Coach Steve Perez balances leading the Patriots basketball team with being a dedicated father of seven daughters.
SAN ANTONIO — I joked on our way to the park across the street in their family neighborhood that I could see him counting while pointing his finger at kiddo. One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Six! Seven! He laughed.
“That’s how we do it,” said Veterans Memorial Boys Basketball Head Coach Steve Perez. “And if we don’t have seven we start looking.”
Did you catch the math on that? That’s mom, dad and seven little ones!
“It is one hundred percent our normal,” he said. “We don’t know any other way.”
Perez keeps very busy at work, leading the Patriots boys basketball team. But if you think that’s busy, you’ve not seen anything yet!
“I appreciate when he works and coaches all day and then comes home and gives us his all,” said Cynthia, Steve’s wife. “It really does make my heart happy because he’s such a good guy.”
So there ya go, when Coach Perez is not coaching, he’s even busier being an all-star dad at home. A girl dad, actually, times SEVEN!
“You know when you go through the door there is something going on,” he said. “It is great to come home and hear hey dad I lost a tooth today. And then you’re like, well, I don’t care that I lost the game. You lost a tooth, and that is much more important than anything I’ve got to say.”
And sometimes when the schedules align that’s where you’ll mom and all seven little ladies lined up right in a row on the first row watching and cheering right behind dad.
“I’ll see in between one of my players just the cutest little faces and they’ll say hi dad,” he said. “And sometimes I bark back at them HI! And I don’t mean it. I’m just caught up in the (coaching) moment.”
And working this story we just had to know does this family have more basketballs or Barbie dolls?
“Honestly we are way out numbered by Barbie dolls,’ said Coach Perez.
“I’m gonna say more Barbie dolls,” said Cynthia.
“They are everywhere you look,” added Steve.
And that actually had us wondering? What’s more mass chaos? Basketball practice or say the family kitchen?
“We’ve got this ‘practice’ thing down with our staff. We can keep this running pretty well oiled. But when you get home and you range from anywhere between thirteen years old and two years old, I don’t know how much is well oiled,” he said, laughing.
“Oh my goodness it is loud,” said Cynthia. “It is chaotic, but it is a fun chaotic.”
I asked all seven at the park: “Who has the best girl dad ever?” And of course they all responded, ‘MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!’
Steve’s oldest daughter, Kiara, spoke for all seven when she shared how much all seven girls love dad.
“He does a lot for this family and makes sure everything gets done how it is supposed to get done.”
The Perez’s told us that they are done having kids. Seven is enough! Although Cynthia joked that maybe they’ll get nothing but boys as grandparents someday down the road! Great family! We really enjoyed spending some time with them!