35 Years Later, Doctor Retiring as Key Player on Ventura High Team

Dr. Roy Haggard is not really sure when he became the physician for Ventura High’s football team--it might have been 1960 or 1961, he said.

Ask him about the injuries he has seen and he will hastily mention sprains, muscle spasms and the occasional broken collarbone.

But inquire why he remained the Cougars’ team doctor for 35 years--weathering long losing streaks, a turnstile of coaches, a run of regional championships and even a field house sex scandal--and the Ventura doctor brightens.

“It was fun watching the kids out on the field making mistakes and then learning from their mistakes,” he said. “I did it for the kids.”

Now, however, it is time to pass the stethoscope, said Haggard, 68.

After caring for nearly 3,000 football players in 300 varsity and junior varsity games--and squeezing time into his already busy medical practice to stand on the sidelines--Haggard is slowing down and thinking about retirement.

It is a milestone he does not completely relish.

“It’d be nice to just be starting instead of finishing,” Haggard said as he stared into an empty Larrabee Stadium on Tuesday afternoon. “But I guess nothing lasts forever.”

The Ventura Unified School District Board of Education at its Tuesday meeting presented Haggard with a lifetime pass for him and his family to attend the team’s games to thank him for his 35 years of service. Haggard, who will later be given a Cougars’ letterman’s jacket that is on order, received a standing ovation from those in attendance.

“Thank you very much for your outstanding contribution,” said Joseph Spirito, superintendent of the Ventura Unified School District. “I hope we still see you there on the sidelines on Friday nights, Roy.”

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Besides attending every home game at Ventura High, Haggard performed thousands of physicals for athletes over the years. Every student who joins a team is required to have an examination each year, said Phil McCune, a Ventura High athletic coach.

When Haggard signed on as team doctor, he was paid 50 cents for each physical and about $5 to monitor each two-hour game; this year, Haggard earned $15 for each student physical and $30 per game. But money was never the motivation for serving as Ventura High’s team doctor, Haggard said.

“I could have made a lot more money staying in my office and caring for patients,” he said. “I just got involved with the football team and there was no way I wanted to let go. I just loved it.”

Haggard is a Ventura native, sort of. He was born in Oklahoma and moved with his parents to Ventura when he was a year old.

Since then, he never strayed far, graduating from Ventura High in 1944. He received his medical degree at the University of Southern California and married the girl next door--literally.

Marian, his wife of 46 years, was his childhood neighbor, Haggard said.

Three years after setting up his practice in an office on Loma Vista Road, Dr. Frederick Gunn asked Haggard to take over as Ventura High’s team physician. His long stint as team doctor allowed him to observe a number of football coaches at work, Haggard said.

One of the best was Harvey Kochel, whom Haggard first met when Kochel came to Ventura High as a student. Kochel led the Ventura High Cougars to win or share league titles in six out of nine years from 1983 to 1991.

But Kochel’s career ended abruptly in September, 1992, when officials learned that he had conducted a sexual affair with a female student. Haggard said he was shaken by the scandal.

“You don’t think things like that can happen, but I guess they do,” he said.

One of the toughest parts of his job at Ventura High was telling a young, enthusiastic football player he would have to sit out a game or the entire season because of an injury.

“One kid came to my office and it was apparent he had a broken bone in his hand,” Haggard said. “When I told him he couldn’t play any more, he started crying.”

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But the satisfactions of the position far outweighed the negatives, Haggard said. Being on the same field with energetic young men made him feel younger, he said.

And even though he never played football himself, he became a fan of high school football, Haggard said.

“I would find myself on the sideline shouting, ‘Hit him! Hit him!’ ” he said. “And then when they went down, the first thing I’d think is ‘Oh no, I hope it’s not too serious.’ ”