Serra athletics helped shape Baldonado

But Padres truly do mean it and it’s that brotherhood that has led Ray Baldonado to becoming the school’s new dean of students, it was announced earlier this week.

“Huggy” as he is affectionately known, a nickname he picked up his freshman year of high school and a reference to a character in the 1970s television series “Starsky & Hutch,” is a 2007 Serra graduate. As a senior, Baldonado was a two-time West Catholic Athletic League champion — winning a co-title in football and the WCAL wrestling tournament crown.

It was his time spent with Serra athletics that helped mold Baldonado into a Serra lifer.

“Playing sports here at Serra made me fall in love with Serra. It gave me a work ethic that is unquestioned,” said Baldonado, 31. “Overall, it’s one of the things that built my foundation as a man. … It set me up for the future.”

It’s not uncommon to see alumni return to work at Serra. Twenty-two members of the school’s faculty are Serra grads. Mike Klobuchar, who is the Padres’ head wrestling, was an assistant during Baldonado’s three years with the wrestling team. Klobuchar is a 1990 Serra graduate and he confirmed those Serra mantras are not just lip service.

“A lot of time you hear ‘brotherhood,’ ‘tradition’ and people think those are just flowery words,” Klobuchar said. “But I live by that. Five of my assistants are alums.”

So count Klobuchar among those not surprised to see Baldonado ascend in the Serra administration.

“He was always a leader on my team,” Klobuchar said. “What I think is great about Huggy being a freshman football coach for so long, he relates to the kids. He understands where the kids are coming from.

“That’s why I think this is a great role for him.”

When Baldonado was in middle school, he just assumed he would attend Hillsdale High School. His mom had other plans. Instead, she enrolled Baldonado at Serra and now the student has become the teacher — almost literally. Since graduating Serra in 2007, Baldonado never really left. He started coaching football as an 18-year-old in 2008 and has worked in various administrative roles at the school before taking on his latest role.

“I’m forever grateful for everything my mom did for me. She was my first call when I got this job. She cried,” Baldonado said. “We overcame a lot of adversity to get here. She was a single mom of twins and she put us through private school. She worked two jobs to get it done.”

If mom was the driving force, it was sports that solidified the ties to Serra for Baldonado. After graduating Serra, Baldonado planned to play for two years at College of San Mateo and then transfer.

He never played a game for the Bulldogs after “blowing out” both his shoulders and having four shoulder surgeries. But he didn’t want to be done with the game so he called then Serra athletic director Dean Ayoob and asked about any coaching openings. Ayoob put Baldonado in touch with his old football coach Patrick Walsh and Baldonado was a coach on the freshman team two years after his last snap with the Padres. He continued coaching as he went to CSM and eventually got a degree in liberal studies at Notre Dame de Namur University. He is currently working on his master’s degree in education administration.

Baldonado spent 12 seasons on the Serra football coaching staff, stepping away after the 2019 season. He also had five seasons coaching lacrosse and two seasons as a wrestling coach. He credited coaching with helping his transition from the sudden ending of his playing career.

“It was hard (to quit playing) but not as hard as it could have been because I had Serra,” Baldonado said. “I still had football in my life and was still active with football (as a coach).”

In addition to his coaching duties, Baldonado started working in the school’s administration, holding positions of campus security, substitute teacher, assistant dean of students, assistant athletic director and has been on the school’s alumni board for a number of years, as well.

“Ray just came up through the ranks,” Klobuchar said. “Any role Serra asked (him to do), he would do it.”

Because of the amount of work in his new position as well as the needs of a young family, Baldonado had to step away from coaching, but just as Serra was there to help him transition from player to coach, the school is helping his transition from coach to administrator.

“As dean, I’m required to go to all the games, so I’m still around sports. As much as I love sports, I love Serra sports way more than anything else,” Baldonado said. “The goal was to always come back to Serra. Once I started coaching, I realized it was Serra where I wanted to be. Serra has been home base for me. Everything felt natural and that’s what drove me to finish (college) and stay (home).”

As for that nickname: people can’t still be calling him Huggy can they? Baldonado estimates 85 to 90% of people still call him Huggy. Even students ask if they can call Baldonado by his longtime nickname.

If you’re a student, though, you better put some respect on his name.

“[Students] can call me ‘Huggy,’ but make sure to put ‘Coach’ in front of it,” Baldonado said.