If you’ve ever been out to the Eisenhower swimming pool for an official event, you’ve seen Ms. Priscilla Avila (affectionately known as just “Ms. Priscilla”) on the pool deck. Despite this, you probably dont know anything about her–much less that she’s also a coach! I hope my spotlight can introduce you to her to get a better feel for who she is and what she does for us.
Ms. Priscilla is the head lifeguard for the Eisenhower PE department, a position that oversees all aquatic events at Eisenhower’s pool. An alumni of Eisenhower, class of 2017, she has been working with the school as both a student and a part of the athletic faculty for 7 years. Apart from being a lifeguard, she is the head coach for the Ike swim team and an assistant coach for the polo team.
A second year coach at Eisenhower (one year being volunteer work), she’s been a part of our aquatic culture ever since she was a freshman here where she played polo and swam all 4 years. When she initially began playing water polo it was just for amusement–like many who decide to join polo–her friends pressured her and she decided to dip her toes into the sport. Throughout that, the program fell on hard times because of the level of competition their league was in. She and her teammates often found themselves frustrated in the fact that they were playing against club players and teams with aquatic backgrounds in higher end areas, but she thoroughly enjoyed her time playing in the end. Although she was also a part of the swim team, she stated it was mostly to condition for polo. Ever since her time in Ike aquatics she’s been teaching others how to swim! From small children to adults who haven’t had the chance to conquer their fear of water, she has taken on other side jobs, all with something to do with the water; she’s also a pool manager at the Rialto recreation center.
When she was asked her thoughts on the state of Eisenhower’s aquatics and water sports ever since she went to school, she described mixed feelings. She described Eisenhower’s PE lifeguard actually showing students the basic forms and functions of swimming and how to get started, whereas many students describe their time now as just a swim test before they can frolic in the deep pool. Despite this, she is extremely pleased with the way that Eisenhower has been utilizing the pool for events now, like the Link Crew pool party at the start and end of the school year.
“It’s never late to finish what you started.” A message to students at Eisenhower and a mantra for her, life after high school has been about persevering under pressure. Ms. Priscilla wishes to pursue being a part of library environments at schools, her enjoyment coming from being able to show smaller children the fun in reading and reigniting the feeling of being a kid for older students when she was a long-term sub for various school librarians. After high school, she began taking courses at San Bernardino Valley College for higher education in library technician programs and general education. After poor advice and inexperience with how to manage financial aid, changing general ed course requirements, and self-reportedly “fumbling and not locking-in” freshman year of college, she had to take a break from taking courses. Throughout all this, she still states she wants to pursue higher education and finish exactly what she started.
The most rewarding part of her job thus far is seeing the players develop connections with one another. In her own words, “seeing the quiet kid, loud kid, or the different types of kids come together and connect…It’s like ‘oh, you’re not so quiet anymore, you’re actually really funny and loud.’ That’s probably one of the more rewarding parts of this job.” In contrast, the reported “worst” part of her job is the drama that kids develop. For her, she never appreciates when people dispute drama over trivial things, especially when it affects her coaching. She understands these students though, “I know it means a lot to them, I was once a kid. I have to think back and reflect and say ‘hey you know, its bad now but its not going to stay bad forever.’” As for the most frustrating part of being a coach in an official capacity, she has trouble getting through to players or swimmers when they’re really focused. When it comes to trying to get the team or swimmer in order or reminders to a specific player or swimmer, and they’re so focused and concentrated that they get serious tunnel vision, it’s hard to communicate. She remedies this knowing that she will eventually be able to let them know after the fact.
When asked for some final thoughts she would like to leave to her potential aquatics players and swimmers, she said “Have fun with it, dont dwell on it, dont over think it, at the end of the day always make the most of every situation. Don’t be hard on yourself, especially when you’re trying something new. Always be ready to come out of your shell and don’t be scared to try new things.”
If you ever see Ms. Priscilla again, let her know you read my article and ask about joining Eisenhower Aquatics; thanks for reading Eagles!
