Building Century Teams: Blood, Sweat, Some Years

High school football programs are born into humble environments, and Century’s was no exception.

Everything was in place for Bill Brown when Century hired him as coach in the spring of 1989. The administration had already bought uniforms and equipment.

With the season still three months away, all Brown needed was a field, a staff and some players.

No problem, he figured.

He hired four coaches and scheduled workouts at a nearby elementary school.

Two players showed up.

Just enough to play catch but a start nonetheless.

Brown told the players and his coaches to put the word out--Wanted: More kids.

“The next day we had 10 kids, the next day 20,” Brown said. “We eventually had 90 on our roster.”

Century fielded freshman and junior varsity teams in its first season. They practiced at the former McPherson Junior High in Orange for the first five weeks of the season, until Century’s fields were finished.

“It wasn’t a bad deal,” Brown said. “We had a captive audience. The kids couldn’t leave practice early because the bus took us all at once.”

Although the school supplied all the equipment, Brown had no budget that first season. When the money ran out, the Centurions did without. Players paid for the postseason banquet out of their pockets.

Humble beginnings, to say the least.

Still, it was a start.

Four years later, Century’s program has grown to 115 players at four levels. Last season, the varsity shared the Pacific Coast League championship with Trabuco Hills and reached the Southern Section Division VIII semifinals.

Century could serve as a role model for new high school programs such as Aliso Niguel’s, which recently hired Coach Joe Wood and will begin play at the junior varsity and freshman levels next fall.

But Century’s program has emerged from an environment much different than Aliso Niguel’s or most other Orange County high schools.

Just look around, Brown tells you.

Century is in Santa Ana. Aliso Niguel is in Aliso Viejo, one of the county’s more affluent areas.

Century has no booster club and plays most of its home games on Saturday afternoons at Santa Ana Stadium. A private donation will provide Aliso Niguel with an aquatic center.

Brown estimates that 99% of Century’s 1,993 students come from blue-collar families. More than 86% are Hispanic, and of that percentage, 50% come from English-speaking homes.

Almost all of Aliso Niguel’s students will come from white-collar families and English-speaking homes.

Brown loves the blue-collar work ethic of his players. But it also can be a distraction: He often lets his players leave practices early to work or go home to care for younger family members.

“We have to be considerate here of kids’ work times and their obligations at home,” he said. “It’s a different situation here than at Aliso Niguel. You’re talking about an upper-class community there, basically white kids from white-collar families.”

Although there’s no booster club, Century has raised more than $8,000 in the past year with some creative fund-raisers.

One promotion awarded a new pickup truck to a fan who kicked a football 35 yards into the bed of the truck at halftime of last season’s Trabuco Hills game. Fans bought raffle tickets to get a shot at the winning kick. It proved to be one of the most popular high school promotions in the county.

Money also has come from other sources. The players’ parents help run bingo. Coaches run a fireworks booth in the summer and Ursula Brown, the coach’s wife, sells program ads.

Bill Brown says financial support is important, but he also believes a program’s success depends on the people around you, not the money in your pocket.

He applied that philosophy when hiring a staff. Finding good assistant coaches is a must, he said.

Vic Stegman, Ted Crego and Dave Mead have been assistant coaches for four years at Century. Art Dominguez, who played for Brown at John Glenn High, and Rick Hayes, who also coaches baseball, have been there three years.

Scott Orloff and Jeff Malstead have been assistants for two years, and former players George Muniz, Damien Guillen and Carlos Lopez have joined the staff in the past two seasons.

Assistant coach Steve Howard was recently named El Modena’s head football coach and Rick Milhizer, another assistant, is La Habra’s new coach.

“You have to be patient selecting a staff,” Brown said. “You have to make sure they have a good work ethic, that they’re good people. Their knowledge of X’s and O’s isn’t nearly as important as some of the other things. You need people who want to learn and who will be with you for a while.

“This is the one time where you have the opportunity to bring in this many people. The first year or two are so critical.”

Turn of the Century

In only four seasons, Century High’s football team has developed into one of the Pacific Coast League’s best:

Records League Year Overall League Finish 1989 4-6-0 (junior varsity) Free lance -- 9-0-0 (freshman) Free lance -- 1990 4-6-0 2-3 Fourth 1991 7-4-0 3-2 Third 1992 7-5-1 4-1 First

Century shared the 1992 Pacific Coast League title with Trabuco Hills and reached the semifinals of the Southern Section Division VIII playoffs. The Centurions fielded only freshman and junior varsity teams in 1989.