Bellarmine College Preparatory investing into football program

Bellarmine College Preparatory investing in football program

Bellarmine College Preparatory made changes in their football program by making a six-figure investment by outfitting all three of its football teams with brand new Riddell Axiom helmets. They also created a college atmosphere when the Bells had their first ever on-campus night game in their season opener.

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Bellarmine College Preparatory went 0-10 in the 2024 season.

The Bells’ director of athletics, Kevin Saladivar, said he heard the community’s complaints and made it a priority to improve the team’s performance on the field with an investment that was more than $100,000.

This year, Bellarmine outfitted all three of its football programs with brand new Riddell axiom helmets. These helmets are specially made for each player and have technology that detects any hits they take.

“We know exactly how hard they’re hitting, how many hits they’re taking, where the impacts are on the skull of the helmet,” Saladivar said. 
That was just one thing we knew that was in our control to help our coaches coach better and help our players understand the drills that are maybe effective and how that impact throughout the week may affect them on Friday in a positive or negative way.” 

The Bells kicked off their season in historic fashion. 

They hosted their first ever on-campus night game with 4,000 people in attendance, and they snapped their 11-game losing streak with a 6-0 shutout over Ann Sobrato. 

The Bells blew out Los Altos 61-6 two weeks later. These wins have the team walking around campus with confidence.

“Every time I walk into the classroom, they are like, ‘Oh, how was your game?’ and I can finally say with pride, ‘Yeah, we beat them, we knocked them off’ and it’s exciting” said Bellarmine College Preparatory safety, Kunaal Garapaty.

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Internally, the Bells have been making changes as well. Two-time Super Bowl champion David Diaz-Infante is in his third year as the head coach. He wanted his players and coaches to hold each other accountable.

“Once your players keep that standard themselves, that’s when you create change in culture,” said Diaz-Infante. “Making sure it’s a priority not only for our team but in the school and our community. We say in our coaching staff meetings, ‘Don’t bring a problem unless you have a solution’ One does not take away from each other when you talk about academics and athletes and that’s what makes Bellarmine different is that we can excel at both. We always have and will.”