Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Play Expert: John Araujo, recreation supervisor at the Campbell Community Center, recently celebrated his 20th year with the city. Araujo oversees adult sports, aquatics and fitness.
Public Citizen
Campbell recreation supervisor helps create a successful place for all to play
By Moryt Milo
Many residents know Campbell Recreation Supervisor John Araujo as the man who stands by the door checking IDs when it's time for the early bird registration fair. But that's only one of the many jobs he's undertaken in his 20 years working for the Campbell Recreation and Community Services Department.
Araujo, 50, has spent the last two decades supervising all the adult sports, fitness and aquatic programs at the department, and has watched a small recreational center grow into a vibrant community asset.
"Part of the department's success is from listening to our tight-knit Campbell community and trying to respond to what the community needs," he says. "We try to be creative and [explore] new things."
It was filling a community need that led Araujo to set up a women's basketball league 12 years ago. It's become one of the most successful activities at the center.
The league started out as a small traveling team, with only advanced players moving from one Bay Area town to the next. When the women tired of traveling, they asked Araujo if he could arrange for the league to be in one location for an extended period of time.
"I booked the gym in Campbell and things just snowballed from there," he says.
Today there are four league levels and more than 250 women playing from throughout the Bay Area, with a waiting list of those wanting to join.
Araujo said that the Campbell league has run out of space and needs other city recreation supervisors to start forming their own leagues.
Araujo, who came to the United States from Portugal when he was 5 years old, grew up in Santa Clara and has been living in Campbell, with his wife Ana and three children, since 1987.
For Araujo, becoming a recreation supervisor seemed natural. He has always been interested in sports, and has officiated Little League games and umpired basketball games.
"I thought I would either go into teaching or coaching," he says. "I started working in recreation when I was in high school and it got into my blood."
Since high school he has been working in a profession he thoroughly enjoys, yet he is quick to add, "People think when you are in recreation it's nothing but fun and games, and that's really not true. I've had my share of ups and downs."
Araujo says he is lucky to be part of a department of people who have worked together for more than a decade and share a similar vision.
The tight-knit staff that runs the department is constantly looking for ways to improve its services and choices, with quality programs at the top of the list, Araujo says.
"Working at the department is not just a numbers game," he says. "We don't [prioritize] traffic flow for the sake of quality. That is not a trade-off for us. Our goal is to always be looking for a new twist and turn that will keep things interesting, and I think people in our community appreciate that effort."
Campbell, California
