Teens tend to take things for granted. Nobody knows this better than Gilbert Rivera. Gilbert has been the football equipment manager at Foothill for the past six years. During that time, he has literally issued out equipment thousands of times. Clearly, this is a job that takes a lot of dedication. In the summer, Gilbert arrives at school before anybody else and collects information about every football player. He learns ​their positions, (offensive and defensive), in order to give them the necessary helmet, shoulder pads, and knee pads in order for them to be put in the best possible position for success on the field. He single-handedly washes every uniform of every player every single week after the game. He has the uniforms ready to go before school on Thursdays. He even supplies extra belts and pads for forgetful football players in need.

On Monday he washes all the jerseys and gets them ready. On Tuesday he does more of the same. Please keep in mind–he is washing over 100 uniforms from sweaty teenage boys playing football in the heat of Southern California. Some things take more than one wash. On Wednesday, he organizes everything. All numbers are placed in order with the team and position, freshman, junior varsity, and varsity, both home and visiting uniforms. Thursday he sets up all the uniforms. Freshman and JV play and they need their uniforms. He lays them all out in his office and issues them to players when they ask for their number. He gives the freshman and junior varsity places their uniforms for the games, and gives varsity uniforms for their Thursday walk through practice game. He then volunteers to help out at the Thursday games at Foothill.

Fridays are his busiest days. He gets the varsity uniforms ready and issues them out for the big game. He helps out with any malfunctions. He then travels with the team to help out with the game. After the game, he collects all the dirty uniforms to put in the wash on Monday. He takes two days off for the weekend and then it’s back to the grind.

Asked about his favorite memory at Foothill, Gilbert had this to say: “We were in the playoffs, a few years back. We played against Tustin. We lost 21-20. But man, we should have won. All the kids played so hard and it was such a good game. Man, that must be the best game I’ve ever watched. That’s my favorite memory, definitely.” Gilbert’s favorite part of his job is getting to communicate with the kids and help them out with something that means a lot to them. Every freshman, JV, and varsity football player at Foothill owes a great deal of gratitude to Gilbert.