The South County sports community lost a beloved friend earlier this week with the untimely passing of Robert Blas, a teacher and coach at Eastlake High School.
Blas, 50, died Monday night of unspecified causes. He leaves behind a legacy at the school as well as throughout the community at large for his positive outlook on life and ability to make a difference in people’s lives, especially those of South County student-athletes.
A 1987 graduate of Montgomery High School, Blas was involved as a coach a several local high schools, including Marian Catholic High School for football and Chula Vista High School for boys basketball, and later in several sports at Eastlake High School.
He may be best remembered as the varsity head coach for girls field hockey and girls lacrosse at Eastlake High School, but he also coached at various other levels in football, basketball, soccer and baseball.
He also served as a cheer advisor, club advisor, and lacrosse lead for the Sweetwater Union High School District’s coaching mentoring program.
His duties at Eastlake High School included computer lab facilitator and instructional assistant. He also worked with special education students.
He served as a tournament director with the Barons Girls Soccer Tournament. He also was involved in student education trips to Europe during the summer months.
Blas’s 2018 girls field hockey team won the San Diego Section Division II championship.
His 2016 girls lacrosse team finished runner-up to neighborhood rival Otay Ranch in the Division II finals.
Tributes from fellow coaches are many as the local sports community mourns his loss.
“Robert Blas had an unbelievable passion for improving and promoting girls sports in our Chula Vista community,” Southwestern College women’s soccer coach Carolina Soto said.
“He wanted to serve and assist in any way he could. He influenced and inspired so many to participate in non-traditional sports like lacrosse and field hockey.
“Rob cared about everyone he worked with, always wanting to help out and be involved to make things better. He will be missed; he is a huge loss to not only family and friends but to our entire community.”
Like many who knew Blas, the news of his death came as a shock.
“Robert Blas was genuine, kind, funny and overall welcoming to all students, student- athletes, families and over all the South Bay community,” noted Jocelyn Ortega, one of Blas’s former student-athletes and current SWC assistant women’s soccer coach. “He was so passionate to bring a positive change in order to create successful programs in the South Bay. He advocated for all players and coaches and made sure he fought for players who deserved to be recognized and weren’t and same with coaches.
“He was always provided former players, like myself, opportunities to stay involved in the community and to continue to grow as a person. He constantly saw the good in everyone and everything no matter the circumstances; he reminded me as a player and coach to enjoy what I do and kept everything positive. It definitely made me want to keep pushing to be better.
“He nurtured all of us and it was hard not to love him and his unforgettable sense of humor. He definitely left a mark on everyone, and not only at Eastlake High School and Bonita Vista but in the South Bay community.”
Ortega said she was inspired to become a coach due to Blas’ influence.
“Robert loved Eastlake,” said fellow Eastlake teacher/coach Jon Inumerable. “He said ‘Yes’ when others said ‘No.’ He coached multiple sports for both our boys and girls teams, was the advisor for many clubs/activities on campus and was the founder of our Titan Nation pep club that always showed up in great numbers to our sporting events. He was a pillar for many of the great things that happened on our campus over the past 25 years. He will be missed by many.”
Perhaps appropriately, Blas’ legacy will be recognized in an upcoming high school girls lacrosse tournament.
Castle Park High School girls lacrosse coach Chris Kryjewski said he will rename the upcoming preseason jamboree tournament hosted Feb. 22 on campus in Blas’ honor.
Kryjewski said the official title of the all-day event will be the South Bay Girls Lacrosse Jamboree Honoring the Memory of Coach Blas.
The 21-team event starts at 8 a.m. and continues with games through 2:25 p.m.
Kryjewski said a moment of silence will be observed prior to Castle Park’s non-league game at Eastlake on March 2.
Kryjewski said both the Eastlake community and South Bay lacrosse world lost a very respected coach.
“When I first got hired as the girls lacrosse coach at Castle Park High in November 2015, Coach Blas was the mentor coach to help me understand the game of lacrosse and help me build a start-up program just he did at Eastlake High in 2009,” Kryjewski said. “Over the last five years coach Blas was always rooting for Castle Park girls lacrosse to grow and be a successful program. Coach Blas was and will always be an honorary member of the Castle Park lacrosse family.”
Former Eastlake boys basketball coach Alex Estrada and current coach Marlon King both expressed their admiration for Blas as a fellow Titan.
“He was a big supporter of basketball and promoted all sports in general,” King said. “He was a unifying figure at EHS and he will surely be missed in the Titan community.”
“Robert Blas was the coach you could always depend on when something was needed at Eastlake High School,” Estrada said. “He took on every and any task that needed to be done.”
“Rob was one of the biggest supporters of our students,” said Amanda Stroberg, attendance coordinator at the school. “He would coach anything and take on any role if nobody else would. He was a champion for our students and always kept tabs on who was doing what outside of high school and after high school. Rob was so proud of student accomplishments and often shared articles with staff to keep us informed. He was a big piece here at Eastlake and will be greatly missed.”
Events are being organized on campus to honor Blas’ memory.
Staff and students are encouraged to wear black and blue for a group photo in front of the senior lawn. The girls varsity soccer team will also hold a moment of silence prior to Friday’s home match. Game time is 6 p.m.
“We have a motto here called the Titan Way — language, attitude and action,” teacher and former wrestling coach Troy Vierra said. “He was the epitome of that. He was a great role model for students. He lived for being a Titan.”
Visitation is scheduled Feb. 19 from 5 to 9 p.m. at Glen Abbey Main Chapel, 3838 Bonita Road, Bonita.
A funeral service is scheduled on Feb. 20 from 10 to 11 a.m. at St. Charles Catholic Church, 990 Saturn Blvd., San Diego.
