La Jolla High School alumnus and longtime Vikings baseball coach Gary Frank has been selected by the San Diego Padres as a Coach of the Week, putting him in the running to be Coach of the Year and earn $10,000 for the baseball program.
“The selection committee was unanimous in its choice of Gary due to his long commitment to the school, the baseball program and his players, both on the field and in the classroom,” said Bill Johnston, Padres vice president of community impact.
“I am truly honored to receive the award from the Padres,” Frank said. But he added he doesn’t view it as an individual honor “but rather a validation of all the wonderful people we have working behind the scenes to help our kids develop both on and off the field.”
“We are very proud of the program we have built up at La Jolla High School, and it is definitely a group effort,” Frank said. “As a coach, I realize I cannot do everything on my own. We have outstanding student-athletes, a great coaching staff and extremely ive parents. Our goal is to have all of those entities working together to give the kids a positive experience. We are proud to represent the community of La Jolla and we do our very best to give back to the community and be a positive reflection of … La Jolla, and I think we do a pretty good job of that. I am very humbled to receive the award from the Padres and I am excited to accept it on behalf of the entire La Jolla High School baseball family.”
Frank played for La Jolla High during his time there as a student in the 1980s and has been involved with the baseball program ever since.
Baseball has been a part of Frank’s family since he was an infant. The Chicago native had moved to San Diego by the time his love for the game developed, so his favorite team is the Padres.
Frank played for the Vikings, then in college and a few years in independent minor leagues. Then he started coaching for La Jolla as an assistant 28 years ago and became its head coach in 2004.
Frank was nominated for Coach of the Week by La Jolla High Athletic Director Aaron Quesnell, who said in the nomination form that “Gary has a ion for both the game and the development of student-athletes. In addition to teaching and developing baseball skills, he puts in the work both in and out of season to make sure his players are doing their best in the classroom. He works on developing character and sportsmanship. He develops student-athletes that have a respect for the game and its history, teammates and opponents and everyone that makes playing baseball possible. We are fortunate to have Coach Frank at La Jolla.”
The Padres started the Coach of the Week program in 2018 to “recognize the valuable contributions coaches make to our youth and student-athletes as coaches, educators, mentors and role models,” Johnston said.
Each week for eight weeks beginning March 25, the Padres recognize one local baseball or softball coach. Each Coach of the Week receives a $1,500 grant to the coach’s program or league. At the end of the program, one of the coaches will be named Coach of the Year on the field at Petco Park on Monday, June 10. The winner will receive a $10,000 grant for the coach’s program.
Frank previously told the La Jolla Light that “it’s not about how big you are but how big your heart is. We [had] a guy on our team who is 5-foot-7 and 120 pounds and another guy who is 6-foot-5 and 300 pounds. There aren’t a lot of sports where you can have that big a difference and, so long as you are willing to work at it, you can have a reward.”
“It goes along with life — you get out of it what you put into it,” he said. “That’s a huge thing we try to instill in them. Control what you can control. You can’t control whether I put you in the lineup, but you can control how ready you are when you get that opportunity.” ◆
