Page 9 - Sanger Herald 8-2-18 E-edition

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SANGER HERALD * PAGE 1B * THURSDAY, AUGUST 2, 2018
Sanger boxer is glad she returned to ring after long break
Editor’s note: This story is the third in a series about the young people who have joined the Sanger Boxing Club, which works out most week days starting at 5:30 p.m. at the Sanger Youth Center, 818 L St.
By Mike Nemeth
Sanger Herald
Cristal Cuellar tried boxing and liked it.
But she was young and dropped out. Then the 13-year-old returned to the sport in November 2017 and is glad she did.
“I met a lot of people and now that I’m older, I’ve learned more and gotten better experience,” she said. “I feel more confident and stronger, especially since the coach pushes me a lot.
“I really feel it.”
On the day of the interview, Cuellar
Mike Nemeth / Sanger Herald
Cristal Cuellar works out recently on the speed bag.
“Chaparrito” Cortes works out. He graduated to larger venues with the latest being July 7 at the Save Mart Center, part of the undercard to the main bouts, which aired on ESPN.
Boxing coach Mario Irazoqui said many boxers get a boost in confidence with regular workouts and skilled direction from veterans of the sport. “They all believe the same thing,” he said. “They want to be champions. But it’s not just boxing. It’s about life — to be champions.”
That desire increasingly is creating more than just successful people in the region. It’s making boxers.
“Fresno and the Central Valley have so much talent,” said Alonso Morelos, owner of About Millions Promotions, a Fresno-based promotions company that represents Cortes. “It’s all
due to (fighters like Jose) Ramirez. They are creating more opportunities for our fighters.”
Jose Ramirez of Avenal will defend his World Boxing Council super lightweight title against Antonio "Relentless" Orozco, of Tecate, Mexico who is 27-0 with 17 knockouts, on Sept. 14 at the Save Mart Center. Ramirez had been the headliner at the July 7 bout, where Cortes was on the undercard, until his competitor, Danny O’Connor of Framingham, Mass. pulled out of the match.
Cuellar wasn’t worried so much about future fights. She said she left swimming to put on gloves. She said she swam five years.
Asked why she switched sports, Cuellar said, “I think there are more goals to set here. I’m trying to get
better. Go amateur. Maybe go pro. The conditioning helped.”
Coach Ernesto Betancourt said Cuellar must decide to increase her aggressiveness in bouts.
“She is strong,” he said of the 5-foot-5 boxer who will be a freshman in the fall. “She needs to be ready and needs a little more confidence. She holds back a little (in fights). She’s got good punches and combinations.
“She’s working hard. But she’s still got work to do.”
Cuellar said her father really likes boxing and is proud of her because she pushes herself. Her mother considers her choice of pastime differently.
“My mom worries about me,” she said.
Cuellar has two little sisters. And she said those sisters also like boxing.
spent about a half hour pummeling various heavy bags with multiple combinations of jabs, crosses and hooks. She shared the boxing gym at the Sanger Youth Center with about 20 other boxers and those accompanying
them. She is part of the Sanger Boxing Club, which encourages young people to get fit practicing a sport that’s experiencing a resurgence in the San Joaquin Valley.
The location is the same place Sanger boxer Manuel
Referees rack up a century on court
By Mike Nemeth
Sanger Herald
Mike Bukilica and Ron Johnson regularly change into their shirts with the vertical black and white stripes, grab their whistles and head to the gym.
They are referees, those guys who enforce the rules and make sure everybody’s under control. No elbows. No hard fouls. No traveling.
But these two stand out in their profession. Of course, their mission is to do the opposite, to be secondary to the game of basketball and the players of both teams. To only alert the crowd to their presence when a call is made or foul noted.
“Technically, I have 51 years in,” Bukilica said. “Ron would probably say the same.”
Al Medina, another longtime ref, pondered how to refer to this pair of veteran referees. He discounted a couple, Dynamic Duo being one. Part of it was that Bukilica and Johnson aren’t the only superhero-like referees offering their talents night after night and season after season throughout the central San Joaquin Valley.
There are a bunch of others. Fernie Montanez, Louis Rodriguez, Art Bynum and Linda Montanez rank among the best in the business and have some of the longest records contributing to the sport.
And all of them attended the Evan “Shoot” Mediina Memorial Basketball Tournament on July 14. The event draws 20 boys and girls basketball teams from across the region and serves as a referee camp where officials learn the latest rules and work alongside their younger compatriots to pass on their wisdom and skills.
Bukilica, 73, and Johnson, 69, took a break between games during the tournament to talk in a classroom selected as the ref break room. The all- day tournament kept its referees busy with three games running nonstop, two in the main Coach Dean Nicholson Gym and one in the smaller gym next door.
John Franco, 32, sat in on part of the discussion. He said contributions by
Mike Nemeth / Sanger Herald
Mike Bukilica , left, John Franco and Ron Johnson talk about their careers during the Evan Medina tournament.
Johnson said. “Hanford won. Even the losing coach said Hanford played a great game. It sticks out to this day.”
Polk, 6-foot-5, died in September 2005 of a pulmonary blood clot that traveled to her lung. Her memorial drew 1,200 people, and the story was written by Jon Earnest, then city editor of the Hanford Sentinal and now editor of the Reedley Exponent. Earnest said she was known as Polkey and scored 2,163 points in high school.
Johnson said a referee strives to be the best possible. “To get chosen for a state playoff game is an honor,” he said. “That’s what you shoot for. To be the best you can be. All that work you do pays off.
“Mike and I have done a ton of playoff games. Hundreds of games (overall) together. And we still enjoy it.”
Bukilica chimed in. “We work so much together that we know where the other is at,” he said. This appeared a reference to the pair able to access a mental GPS all times during a game, and Bukilica added that the two use “eye communication” on court to let the other know what’s going on.
The court does take its toll. Fernie Montanez, 78, said he was beginning to loosen up and not walk bent over “like a little old guy” an hour into the Medina Tournament. He said he’s learned in his 35 years officiating that doing a good job is the most important thing. “We try to be consistent for the kids,” he said.
Montanez was once a star runner, clocking 1:52 minutes in the half mile. “I look at these kids running today and think, ‘I ran that fast?’” he said. His advice to future referees or people interested was simple.
“Just watch the experienced officials and see how they work," he said. "Go to basketball camps. Get people to know you. You just have to go through the process.”
Bukilica said, “You have to enjoy it. You’re not going to get rich.”
Bukilica, Johnson and the other long-serving regional referees have proved invaluable to younger people who have taken up the calling.
“Mentors, masters, teachers,” he said, attempting to describe their roles to people like himself. “Ron has taught me a lot. This is my eighth season.”
Franco also worked with Evan Medina as a referee before an automobile accident took his life. After Evan died Sept. 6, 2012, about 100 referees showed up to his funeral to pay their respects. And Al Medina created the tournament, which just completed its sixth season, as a memorial to remember his son and a way to help build the ranks of referees, who, he said, are aging.
“Seventy percent of referees are 50 and older,” he said last year. “We’re looking for young people. But it takes time for younger refs to build the confidence.”
Franco took up officiating at the urging of his father, who saw him blow the whistle during an informal recreation game. “He said, ‘You should be an official,’” Franco recalled. And it stuck. Johnson and Bukilica acknowledged Franco as one of the best of the up-and-comers and said
they enjoy passing along their knowledge.
But they stressed, and Franco backed them up, that the learning continues. They encouraged young referees and people interested in getting into the profession to attend camps designed to teach the many rules and nuances of the job.
“It’s much different (now),” Bukilica said. “We weren’t fortunate to have summer camps for referees. We didn’t have that courtesy. We learned right on the job.”
Refereeing is not an easy job. The Associated Press reported several years ago on an increasing trend of violence against refs, contributing to what appeared to be a nationwide shortage of new talent joining up. “By all accounts from those involved, finding and retaining referees is becoming more and more difficult,” the story said.
And Bukilica said he understands what it takes, especially when the game is hotly contested. “It’s much different on the court,” he said. “Once you’ve got coaches yelling at you and players’ disrespect, it’s much different than the camps.
“You have to have game management. You have
to work with the players, the coaches and the administration (of each school).”
Johnson said he began his career doing intramural sports while attending Fresno State and refereeing games for Fresno’s recreation department. “It helped get me through college,” he said.
Johnson taught geology and later worked for Johns Manville. “(But) no matter what, I continued to officiate,” he said.
In his younger years, Bukilica made it all the way to the New York Mets. Sort of. “A ball club got interested in me,” he said. He was working as a ref in the Fresno recreation department like Johnson. But gaining the attention of Major League Baseball recruiters wasn’t anything like it is today. The stakes were lower. A lot lower at least in terms of financial reward.
“We had to find a job,” he said. “It’s not like today.”
Bukilica was given to the Houston Colt 45s. The team renamed itself the Astros in 1965. The 45s couldn’t find a spot on the roster for the young man from the Central Valley and he went to the minor leagues and subsequently joined the Navy, spending about 11 months in Vietnam, part
of two years active duty on the aircraft carrier USS Hornet.
Bukilica started officiating again when he returned. “And I have been doing it ever since,” he said. “I love it. I love being on court with those kids, the camaraderie with other officials. And this guy’s my best friend.” He later worked in the business world for a container company.
He pointed out Johnson as that friend. “Where there was a basketball game, Ron and I were there.”
Bukilica said the entire game has changed over the course of his career, but that he enjoys the learning aspect because it never stops.
Both of them cited the exercise they get as a bonus.
Johnson said quite a few moments stand out in his career but none like the playoff game when Hanford High’s girls’ team won the California Division II championship in 2001, beating Amador Valley High in Pleasanton. Shawntinice Polk, who went on to play for the University of Arizona, proved a big part of the game with teammates Jenny Thigpin, Tara Chennault and Amy Parrish.
“That was a great game,”