At around 4:30 p.m. on a weekday, you can hear the loud motor of Benji’s motorcycle entering the SRHS parking lot. He enters the commons building holding his helmet on his left hand and his jacket on his shoulder. He greets Shawna Hoch, head coach of the SRHS Varsity Cheer Team, as he slowly makes his way to the quad, where his team is warming up and waiting for instruction.
Benjamin DeLeon, known as Benji, graduated from SRHS in 2020. He lived with his mom, dad, and two sisters growing up. One of them was older than him, and the other was younger. He describes his older sister as a role model and someone to look up to as he grew up. She was also the person he would go to when he needed advice. He attended Sun Valley Elementary School and then Davidson Middle School. “I loved going to a lake in Vallejo with my dad and my little sister, where we would buy loaves of bread and feed the birds. It’s so nice to think of what I would do as a child,” says DeLeon. He loved being a child as it allowed him to be free without worrying about anything.
Being a high schooler meant enjoying every bit of it, having the ability to meet new people and overall just make memories. His shy personality didn’t stop him from joining the cheer team, a team where representing the school and being loud was all they did. During his sophomore year of high school, his curiosity sparked, and he joined the SRHS Cheer Team. Soon enough, he fell in love with the sport. He enjoyed stunting with teammates, competing, and winning two USA National Titles.
After high school, he went to Santa Rosa Junior College, where he took firefighting classes but soon felt “bored.” The urge to fill in his time led him to decide to join the United States Marine Corps, and he is about to reach his 4th year of service. He works in the MOS 0311 as a rifleman in the infantry. As he grew up being a part of the Armed Forces wasn’t on the top of his list. “I [didn’t really know] I would be involved in the Marines. I thought about it in my first and second years of high school just because I thought it would be fun and something that I might like to do, but to make it happen, I was in college,” says DeLeon.
The experience of working with the United States Marine Corps was “a unique one,” he says. “I was around people from different parts of the country, and many people hadn’t seen mountains or the ocean, which threw me off guard a little. But I had fun; I learned a lot. I made many bonds that felt a lot different than with just your friends from high school or work,” says DeLeon.
Once he decided to come back and coach the JV Cheer Team just a couple of months ago alongside Sheila Reyes, he’s been able to fill in his time but also establish a good bond with the athletes and see them succeed. His fellow teammate Kellyn Garcia says she’s proud of how far Benji has come. She figured this was something he would’ve come back to eventually. “I’ve known Benji for a couple of years now, and I can say he definitely knows what he loves and I love that for him. He’s an amazing person and I know coaching will definitely teach him some things,” she says.
During the first few months of coaching he found it to be quite tough especially if athletes felt like they couldn’t. He later realized that experiences like these may happen and it’s important to value and use it as an opportunity to grow. “Being a cheer coach is incredibly rewarding. I love seeing the athletes grow, both in their skills and confidence. The energy and camaraderie of the team make it a great experience, and it’s fulfilling to help them achieve their goals,” he says.
Because he coaches JV at the moment, most of his athletes are freshmen and sophomores. Most of them are also new to the sport and so far his athletes see that having a coach like Benji and being around an environment that supports one another feels good to them. “Benji is very friendly to others and a hard worker; he’s also always offering advice and pushing us to be the best we can,” says freshman Ella Allen.
Benji enjoys being able to help his athletes grow not only as athletes but as individuals as well. He hopes to help the team become strong together and have a close bond with each other, which is something he saw in his team when he was at SRHS.
He hopes that being able to step into the cheerlife once again will help him bring back his cheer spark that he plans to use if he’s able to make the cheer team at San Jose State University. With a new team he’ll be able to enjoy doing what he loves to do which is stunting and cheering.
“Seeing Benji still be the funny and kind person he’s always been brings joy to all of us. I know he also loves doing what he does, and I’m glad he hasn’t changed,” says one of his close cousins, sophomore Julie Diaz.
He now attends College Of Marin and the ability to manage school work and a job has become hard yet he still comes in and makes sure to put a smile on his face, be willing to coach his athletes to help them learn new skills, and, overall, support them.
De Leon is also majoring in psychology and hopes to start fire fighting again once he has his degree. With his love for bikes and motorcycles, he plans to keep his helmet on and go wherever the wind takes him.
From being one of Hoch’s athletes back in 2018 to now choosing to come back and coach, DeLeon continues to be honest and sweet, along with the shy personality he gives when meeting new people. “He’s always been kind, genuine, and hardworking, and has always gone above and beyond to care for his teammate’s feelings and the team’s outcome. He’s always been like a natural leader and leans into that leadership effectively,” says Shawna Hoch.
