Edgardo Lopez is named the athletic director of West Broward

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By Valentina Padula

A constant year-long season of a multitude of sports has always been incorporated within Bobcat culture, and with it comes the need for an athletic director to organize and arrange West Broward athletics. This year, Edgardo Lopez is looking forward to coordinating the sports programs at West Broward.

After 14 years of successful and progressive work as West Broward’s athletic director (AD), James Darr decided to become one of the school’s Physical Education teachers. Lopez, who has a long history in athletics, has since taken his place. He represented Puerto Rico as a Javelin athlete in the 1984 Olympics and has coached West Broward’s JV boys’ basketball team as well as track and field where he trained an All-American champion in the 3000-meter run at the University of Kentucky. His decision to become West Broward’s AD is driven by his desire to take a step further into Bobcat sports.

“I was coaching JV boys’ basketball and I have coached an All-American national champion in track and field,” Lopez said. “Coming here, I thought that I could share some of that experience and knowledge with our student-athletes and take advantage of it.”

The responsibilities of an AD are not to be taken lightly, especially with the current damaged state of West Broward’s gym. With every game or tournament requiring athletes to travel to another school’s gym, there is an excess amount of scheduling and coordination to be done by Lopez in order to organize every away game. This only adds onto small necessities for the usual protocol of each event, including GPA checks, uniforms and ticket-handling for the audience. With the Omicron Variant recently spreading at a rapid rate, Lopez’s schedule will be filled with the reorganization of the many teams’ safety and health guidelines.

“I will say this opportunity as an athletic director here is very challenging,” Lopez said. “I have to make sure students are compliant with academics and that there is transportation, referees and police officers for security.”

There are many achievements that Lopez hopes to achieve during his time as the AD, including having the first Bobcat state champion in their sport. However, his most passionate and leading goal would be to finally work out having a functional football stadium on campus. With every single homecoming and football game taking place on a foreign field, Lopez aspires to one day host a home football game in West Broward’s very own backyard.

“The pinnacle of my career as an athletic director will be building the stadium for West Broward High School. We have been traveling for every football home game since the school was open, for over 12 years now,” Lopez said. “That will be the day that I go, ‘Okay, if I need to step down now, I can.’”

STEPPING UP: Former Olympic athlete, Edgardo Lopez, stands ready to take the position of athletic director at West Broward High School. Photo by Izabella Perez