Border Patrol Officer and Central Spartan assistant coach honored before first home game

Moments of silence and other ceremonies were held for the late Salvador Arballo before Central and Foothills Christian kicked off

EL CENTRO, Calif. (KYMA) - Thursday night before the Central Spartans kicked off their home opener, they honored Coach Sal who recently passed away on Sunday, November 16.

"Unfortunately, the situation we're in is a sad moment. He was an amazing person, an amazing coach. He touched a lot of lives. He's been coaching a lot of these girls since they were small, 10-years-old, maybe nine-years-old, and he's greatly missed. For myself, it's been very difficult," said Central's Head Coach Francisco Lopez.

"We had a plan already, five or six years in the making, and now I just have to cope with it and try to make it work as much as possible. But the girls are motivated. They have him in their hearts, and they've decided to continue to push forward. This is what he wanted, and that's exactly what we're going to try to do, dedicate this season to him," he added.

Coach Sal and Coach Pancho's plan involved their two daughters, and Pancho says he's going to do everything he can to honor Sal.

"This was going to be his second year. He has a little girl who's an amazing player. She's probably going to be the top player in the valley soon, hopefully. His daughter and my daughter were going to come in next year, and we already had a vision. It started last year. Some of these girls are still going to be around when they show up, and we were really looking forward to having our daughters here and taking them up and hopefully doing big things," Lopez shared.

Coach Sal's family was also present for the pregame ceremony, which included a moment of silence and Central's players presenting flowers.

His fellow Border Patrol officers were there as well, and they honored him with a flyover tribute.