Richard Dunn
John Carrido was never blessed with tremendous height, but he's a
giant among men.
A former Mr. California bodybuilder, Carrido, who also achieved a
level of greatness in basketball and golf with a frame of 5-foot-4, is
changing the world again.
First, Carrido introduced groundbreaking material in "The Fitness
Approach to Power Golf," a popular book and video since 1996.
Now, as coach of his 8-year-old daughter's soccer team, Carrido is
trying to make the world a better place.
The Luke Davis-coached Carrido, an All-CIF Southern Section basketball
guard for Estancia High and a contributing member of Orange Coast
College's 1979 state championship team under Coach Tandy Gillis, has seen
the television news footage of parents fighting at youth sporting events,
and, as he should be, is appalled.
Further, in Carrido's line of work, bodies are a temple and should be
treated as such. Instead of treats and goodies, he rewards the AYSO kids
with trophies and praise.
"Are you kidding me? When I busted my butt for hours and hours and
hours in the gym (as a bodybuilder), that's what motivated me," said
Carrido, a former Mr. California and Mr. Orange County, and, in 1986, a
Mr. America top-three finalist.
As a third sport, Carrido became a 6-handicap golfer in less than
three years -- showing how proper fitness and stretching can increase
one's length off the tee and overall game.
But, for Carrido, who conducts training and educational programs for
major corporations, helping each member of his daughter Kelsey's soccer
team understand certain principles in life are most important than any
bodybuilding title or basketball championship or hole-in-one.
"I ask them, 'Who wants to be Best Offensive Player? And who wants to
be Best Defensive Player?' And they all shout, 'Oh, me, me, me!' So I
tell them they have to listen, hustle, play as a team and not bicker and
praise even the opposing team's players," the enthusiastic Carrido said.
"Even players on the other team get awards. (The players) all get one.
The parents go bananas. They ask, 'How do you do it?"'
Instead of a cookie, it's praise. Instead of a chocolate bar, it's a
hug. Food-reward association is trouble, Carrido believes.
"Parents don't reward them by hugging and kissing us, but they reward
us by feeding us, like we're some damn whale at Sea World," he said.
Carrido, the oldest of 14 kids produced by his father, the late Lewis
Callejo, helped raise eight siblings, then five more half brothers and
