The first time I met Erik Melgoza, he irritated me. I’m not sure we become friends if he doesn’t do that.
It was after his Lamar girls basketball team lost to St. Mary’s and he and I were chatting for a postgame interview.
When we were done, I asked if I could chat with his standout freshman, Cali Clark, because she had played a great game, even if Lamar came away with the loss. He told me no. So I added a line in my story, which I knew he would read, aimed to irritate him.
What the heck, I figured. He coaches in Lamar, when am I realistically going to see him again?
I saw him less than 24 hours later.
He had ridden home on the bus with his team and turned around the next morning to scout an upcoming opponent. He saw me and acknowledged the dig I took and apologized for not giving me the chance to highlight his player.
From that point on we were good. Over the years we became friends and made a point to catch up with each other when we were at the same events.
I’m just one person who crossed his path. But what everyone who crossed his path has in common today is that we’ve lost a good person in our lives. He was a passionate father, a dedicated educator, a great coach and a good friend.
His untimely passing is a massive blow to Alamosa High School and Colorado athletics as a whole.
His dedication to high school sports was apparent to anyone who had a chance to observe him. He didn’t do it for self-promotion or his ego. He was 100% about the kids.
I was in attendance when he led Lamar to the Class 3A girls basketball title in 2017. As the customary team championship photo was coming together, Melgoza made sure he was nowhere near the cameras. This moment belonged to the kids and damn anyone who would dare tell him different. It was their moment. Their picture.
Moving from coaching into administration was a tough decision for him. Like most big decisions, what was happening in the bigger scope of life played a role in his accepting the job as the Alamosa athletic director.
The one thing that he was concerned about that he expressed to me was his ability to impact the kids on a more direct level. But Erik understood how to make that impact in his new role. Like the best athletic directors in the state, he got it.
He’d call me regularly to tell me about the great things happening at Alamosa. The Mean Moose were getting stories up on football, volleyball, soccer, wrestling and anything else he threw our way. This came at a time when Ryan Casey and I had a very simple rule, if an AD called to tell us about their kids, we’d listen and tell the story.
And he was always happy to tell us about the Mean Moose.
I think what genuinely saddens me today is that one of the small things that excited me about the Mile High Sports purchase of Colorado Preps was that Erik was going to feed me those stories again. Unfortunately, that didn’t get to happen.
Our chats were always fun. Erik was a Duke basketball fan. I hate the Blue Devils so we’d constantly give each other grief about college basketball. He’d always ask me about my trips up the Manitou Incline.
“I need to cut off a minute or two off my time,” I would tell him.
“I can make that happen,” he’d reply.
Then he’d go on about the training plan he’d develop and how that would impact my ability to cut off time. I never doubted if I took him up on the offer, my goals would be accomplished. The effort he would’ve put into that would’ve matched the effort he gave to every kid he coached.
Countless people across Colorado are down a coach, a mentor, a colleague or a friend.
We were incredibly lucky to have him in our lives. His impact is immeasurable certainly from a coaching standpoint, but most importantly for the lives that crossed his path.
