So imagine you’re on the volleyball team and this man comes off the bleachers after each set and talks to your team. But he is not your coach. Everyone seems comfortable around him so you get used to him coming and know he is going to be there. He cheers on your team and even bought the warm up shirts.

“We call him Uncle Vic,” senior Tosha Monroe said.

“I love him,” sophomore Brianna Alford said. “He is like our mascot.”He is at every league game and is always cheering, even if the team is down.”

But who is Uncle Vic?

He is the uncle of varsity volleyball player Destiny Delgado, junior. She plays as libero, which is the player in the back that needs all the power to get the ball all the way back over the net.

“He is very into my volleyball life,” Delgado said.

She has been on the volleyball team since freshman year and her uncle, Victor Mercado, has been cheering her on ever since. From freshman year to now, Mercado said he has stayed pretty much the same in the cheering aspect.

“He pumps up the audience,” she said.

Mercado said cheering is contagious. He has a son that is in baseball and truly believes in parent participation in sports. This became important Tuesday when Delgado’s toe got a cramp and he was stretching out her foot just before the game.

“They work hard. They don’t want to come into an empty gym.” Mercado was speaking about the volleyball team and how they don’t want to see the bleachers empty and no one cheering them on.
Sarina Am, sophomore, said, “He cheers with us, like if a girl spikes it we say, ‘All ace!’ and he joins in.”

Delgado said that Mercado wants her to get a scholarship for volleyball. Some athletes get shy or don’t focus as well when being cheered on by a family member but Delgado said, “I like it, it motivates us.” Because of Mercado, Delgado has made friends on the team and now says, “I feel loved.”

Going a step further, some girls on the team believe that Mercado should be a coach for them. When asked if he would accept if he were offered the job, he said, “I would be honored to be their coach.”

He believes that if the girls had a coach earlier that would be better. None the less, Mercado tries to get the girls to put forth their best effort.

“He says, ‘Win this game and I’ll buy you pizza,’” Monroe said. “When we get down he cheers us up,” said Monroe.

Eryn Lightsey, senior, said that sometimes when the team is losing she gets mad and Mercado will go and talk to her, attempting to calm her down.

“Everyone likes (Mercado),” Delgado said.

Now how would you athletes feel if Uncle Vic was cheering you on?

Monroe said, “He supports us. He motivates us.”