“You start and end by giving your respect to Mother Mary. You go to the Grotto, you pray as a team. And, win or lose, it's just about the family.”
by Jay Sorgi
Many national high school sports publications often rank the football team at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California, as #1 in America. The Monarchs have produced three Heisman Trophy winners: John Huarte (1964, Notre Dame), Matt Leinart (2004, USC), and Bryce Young (2021, Alabama), among 20 NFL players in its 76-year history.
One could argue that Mater Dei’s football team’s gameday routines ranks God, through its namesake, the Mother of God, as #1 in its priorities. That devotion manifests itself in gameday traditions at the school’s Grotto, traditions that the team has passed down for generations.
Go to the Grotto
“You start and end by giving your respect to Mother Mary,” says Ebony Charles, who became coordinator of football media for Mater Dei High School years after the graduation of her son, Michael Martinez, who played football as part of the school’s Class of 2019.
“You go to the Grotto, you pray as a team. And, win or lose, it's just about the family.”
The Grotto, which includes a statue of the Blessed Mother, transforms from a place of gentle peace on the school’s campus to a place of rugged, visceral commitment that the red-clad Monarchs make to God, Mary, team, and school before and after games.
“They get their helmets on, strap up, and walk to the grotto,” often joined by fellow students, family members, and fans, explains Raul Lara, the second-year head coach at Mater Dei. “Once we get them all there, lined up and everything, then we walk in front of the statue of Mother Mary. Everybody takes a knee. Our captains will go up to the statue and put Rosaries on it. Then they do 10 Hail Marys.”
The assembled suddenly hear dozens of teenage male voices lifting up their feelings, lamentations, thanksgivings, and prayers on their hearts in unison with that decade of the Rosary, and many in the crowd will join in.
The time in front of Mary’s statue is also paired up with what the team calls the Pride Drill, where a captain leads players in formation through a series of sharp, unified movements before breaking.
“We call out each group like kickoff, kickoff return, etc.,” says Lara. “Then we talk about what they need to do that night.”
Win or Lose
All of it happens before and after every single Mater Dei football game, no matter what the scoreboard says.
“The beauty of this, win or lose, they do it regardless,” Lara notes. “For me, especially when you lose, to have the kids still focus on something like that, to me is remarkable. It shows to me a little bit of discipline and consistency.”
But win they do. With commitments made, the Monarchs take the field and typically rule over their opponent. They are 107-8 over the last 10 seasons, with five California Interscholastic Federation state championships.
Following every game, still in full uniform, the team will head back to the very place from which they departed hours beforehand, with commitments usually kept regardless of the final score.
Longstanding traditions
Lara discovered these longstanding traditions when he came to his position in 2024, one that his pre-predecessor Bruce Rollinson had kept in primacy during his 34 years as coach.
“These traditions were instilled here for a long time, and I didn't think it would have been right to take them away. It’s important to understand what the standard is, and then maintaining that standard.”
“A Mater Dei alumni group on Facebook had a post that asked, ‘What was your favorite tradition for Mater Dei football?’” adds Charles. “The Grotto was one of the top two answers from all of the people, fans, friends, alumni that responded.”
Yet both Lara and Charles sees a much greater importance than simple tradition and standard-setting in this passing on of Marian prayer with this team.
“I tell people there's a reason why the Lord has blessed us with another day, to be a blessing for somebody else,” Lara says. “Anything that we do, we start with a prayer, and end with a prayer. All these things are being instilled every day, every moment. That's why I love being here at this school, because I'm allowed to do that.”
“It's in everything that they do,” Charles adds. “It's in the classroom, the way the kids carry themselves on campus, the way they run the football program, and all the other sports programs. It's really ingrained in everything that they do, and it's very evident when you're here.”
Learn more at materdei.org.
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