According to the website, the CIF Model Coach Award “is designed to recognize coaches who have served as positive role models in their schools and communities, and who have exhibited the traits apparent in the 16 principles of Pursuing Victory with Honor.” The details of such principles are outlined as including “trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and good citizenship.”
“As much as they [athletes] learn from me, I learn from them. I hope to have made, and continue to make my athletes better young women because they have made me a better woman,” says Coach Mueller in response to receiving the CIF Model Coach Award. Coach Mueller has led the Beaumont High School girls water polo team for six years. In that time she has achieved exceptional success. Her team has had the highest GPA in Riverside County for three of five years and won the Mountain Pass League championship twice.
Coach Mueller doesn’t only track her players in the pool. She also follows her girl’s success long after graduation. In an emailed response, Coach Mueller shared extensive details about her former athletes. She noted having “2 girls who have done deployments, one at sea currently, one did a year in Kuwait.” She further detailed many former high school athletes who are currently enrolled in college, along with others who have since obtained degrees.
Coach Mueller reminds all of us about the importance of athletics in our public schools. Sports are not just about scoring points or winning the praise of the crowd. It is about discovering self-confidence and drive to succeed long after the buzzer.
by Thomas Guzowski