Colleges / Alan Drooz : Hawthorne Educator Bravo Makes College Hall of Fame

Alex (Boom Boom) Bravo, a one-time Los Angeles Ram and an original Oakland Raider who is now head of the foreign language department at Hawthorne High, has been elected to the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Athletic Hall of Fame.

Bravo, who starred for Cal Poly’s undefeated 1953 football team that was named mythical small college national champ, still ranks in the school’s top 10 in career rushing and career total offense. He played for the Rams and Raiders after starting out in the Canadian Football League.

Bravo grew up in Santa Barbara. He was drafted by the Rams in the ninth round in 1954 and signed to a conditional contract by then Rams employee Pete Rozelle.

In 1959 he missed the season with an injury and began teaching at Hawthorne. After spending two seasons with the fledgling Oakland Raiders, Bravo retired and returned to Hawthorne, where he has taught Spanish ever since.

He remains active in sports, officiating football and basketball and helping coach Hawthorne’s state champion track team. He has also coached football and cross-country, and he was a track umpire during the 1984 Olympics.

Though he admits “it’s been a while,” Bravo said players at Hawthorne sometimes are aware he was once a pro. “Some of ‘em say, ‘You were a pro? I don’t believe it,’ ” he said, laughing.

Bravo joins about 20 former Broncos in the Hall of Fame, which was started last year. Bravo and five other Cal Poly alumni will be honored at half time of Cal Poly’s Nov. 5 game against Southern Utah. They will be inducted at a banquet after the game.

The other inductees are former major league pitcher Thornton Lee, Washington Redskins General Manager Bob Beathard (who also played at El Camino College), women’s volleyball star Sandy Aughinbaugh, football-baseball player Vernon (Pinky) Bebernes and Howie O’Daniels, who coached several sports at Cal Poly from 1933 to 1967. Reservations for the ceremony are available through the Cal Poly athletic department through Oct. 21 at (805) 756-2255.

Bravo is a resident of Manhattan Beach.

It isn’t reflected at Loyola, which is trying to build a men’s soccer program without scholarships, but the West Coast Athletic Conference is becoming a West Coast power in the sport.

In the latest rankings, Portland is No. 1 in the West and No. 8 nationally. The undefeated Pilots are 6-0 and have allowed only one goal all season. San Francisco, a traditional Western power, is 4-2 and ranked 15 in the national Top 20. Santa Clara is also unbeaten at 3-0 and has outscored opponents, 10-2, and St. Mary’s is off to a 4-2-1 start, matching last year’s victory total.

For trivia buffs, junior fullback Mike Gillette scored Loyola’s first soccer goal of the season--in the Lions’ fifth game--and Greg Poncetta added one later as Coach Al Kotero chalked up his first victory, 2-1 over Pomona-Pitzer. Poncetta’s goal broke a 1-1 tie. The victory, however, came at a price: Freshman midfielder Doug Seward suffered torn knee ligaments and will miss the rest of the season following surgery. The Lions open West Coast Athletic Conference play Friday at home against the University of San Diego.

The Lions’ water polo team also picked on Pomona-Pitzer to record its first victory last weekend, 9-6, after opening the season with five losses against the likes of UCLA and Pepperdine, whose scholarshipped teams outman what is essentially a team of walk-ons at Loyola. The Lions will play in the Whittier College Tournament this weekend.

Ed Aronin has taken an unusual route on the way to being named the women’s softball coach at Loyola Marymount. Aronin, 44, a trial lawyer based in Inglewood, led his daughter’s St. Bernard High girls team to a 14-5 record and the Camino Real League championship last spring, the first time he officially coached softball. Interested in finding out what it took to become a collegiate coach, Aronin phoned Loyola this summer. That was essentially what it took. Loyola was in need of a coach and invited him for an interview. Aronin replaces Mary Hirt, who resigned after three seasons. The Lions played as a Division I team for the first time last year and have a 34-game schedule beginning in February. They went 15-17 last spring.

College Notes

No Respect Department: Olympic cyclist Dave Lettieri, a one-time Loyola student, is listed in USA Today as attending “La Jolla Marymount College” . . . Dominguez Hills soccer players Willie Ayala and Joe Flanagan entered the week ranked 1-2 in scoring among California Collegiate Athletic Assn. soccer players with 11 points (5 goals, 1 assist) and 8 points (3 and 2) respectively. Teammate Robert Enriquez is tied for sixth with 7 points (3 and 1) . . . Pat Meyer and Keoni Ball, who were non-scholarship players on Loyola’s basketball team the last two seasons, will not play for the Lions this season. The Lions open practice Oct. 15 with a long list of scholarship players at guard . . . The Cal State Dominguez Hills women’s soccer team, already missing leading scorer Lynor Johnson with a shoulder injury, lost more key players last weekend. Midfielder Conni Cowman broke her right leg. Forwards Rhonda McVicar and Kerry Bertoldo suffered knee injuries but could be in the lineup this weekend . . . The Toros’ women’s volleyball team has had numbers problems due to injuries and ineligibilities but gets a boost this week when 5-foot-10 Shawn Brunson, a transfer from Arizona State, becomes eligible.