The 2010 La Verne San Dimas Spartans

Even if a player on the La Verne San Dimas Spartans enjoys playing the piano or video games more than football he just might want to stick out the season. That’s because the coach is one smart guy. The player just might learn something.

Head Coach Michael Cirrito is the founder of and chief executive officer of Investors Trust Realty Group, which has developed, syndicated and renovated more than 15,000 apartment units and 2 million plus square feet of industrial and office space throughout Southern California. He has been involved in more than $2 billion worth of real estate investments, developments and transactions and he manages and advises a private client asset group of consisting of numerous high net-worth individuals exceeding $1.4 billion in real estate value. Here in La Verne, he also started Zap Realty.

Cerrito is also a graduate of the Harvard Business School and he has an undergraduate degree from the Southern California Marshall School of Business.

So when the Spartans were looking for a head coach, the league came knocking. What’s the saying? “Want something done, ask a busy person.” That’s Cerrito. He’s coached baseball, soccer and he served as co-leader of his daughter’s Girl Scout troop. He also played football at Bishop Amat for years.

Although this is his first season at the helm, he’s already put his imprint on the team. He runs the team like a successful business, assigning each of his seven coaches to manage one part the team, like the offensive line or the defensive backs. Early in the season, the emphasis is on walk-throughs, where players step through plays in slow motion to help them better understand and eventually master their particular roles and assignments.

Like a top CEO, Cirritos has recruited lots of top talent to make his job easier. Among his stellar coaches are Coach Gene who played for Terry Donohue at UCLA and Coach Jackson who coaches varsity girls basketball at San Dimas.

Yet despite all these blue blood lines running through the Spartans, Cirrito said the team will have “blue collar,” lunch-bucket work ethic.

“No player is a standout,” Cirrito said. “Everybody plays great instead of one player playing great. We play as a team.”

That said, Cirrito has about 10 returning players, many of them exceptional.

Expected to light up the scoreboard will be quarterback Jalen Palacios. He’ll also be handing off to a couple of fleet-footed running backs, Elijah Jackson and Chandler Auguste.

On defense, linebacker Lucas McGill will once again be asked to plug a lot of holes.

“We will field a very good team,” Cirrito said. “We have some very strong, capable players,” including his son Nicholas Cirrito, out for his first season of football.

As a coach and a businessman, Cirrito is also a realist.

“It will be it’s an adjustment, for first-years players, getting their pads to fit or getting use to use to the coaches telling them what to do,” Cirrito said. “Some of the kids may not be as active we were when we were kids growing up. But if they stick with it and keep working, they’re going to see improvement and be successful. That’s why I encourage them to put forth that extra 10%. It’s going to make a difference.”

Coach Cirrito sounds like a coach and CEO worth following.

Where’s the beef? It’s at The Corner Butcher Shop, which carries only the finest selections and choicest cuts. Specials every day!  Stop by before or after the game. Click on their ad on the home page or better yet stop by in the Marshall’s Center at Fruit and Foothill.  

Spartans Roster (by jersey number)

Nos.

1 Evan Pascowicz

5 Elijah Jackson

7 Jalen Palacioos

9 Jonathan Bombardier

18 Nolan Jenkins

21 Jacob Norrie

22 Robert Moscoso

24 Chad Murphy

25 Chandler Auguste

32 Lucas McGill

34 Conner Cervantes

41 Michael Patton

43 Jonathon Brown

44 Aaron McCraven

47 Johnny Lopez

51 Dylan Ware

54 Nathaniel Macklin

55 Joshua Krupa

56 Ryan Webster

62 Jacob Garcia

64 Justin Saenz

75 Hector Almarz

77 Jess Hurt

80 Nicholas Cirrito

81 Omar Legardi

82 Joseph Browning

85 Dylan Hill

88 Felipe Diaz

92 Daniel Lopez