GILROY — Among the hoards and within the wafting aroma of literally tons of garlic were athletes and coaches who see and smell it all as the revenue of a new season.
From the Gavilan women’s softball players who sold tickets to the Gilroy High School cross country team who piled healthy doses of vampire repellant on bread, local sports programs cashed in on their biggest fundraisers of the year.
“This is how we buy uniforms, pay for buses and pay for kids to go to meets,” said Cross Country and Track and Field Coach Cathy Silva. “When we do barbecues and the end of the year banquets, we pay for those when we work here.”
Silva said she also uses the garlic bread booth as a life lesson for the athletes.
“The kids get an opportunity to work together and learn the business,” Silva said.
The cross country team has been working the booth for 14 years, continuing on a tradition of 20 years at the festival.
The girls basketball and softball teams from Gilroy also operated the booth until the cross country team took over.
While the cross country team sold its own garlic bread, members of the Gilroy water polo and swimming teams volunteered selling bread in Gourmet Alley.
Gavilan football coach Spencer Gilford said being out at the festival was a chance to make sure the team had the equipment it needs for the coming year, as well as help to fund a trip to the College of the Redlands during the season.
“This is huge for what it does for us,” Gilford said.
Unlike the Christopher High School cheerleaders at the kids zone or the Gilroy High School wrestlers on trash duty or even the CHS football players drawing in hoards looking to keep cool with misters, Gilford couldn’t draw on the athletes for help.
Gavilan football sold wine margaritas and as a result, Gilford couldn’t use his players to help since all but one are under the age of 21.
Instead, he had help from other coaches, volunteers and parents of some of the players.
Not everything sports teams did at the festival revolved around food.
Mariza Rodriguez may have manned the ticket-selling booth with the Gavilan Softball Team, but for her, it was a way to give back to the community that has supported her growing up.
“It’s a good opportunity for us out here as a team to raise money and serve the community,” Rodriguez said.
But it was so much more than that, she said.
“This is a chance to make the community a better place and environment,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez added she would much rather work the festival than attend for fun.
“I love meeting people from out of state,” Rodriguez said. “I always ask them, ‘where are you guys from?’ trying to start up a conversation. I had one say they were from Washington and another from Oregon. You know this is a big deal if they came that far.”
Meeting people was only part of why the athletes volunteered.
GHS’ Blanca Becerra said she wanted to help one more time before she left high school.
“I graduate this year, so I wanted to be with them one last time,” Becerra said.
Volunteering brought everyone closer together, said cross country runner Kairo Barroso.
“Cross country is like a family. They are like my brothers and sisters,” Barroso said.
He said this was the first time he volunteered in four years with the team, but said volunteering was a good chance to serve the community and catch up with the team.
“We go out side in the shade and talk a lot. It’s a good time and relaxing,” he said.
Perhaps the most popular booth was that run by Christopher High School’s football team.
The Cougars partnered with Mr. Misters to sell squirt misters to festival goers.
With the heat scorching all three days of the event—reaching 105 degrees July 25 and hitting mid to upper 90s on July 26 an 27—booth workers reported eager shoppers lining up to cool down.
“It was crazy. The crowds were going all the way back to the food court,” said soon-to-be senior Freddy Mireles.
Rain in the morning of July 27 slowed things a little bit for the team, but sales picked up as the temperature rose.
This year, Mr. Misters out of Sacramento took over for a Southern California affiliate after the representative had a prior engagement. Co-owner Jesus Iglesias said he initially was dubious about working with high school students, but said after spending the weekend with the football players, he said he has been impressed with how hard they have worked.
And after working the festival, Iglesias said he hoped he could come back next year.
“The festival is very well run. I’m extremely impressed,” Iglesias said. “I’m going to see if I can steal if from (Southern California representative) Scott (Morgan).”
