Lessons Of The Heart

If only high school coaches could take an X-ray of an athlete’s heart or become invisible and spend a couple of days watching the teenager at home, maybe they would make better decisions on who should play and who should not.

Those teenagers with size, speed, strength and coordination always rise to the top on a coach’s wish list. But every so often, a young athlete who did not initially pass the eyeball test bursts forward to force a coach to reevaluate his or her judgment.

Matthew Diaz, a freshman quarterback at Reseda High, and Manuel Gonzalez, a senior offensive guard at El Camino Real, are proof that first impressions can be misleading and more scrutiny is required before making final decisions.

In the case of Diaz, he’s a 5-foot-7, 130-pound 14-year-old. He began the year as the third-string quarterback for Reseda’s freshman-sophomore team.

“They thought I was too small,” he said.

Those became fighting words for Diaz.

But the biggest obstacle was his inconsistent passing. The solution: Practice, practice, practice. He’d go to Reseda on Sundays and throw the ball to his father.

By the fifth week of the season, Diaz had become the freshman-sophomore team’s starter. Reseda is 3-1 with him at quarterback.

A closer look at Diaz reveals qualities that can’t be discovered by running a 40-yard dash or measuring his vertical leap.

He lives at home with his father, Bob, a single parent who decided to prepare his son for adulthood by giving him the chores and responsibilities of a college student.

“I have to do everything around the house,” Diaz said. “I wash dishes, clean clothes, vacuum, clean the rooms, do the laundry.”

He even cooks, with chicken and rice his favorite recipe. Wait until the girls at Reseda hear about him.

“My dad brought me up right,” he said.

He gets mostly A’s in school, and for at least one hour every night after football practice, he practices playing his guitar. He has seven guitars and takes lessons twice a week. On Wednesday nights, he goes to a Studio City restaurant and plays guitar as part of jam night when people from the crowd play with a house band.

Diaz can play loud or soft songs, rock or jazz, blues or country. Van Halen is his favorite band.

“I like to watch VH1 stories on guitar players or listen to a CD,” he said.

He wants to take a class at Reseda to learn how to write music. This spring, he intends to try out for the baseball team. And he’ll keep riding his four-wheel, all-terrain vehicle on sand dunes at Pismo Beach and Dumont Dunes.

Next fall, he’ll try to make the varsity football team. Coach Joel Schaeffer had better not simply dismiss him as needing more seasoning. To convince Schaeffer, Diaz might want to volunteer to play one of Schaeffer’s favorite country and western tunes on his guitar. And improve the strength of his arm.

“I just have to have a lot of determination,” Diaz said.

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While Diaz started off as a third-stringer, Gonzalez was cut from El Camino Real’s freshman-sophomore team after three days of tryouts.

“It was the single biggest mistake I ever made in coaching,” said Richard Urias, the former El Camino Real freshman-sophomore coach.

Gonzalez was short, overweight, out of shape. He showed up for only one of the three days of tryouts. But after he was cut, Gonzalez refused to accept the decision.

There are two ways to approach a coach to question a decision. There’s the confrontational way used by some parents, screaming, “You stupid, incompetent idiot!”

And there’s the straightforward, calm, honest attempt to point out a possible error.

Gonzalez told Urias he had made a mistake.

“Give me one more chance,” Gonzalez pleaded.

“A lot of kids have told me that, but none had the look in his eyes that Manuel had,” Urias said.

Urias put him back on the team. Gonzalez turned into a success story. The next year, he helped El Camino Real’s freshman-sophomore team finish 10-0. For the last two seasons, he has been a starting offensive guard on the varsity. He has grown to 5-10, 210 pounds and plays so hard in practice that few want to go against him.

A closer look tells the story of a teenager possessing qualities every coach wants and needs.

Gonzalez had missed two days of tryouts because he had to take care of his ill grandmother. Family was his first priority.

He was born in Nicaragua and came to the United States when he was 5. He lives with his grandmother, father and cousin in a house near Dodger Stadium. He has ridden buses to attend schools in Woodland Hills for seven years. He wakes up at 6 a.m. and returns home at 8 p.m.

Gonzalez uses football as inspiration for the future.

“It’s changed the way I see everything,” Gonzalez said. “I know by working hard, you can have success. I don’t know what the future holds, but whatever it is, I’m going to go at it like football--go hard.”

Urias is working toward a master’s degree and not coaching this season. But when he returns to coaching, he’ll remember the lesson taught to him by Gonzalez.

“I was looking for athletes, but I realize now having the mentally tough kids is as important as having athletes,” he said.

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Eric Sondheimer’s local column appears Wednesday and Sunday. He can be reached at (818) 772-3422 or eric.sondheimer@latimes.com