DIXON, CA (MPG) - Within 15 minutes, the sparkling and glistening quiet backyard pool filled with more than a dozen robust boys, their siblings and inflatable toys. Parents unloaded pizza boxes, coolers and bags of beach towels while spreading greetings from beneath sunglasses and baseball caps. They are more than friends; they are champions!

They have all spent the last several months together in the Dixon Little League in the 9- to 11-year-olds divison under the coaching of Francisco Guizar and assistant coach Perry Settlemoir III. These two dads found a way to bring their Dodgers team through a season of 17 straight wins.

Guizar is a father of three boys, ages 11, 9 and 3, and never had the opportunity to play sports when he was growing up.

“I grew up in Brentwood and wanted to play sports and I’ve always been athletic, but my parents were very hardworking farm workers with 12-hour shifts. When we were home it was all about family, friends and food,” Guizar explained.

But those parents wanted their children to go to college, so along with his three siblings, they all graduated from Sacramento State. His wife, Patricia, is a stay-at-home mom and is a co-director of catechism at the Catholic church as well as PTO President at Dixon Montessori Charter School.

“We have a very busy life but with technology, emails (and) phones, I have the flexibility,” Guizar said.

Guizar got started in coaching when there weren’t enough coaches and he felt for the children who would not get to play because there weren’t enough parental volunteers to coach. If someone wants to play sports, there is always a way to make that happen, he reminded, including financial assistance from local organizations.

“I started with soccer and enjoyed it. There is always a need to coach. If you’ve never done it, it’s a challenge, but I took some online courses and read books,” Guizar said. “I found that being involved with my kid’s activities took me away from 'work, work, work.' On the weekends I get to concentrate on the kids. I try to show my kids they can do it.”

Now, he has coached seven years and served on the soccer board, the baseball board, and the DMCS Board. It also is great to see the tremendous personal growth in the children, he said, revealing that at the first practice games that he thought, “It’s going to be a tough season.”

“There were kids who couldn’t hit a ball at the beginning, but can now hit a home run,” he said with enthusiasm. “This group of kids brought a successful season and we built great friendships. We challenged them to take on any obstacle and I pushed them to be better than they were (last week).”

When asked about how he deals with over-participating parents who coach from the bleachers, he said “That’s always going to be there but not our team.”

He explained that when you spend so much time with the children and their parents, you continue to bond with them. In addition, some of the boys have played together for years while for others, it was their first season.

“It’s just like having 12 more kids,” he said. 

Assistant Coach

“I have found that parents who seem to be readily involved are really involved,” Settlemoir said, who with his wife, Sarah, hosted the end-of-season pool party for the Dodgers. Their entire back yard was designed with bringing families together and experiencing days like that day, he said with tenderness in his voice.

Settlemoir, who played intramural sports growing up, met his wife in college. He is from Manteca and Sarah grew up in Fremont. Perry took a job relocation to move to Dixon two years ago. He also serves on the Board of Dixon Montessori and she is the Parent Teacher Organization Treasurer.

“We love it here,” he said. 

Their son, Perry the 4th, made the all-star team and was voted “most thoughtful” by his classmates. Their daughter, 8, just made competitive gymnastics. Perry III has a family rule that each child only gets to participate in two activities a year to prevent them all from the family “crazies” and helps them each become more specialized, he said.

When the Dodgers won several games in a row, Settlemoir knew they’d have to work even harder and didn’t let up on their practices. When boys “were being boys,” he used them as teachable moments of teamwork and camaraderie.

“I try to be everybody’s dad,” he said thoughtfully.

Due to the increased competition, he expressed some worry ahead of the Tournament of Champions that was held on Saturday, June 11.

“We’ll be playing against Vacaville and Davis teams, and they have more talent to draw from,” Settlemoir said. “But I’m looking forward to what’s coming.”