Brandon Fitzpatrick earns RHS 2013 Scholar Athlete of the Year award
By Bill Tamburrino
Brandon Fitzpatrick’s hustle, enthusiasm, hard work and determination earned him the 2013 male Bulldog of the Year award. Those same attributes and desires to learn and succeed in the classroom also earned him Ramona High’s 2013 Scholar Athlete of the Year award.
Fitzpatrick, who started playing sports at age 4, said, “My parents (Tom and Doris) have supported me and have been by my side in every sport.”
Those sports have been football, baseball and basketball. He added football when he was a freshman and played all three sports his first two years at RHS. When asked to list his coaches, Fitzpatrick listed every coach he ever had at RHS — Mike Ernst, Damon Baldwin, Dean Welch, Jeremy Drews, Tom Jamison, Mike Schuler and Jim Root — and said, “They all had a positive effect on my life and how I compete. They all stressed academics as much as they stressed athletics.”
“Brandon exhibits all of the traits you strive to instill in your program. He is a tremendous example of what it means to be not just a high school athlete, but a successful student-athlete. Younger players should look to him as a role model. It has been an absolute pleasure to watch his development over the last four years,” said Welch.
“Brandon Fitzpatrick is the perfect ‘fit’ for both the character Bulldog Award and obviously his academic prowess earns him the Scholar Athlete,” said head football coach and athletic director Damon Baldwin.
The most important lesson they taught him was “Give it your all in everything you do.”
Fitzpatrick gave it his all on the fields and court and in the classroom. He earned a 4.0 grade point average and will be attending San Diego State University in the fall where he will major in electrical engineering.
His favorite subject at RHS was physics and his favorite teacher was Julie Bridgewater.
“He is awesome. He is a scholar, an athlete and a gentleman at all times. He came every day not only prepared to learn but wanting to learn. He has a passion for learning,’ said Bridgewater.
Fitzpatrick hopes to play intramurals in college and keep athletics in his life after his playing days.
He would tell incoming freshmen to “Work hard and never give up!”