News and Announcements
This story was written by a young, aspiring athlete named Hannah:
My Third Grandfather
Over Christmas break, I traveled down to Pharr, Texas for nine days; it turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life. Coach Jaime was only one person who made this trip what it was for me. He did everything in his ability to make this adventure the best it could be. He was generous beyond belief, and he invested his time and money in every single one of the athletes.
I believe that generosity is one of the best qualities a person can carry. A quick 40 minutes into my trip, Coach Jaime had already taken me and a couple of his own athletes out to lunch, just like a person in your family would. I had been told that Coach would be like a grandfather to me, but I found it hard to believe. From the moment I met him, and saw his interaction with his own athletes, I realized this wasn’t a lie. He gave to them like he would give to his own family. There were around twenty of us from all over the country, and even a few from Canada, who came down to train. We all had one common goal: to become the most elite racewalkers in the nation and, for some of the “older kids”, even the world.
Coach Jaime always said “what is mine is yours”. He opened his house to all twenty of us; his cars became our cars. The kitchen stayed stocked with food for the entire nine days. He did his very best to make sure we had everything we needed to make us the best athletes we could be.Not only was Coach Jaime extremely generous, but the other families from Texas were extremely giving. These parents treated us like we were their own children. Every night, a homemade dinner was prepared by one of the Texan families. They were willing to take their own time and money to whip up a delicious dinner for us. The families also took their time to help around the house, drive us to the next place on the schedule, and cheer us on during practices and races.
On the last night together, we all gathered at Coach’s house, and he told us that “many people would consider what I do a sacrifice, but I consider it an investment”. This quote shows his pure generosity towards any athlete, no matter how long he has known them. Not only is he willing to do anything to make us better athletes, but he treats me like I am his own grandchild. He gives to me like he would give to his own family. We talk on the phone and we exchange hugs every time we see each other. I hope that someday I can be generous and giving, with a purpose, like Coach Jaime is.
Melendez qualifes as a 6th grader for High School Indoor Nationals
Press Release
From: AC Jaime 956.821.6659
May 9, 2009
MELENDEZ TO NEW YORKPharr Longoria Elementary School student Amberly Melendez knew she had won the local race in a faster time than before as encouraged by Coach AC Jaime. However, she never realized she had just qualified to attend next years New York Scholastic Indoor One Mile High School National Racewalk Championship. In doing so, she joins the ranks of only two other South Texas Walking Club members to ever qualify to attend this championship as sixth graders; Junior Olympic National Champion Ariana Guzman of Mission in 2006 and fifteen time High School All American Roberto Vergara of Edinburg in 2002.
The slowest lap of any race should always be the first and that’s precisely what Amberly did in setting a new personal record of 8:12 for the 1500 meter race. She had splits of 33 and 34 seconds in each of the first four one hundred meters to finish her first lap in 2:14, just two seconds slower than planned. She panicked somewhat when she saw San Juan Trevino Elementary School sensational eleven year old racewalker Diana Castilleja along her side and immediately increased her speed on the second lap. They completed that lap virtually head to head but the pace proved to much for Diana as she began to fall back and Amberly went on to finish with average laps of 2:11. Diana herself set a personal best time of 8:44 and is also in line of qualifying to participate at the prestigious New York race next year.
This race was the first of a series of four 1500 meter racewalks being held at the PSJA High School Track in San Juan. The races are for all children, parents, teachers, coaches and others that wish to participate. The three elementary school children that improved the most from their last racewalk were: Cielo Martinez from Napper by one minute forty – three seconds; Daniela Davila from Trevino by fifty seconds and Jasmine Sanchez from Bowie Elementary School by thirty – seven seconds.
The races are being held in preparation for the AAU and USATF National Championship races that will be held in Iowa and North Carolina respectively. The children trained for three weeks under the guidance of Coach Jaime Chavana at Longoria Elementary School and with all the other elementary school coaches at the twenty-six elementary schools in PSJA during January. They have continued daily 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. practices with the South Texas Walking Club at the PSJA High School track in San Juan where all eight to eighteen year old children are welcomed.
The children are now holding fund raising events to help pay for their anticipated national trips. Any help provided will be greatly appreciated.
