Colonial’s Martinez is volleyball Coach of Year
Colonial Christian School girls’ volleyball coach Lou Martinez was recently selected as the NFHS Florida Girls’ Volleyball Coach of the Year.
Martinez was honored at the NFHS’s Annual Sports Celebration.
He was selected based on his coaching performance, lifetime community involvement, school involvement and philosophy of coaching.
Martinez said: “When I was awarded the NFHS Coach of the Year for girls’ volleyball in Florida, I was speechless. I am rarely speechless, but I could not find the words to say how much I appreciated the fact that I was even considered for that award. I would like to take this time to thank everyone who believed that I was deserving of this award, and I would like to give a special thanks to my athletes, for without them, I would never have had a chance to receive this kind of honor.”
Martinez, a former Miami-Dade County police officer (30 years), retired from the force in 2011. He has coached at Colonial Christian School for 18 years, 15 of those as head coach. Previously, he was an assistant coach, beginning in 1982 at South Miami High School. In the 1990s, he coached at Coral Gables High School.
An accomplished volleyball player, Martinez played in the Florida Police & Fire Games, Florida Law Enforcement Games, the National Law Enforcement
Games and the International Law Enforcement Games. In 2-man indoor volleyball competition, he and his teammate won more than 15 gold medals at the state and national levels.
In 6-man team volleyball, they won more than 10 gold medals in state and national competitions. At the international level, they scored a gold medal and a bronze medal. These Olympic style games were annually, featuring law enforcement, firefighters and military personnel from numerous countries around the world.
Martinez said: “My coaching philosophy is rather simple. I have a few key points that I want my players to take with them during and after their playing career in high school:
“1. Whatever you do in life, do it with a passion. I can't coach passion, but I can coach passionately with the hopes that you will have a passion for what you are learning. Passion comes from the heart. Give me 100 percent. Nothing more, nothing less. Win or lose, you will be satisfied knowing you gave it your all.
“2. I cannot coach genetics. If you are 5-foot-5, I cannot coach you to be 6-1. Be happy with who you are, and be the best 5-5 player you can be.
“3. In volleyball, you are going to struggle at times. In life, you are going to struggle as well. Do not be afraid to fail. I would rather you fail and learn from it than to have never tried in the first place because of your fear of failing.
“4. Academics always comes before sports. Academics are going to help you to thrive in life, whereas sports is going to give you opportunities to enjoy recreation in life. For the
majority of athletes, sports is not what is going to get them through life.”
Three Colonial players continued to compete at the college level. In 2017, Colonial Christian was a 2A regional finalist.
Colonial Christian Athletic Director Peggy Wells said: “Coach Lou is one of those coaches who knows how to read a player's strengths and can pull greatness from all his players. He focuses on the basics and teaches each player on their talent level. He has built successful teams from our kids with his philosophy of playing with passion. His impact to his players goes beyond the court. We are blessed to have him minister to our students through sports.”
USA WATER POLO
Gaby Montalvo of Gulliver Prep (Class of ‘23) was selected to the USA Water Polo Youth National Team.
Montalvo was named Miami Herald All-Dade
first team in 2021 and 2022.
She was assigned to the US Water Polo Olympic Development Team in 2020 and 2021.
In 2022, Gulliver Prep named Montalvo its Girls’ Water Polo MVP. She helped lead the Raiders to the region finals.
In 2021, she received Gulliver Prep Girls’ Water Polo Best Offensive Player honor after helping the Raiders place second at state.
In 2020, she was acknowledged by the school’s girls’ water polo program as having the most potential.
BASEBALL STATE HONORS
The seven finalists for Mr. Baseball honors in association with the Florida Dairy Farmers include Roman Anthony of Stoneman Douglas.
Anthony, the state’s Class 7A Player of the
Year, helped his squad to the Class 7A state title with
a .520 batting average, 14 doubles, 10 home runs, 36 runs scored and 40 RBI. He signed with the University of Mississippi.
In the overall Coach of the Year category, four from the area are finalists. They are:
Todd Fitz-Gerald, Douglas, Class 7A Coach of the Year:
Led his squad to a 30-2 record and a second straight Class 7A state title. In 11 years at Douglas, he has posted a 226-55 record with three state titles (2016-’21-’22). His career record of 476-121 includes a 10-year stint at Plantation-American Heritage with a state title (2008) and two other Final Four appearances (2002 and ‘09).
Ralph Suarez, Doral Academy, Class 6A Coach of the Year:
Led his team to a 25-4-1 record and the school’s first state title. In eight years at Doral he has posted a 162-55 record, and in 23 years overall, he has a 565-170-5 record with four other state titles at Brito Miami Private School (1996-97-99 and 2002).
Brian Campbell, North Broward Prep, Class 3A Coach of the Year:
Led his school to a 23-9 record and a spot in the state Final Four. In 15 years at NBP, Campbell has a 229-174 record with a state title in 2021 and two other Final Four appearances in 2011 and ‘14.
Chris Cuadra, Miami Christian, Class 2A Coach of the Year:
Led his squad to a 29-3 record and the Class 2A state championship. In 10 years he has posted a 15290 record with three state titles (2018-’19-’22).
Here are how some other top area baseball players did in the voting in each classification.
Class 6A: 2. Michael Torres (Doral Academy), 3. Adrian Santana (Doral Academy). 5A: 2. Marco Fuentes (Belen Jesuit). 4A: 3. Jason Torres Miami Springs.
3A: 2. Yoel Tejeda (North Broward Prep), 3. Sal Stewart (Westminster Christian). 2A: 3. Eric Fernandez (Riviera Prep).