from the Fresno Area Manatee Masters. The last game of the season at Roosevelt, Coach Vinuela's harassment took a new level. He would stomp passed coach Lopez, stared at her the ENTIRE girls games, and when she went to depart he stood very close to the only open exit to openly intimidate her. Lastly he forgot two girls and the bus had to turn around. It wasn’t the season he had imagined.
His final straw came during the boys award ceremony. Aidan had worked so hard and was looking forward to celebrating. He received the award “Most Dominant Player” (Coach Vinuela talk for Most Valuable Player). His name was not only spelled wrong but a completely different last name was etched in the plague. Instead of Aidan Rocha, the plaque read Aiden Ochoa. How could his coach not even know his name?! All of this led to Aidan choosing not to swim his senior year, something he had been looking forward to.
Thank you,
Cresta