As a high school student, sports meant everything to current Diamond Bar High School Health teacher John Martin, as he formed unforgettable memories and bonds with his teammates, the only people from high school he still keeps in touch with now.

Martin started playing sports when he was five, first participating in tee ball and then moving on to football, in which an inspirational coach influenced his early experiences. During his first year of football, Martin found learning the various concepts and techniques difficult, but his coach never gave up on him.

“[The coach] showed me how to do things one step at a time and the light bulb went off and I’ll never forget him. That guy took time out just to help me and he has impacted the way I coach and even the way I played with my teammates,” Martin said.

Attending Rowland High School in the early 1990s, Martin was a two-sport athlete, playing football and baseball. In football, he was the team’s quarterback, free safety, and captain. Martin’s achievements included being named the first team all-league, offensive player of the year, and MVP. In baseball, he was the centerfielder and was named MVP several times.

The friendships Martin formed in his high school football days continue to follow him, even to this day. His teammates still keep in touch and occasionally have get-togethers. Even outside of practice, the players were inseparable and took the same classes. A fond memory Martin recalls is shaving their heads in his senior year, despite having senior pictures the following day.

“We decided this is what we were going to do to become a team. We had a few who didn’t but they were people who didn’t really play much so not everybody had to but it was a great team bonding experience,” Martin said.

From sports, Martin learned to never quit. When he first started, Martin said that he partially wanted to stop playing because of the difficulties in forming team comradery, but he fought against it. By doing so, the health teacher learned to stick with whatever decisions he made.

“It changes how you are able to be resilient and overcome things. It challenges how hard of a worker you can be. If you are able to overcome those things in sports, it carries on to your life,” Martin said.

Although he played a year of collegiate football in his freshman year at Citrus College in Glendora, Martin discontinued the sport due to an arm injury he suffered in the beginning of his sophomore year.

When he began teaching at DBHS, Martin, having served as Rowland High School’s head football coach prior, also started coaching with varsity track and lower level wrestling in 2007. He was the head football coach from 2007 until 2010, taking a break to focus on his family since coaching took up a lot of time.

“Being able to teach kids football means being able to teach kids some things you have been through in your life to hopefully help them understand and make better decisions in their life,” Martin said.

Martin fondly remembers his first year in coaching, when the team dumped a bucket of Gatorade on him. The season prior saw the team win only two games, but the Brahmas had beat Walnut in the Branding Iron game, a feat unaccomplished in the previous few years.

“From that point on, I think we became like family. It was cool because the kids dumped it on me and when it comes from the kids, it means a lot because no one forced them to do it,” Martin said.

Although Martin returned as a freshman football coach in 2013 and this season, he will be taking a break from coaching once again due to health issues.