San Gorgonio football program’s Aden “A-Dog” Pawlowicz exemplifies character, perseverance and reliability
SAN BERNARDINO — The sky at San Gorgonio High's Phil Haley Stadium is a brilliant palette of blue, gray and red. The hot sun reflects off the visiting bleachers. And the campus is bathed in the school's colors, black, light blue and white.
Outside the Spartan locker room, Aden "A-Dog" Pawlowicz toils. The red-haired teen sets up the blocking dummies, situates the linemen's chute and arranges the step-overs the players negotiate.
"A-Dog is how we refer to him," San Gorgonio coach Chris Chaddick says. "He's amazing. He does everything for us. He loves the game, and he gets to be around it as team manager. He arrives at practice 35 minutes early and sets up the field and does whatever we need."
A-Dog, 18, has mild forms of Epilepsy and Autism. Epilepsy is a neurological condition. Autism affects how one socializes with and perceives others – though it is barely noticeable in A-Dog.
He also has ADHD – attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder – which impacts his behavior and ability to function. But A-Dog's parents, Lauren and Adam, taught him never to quit. So he has not. Late last month he traveled to Long Beach's Grand Hotel to receive the CIF-Southern Section's Champions for Character Award.
"I was shocked," A-Dog said. "I got the letter, and I told my mom, 'I think I'm in trouble.' Then we read it and found out I got nominated. I'm the second student in the history of the school to get it. It was beautiful. I met the commissioner and a girl who wrestles. It showed me how hard other students work."
A-Dog is also an Eagle Scout, planting bougainvillea at the San Bernardino Elks Lodge as his main project. Done no doubt with his usual zeal.
'THAT'S OUR GUY, THE A-DOG'
A-Dog leads a visitor into the Spartan locker room, where players are completing study hall.
"This is where the magic happens," A-Dog says, pointing out banners and awards from championship seasons.
"There's the best defensive coordinator a team could have, coach (Andy) Martinez. Coach Chaddick is good at hiring staff and getting people who are hungry."
A-Dog's middle name is James, but "Hyperbole" is more fitting. The young man is given to exaggeration. Coach Ryan Whittemore is "the best JV coach around," A-Dog says. Denise Robertson is "the best athletic trainer in the Inland Empire."
"He's real important," Spartan receiver Kaleb Taylor says of A-Dog. "He puts all our gear out on the field and, as the ballboy, gets the ball to the ref. That's our guy, the A-Dog, man."
Due to A-Dog's multiple maladies, he cannot play football. So he strolls the field in Spartan T-shirt and black shorts, chatting with players, talking technique with coaches and instructing punters.
"This is the way they do it," A-Dog says to the punter. "They plant their left foot and boom!"
The A-Dog extends his right foot, sending an imaginary punt worthy of NFL Hall of Famer Ray Guy into the heavens.
"The first day I met him and his mother, I was having a rough day," Spartan assistant coach Jim Mokerski says. "He says, 'I'm the A-Dog and I'll help you with whatever you need.' I thought, 'This is great to not have to do all this stuff by myself.' Then I met his mom, and she says, 'I'm A-Dog's mom and please let us know whatever you need.' They're just good people."
The marriage of A-Dog and Spartan football was not one made in heaven but arranged by teacher Anselmo Garcia. It was Garcia who suggested that A-Dog volunteer to be a team manager. The rest is history.
AN 'INTANGIBLE'
Midway through practice, the lights at Phil Haley Stadium burst to life and athletic director Matt Maeda enters. It was Maeda who nominated A-Dog for the Champions of Character award.
"He's a crucial element," Maeda says. "He's an intangible. Coaches feel it when he's not around. Even the night before I found out he won the award, it was like 95 degrees outside, and I was in my office and looked down on the field and he's setting things up. Nobody's around but him. I said to myself, 'Man, I sure hope he wins the award.'"
And so he did. Richly deserved, no doubt.
