Paul Guardado puts character above championships on the court and field as Meadow Glade Adventist Elementary School’s new athletic director and physical education teacher.
Across both the athletics and P.E. departments, Guardado focuses on each student’s individual abilities and potential.
During P.E. classes, Guardado prioritizes inclusion and adaptability to facilitate physical activity for every student. For student-athletes, MGAES currently offers basketball, soccer and girls volleyball. The three-tiered athletics program — Experience (grades 3-4), Developmental (grades 5-6) and Varsity (grades 7-8) — addresses students’ varying needs from grade to grade and intentionally scales competition and challenge.
“I am ultra-competitive ... I’m 5-foot-6 on a good day, and I played basketball and soccer, you know, since I was like 14 with adults that had no problem elbowing me,” Guardado said. “We have a couple of championship trophies around here.”
He waves to the trophies and the signed basketballs and soccer balls displayed in his office.
“Some of these balls are signed from the teams that have won championships. I’ve coached some of these. All of them I told, winning is not what we are about. We’re still competing — again, you can see some proof ...” He nods at the memorabilia. “But we are wanting to ensure that whether we lose or whether we win, we’re still doing it with character.”
According to Guardado, character consists of genuine effort, owning your mistakes, helping fellow players, whether teammates or opponents, and being honest, even if it costs you a game.
“The goal for me is the same for our teachers with academics: I want these athletes to be able to move on to high school, to be able to compete in the same way that we want them to compete as freshmen, you know, in math and all the different subjects. We want them to understand and be competent,” Guardado said.
Guardado succeeds Josh MacLachlan, MGAES’ athletic director for 20 years.
“My goal would be this: Everything that he has done I want to be able to continue, and I want to bring my own vision as well,” Guardado said.
Guardado and the school are exploring what a fundraiser for athletics could look like.
“I want to start getting the community involved a little bit more here and allow the children to be part of that community,” Guardado said.
Before accepting the job, Guardado was a longtime soccer and basketball coach with MGAES and Columbia Adventist Academy across the street.
