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Vacaville High School will celebrate its football homecoming tonight at halftime of the varsity game. The real ceremony will take place after the game, however. Head coach Tom Zunino will huddle with his players and their parents as he has after every game in his 35-year career. He’ll ask his assistant coaches to dig deep into their pockets in search of pennies so that the award ceremony can commence. Don’t think the Bulldogs are penny pinchers. Zunino likes to acknowledge his players with their parents present, and pennies happen to be far cheaper than trophies. “It started when (Steve) Smentek was here. It started back in the early ‘60’s,” Zunino said. “One night we decided to give something out to the kids to acknowledge them. It happened to be pennies. It just happened. We started saving pennies. It could have been anything, but we were too cheap. We were poor then. We wanted to do something, and it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than buying dinners for the kids.” The coins mean as much to the players as any award they recieve during the season. Chris Fernandez has earned his share of pennies in three seasons with the Bulldogs, and they’re stored in a bowl for safe keeping in his mother’s china cabinet. “I give them to my mom (Terry), and I tell her not to lose them. I don’t want them mixed in with pennies in her purse,” Fernandez said. “I wish I would have marked them somehow so I would know when I got them and who gave them to me.” Fernandez first learned of the penny ritual as a child and was anxious to become part of the tradition after promoted to the varsity team as a sophomore. “I went to games when Meko (May) and (Keith) Siscel were playing, and they were handing out pennies,” he recalled. “I was thinking, ‘Can I get one of those?’ I had a friend (Mark Norton) who got a couple pennies and taped them on his wall.” Zunino doesn’t pass out pennies. He lets his assistant coaches share the duty of recognizing the players in front of their families for turning in strong performances. “They do mean something. It’s always something special,” Zunino offered. “It’s immediate. We do the other awards after we look at the movies. You don’t want to give too many out. But if it’s a team effort, you have to give more out.” Players can get greedy when it comes to collecting coins. Fernandez thought he deserved two pennies after Vacaville’s 34-14 win over Woodland two weeks ago, but the two-way starter recieved just one from linebacker coach Steve Green. Offensive line coach Fred Jones was running out on pennies and passed on Fernandez. “He said he only had one penny left and I already had one,” Fernandez said. “I wanted him to dig into his pocket and find another one. He could have found another one.” The presentation of pennies coincides with Zunino’s post game talk, and the coach doesn’t bite his tongue just because parents are present. If the team deserves criticism, Zunino won’t temper his remarks until his players have reached the locker room. Zunino will vent his frustration at his players on the field in front of their families and friends. “Sometimes it’s not positive, but there’s not time for fibbing. If I have to chew them out, I chew them out.” he said. “that’s the way it is. The parents can hear it. The kids know that.” Dan Orosco has learned having his family present doesn’t mean he won’t be a target of Zunino’s wrath. “He’ll tell us that we have to work harder right there in front of our families,” Orosco said. Fernandez added, “All the talking is done on the field in front of the parents. He doesn’t rip on people, but he makes his point.” Fernandez can take the criticism for a chance to collect more coins. “It’s something special. It’s more like a tradition,” he said. “They’ll stay with me until I die”
Players wait for the coaches to award pennies for outstanding play, a long standing tradition at Vacaville High School.
BY CECIL CONNELY VACAVILLE REPORTER VACAVILLE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL HOME HOME