Editors Note: This site is going to honor an SGV area mom and dad on Mother’s & Father’s Day, who went above and beyond for their children, school and community.

Pictured: Hunter Woods & Mom, Kimberly Green, then & now.

Mother’s Day:

By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor

There are thousands of great moms in the San Gabriel Valley.

That includes this writer’s mother, Karen Baiotto, who taught for 45 years in the Glendora Unified School District.

And amongst the hundreds and hundreds of selfless and supportive acts she provided her three children, was the strength she championed in keeping our family together and somewhat sane during each of the six combat tours my brother (Sergeant Major Brad Baiotto) completed for the United States Marine Corps in Afghanistan (4) and Iraq (2).

The list of terrific mothers in the SGV also includes those at each of the 35-plus schools this site covers.

In beginning this tradition of honoring moms and dads on their special day, I could think of no better person to start with than Kimberly Green, for all she’s done for her son, as well as her family, friends, community and well beyond.

Green graduated from John Muir High School in 1989.

But before she wore the cap and gown, Green threw the shot put for legendary coach Jim Brownfield, which helped earn the school a CIF and State championship that same year.

She also contributed her time and efforts to both the volleyball and badminton programs.

KG, as I like to call her, delivered Hunter Woods on July 16 of 2000.

From the moment he was welcomed into the world, and now 7, 233 days later, Kimberly Green has played every role in Hunter’s life, all of which are good.

She is the daughter of Joyce and Charles, and a big sister to both Tasha and Michael.

KG graduated from UCLA, with a degree in political science.

Her day job is that of an assistant in the trust department at a bank in Los Angeles.

In her life, Green wears so many hats that you’d need a walk-in closet to fit them all.

She’s a mom, daughter, sister, niece, cousin, friend, fundraiser when a cause needs it, chef, psychologist, motivator, and disciplinarian.

If you haven’t seen her million-dollar smile in person, you’re really missing something.

Green’s list of friends is almost too high to calculate.

She respects everyone and gives people the benefit of the doubt until or if you give her a blatant reason not to, and that includes people of all races, religions, genders, sexual orientations, political ideology and so on.

One of her most endearing traits and something she has a great passion in doing is fighting for people in our society that don’t seem to get the same respect, justice or opportunities that others are afforded.

She’s all about helping the underdog, and yet KG can vehemently disagree without being nasty or harming a relationship in the slightest.

As mentioned above, she wears more hats than Imelda Marcos has shoes.

And none is more important than that of mom to her beloved, Hunter.

If you’ve had the privilege of meeting Hunter, who is now 19, your first thought had to be, “wow, that kid was raised the right way.”

He is intelligent, polite, patient, loving, happy, well-mannered and a score of other superlatives.

I got the honor of getting to know both Hunter and Kimberly Green during the beginning and throughout his senior basketball season for Muir back in 2017-18.

It was one of, if not the best season Muir had this century, going 24-9 overall and 12-2 in Pacific League play.

The Mustangs had a very special group of seniors that year, including Simaine Stewart Jr., Tiyon Martin, Tasson Aubry-Thomas, Haleem Jenkins and Hunter Woods.

Muir’s only two league losses that season were to its rivals at PHS, and they went on to win CIF-SS games over Saugus (80-61), La Serna (72-47) and Walnut (62-50), before dropping a 65-59 contest at San Marcos (Santa Barbara) in the Division 2A semifinal round.

San Marcos went on to win the championship in a 20-point blowout over Riverside Poly.

After a long and disappointing bus ride home, Muir was off for 12 days before playing in the first round of the CIF-State Division 2 playoffs.

The Mustangs showed enormous heart by defeating San Marcos of San Diego, 58-54, before eventually having its season end in a 72-61 loss at No. 1 seeded Brentwood.

Hunter Woods had a season average of 20 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals per game.

Green’s typical day during that basketball season was to wake up early enough to prepare the team meal before driving to Los Angeles for work.

After sitting in traffic on the way home, Green would serve the Mustangs a legit pregame meal.

Then, during the 32 minutes of game clock, Green and what seemed her entire family were in the stands rooting on Hunter and his teammates.

After the game, the players were provided with tacos from the concession stand, and then Green would clean up the mess, head home, sleep and start all over again the next morning.

Muir head coach Simaine Stewart said back in 2018 that KG would let him bend her ear as the frustrations of being a high school basketball coach at one’s alma mater mounted, and she was also known to hear out frustrated players as well.

When she left the gym on those particular nights, Coach Stewart and his players headed home in a better state of mind.

Stewart said that Green’s contributions were invaluable in many ways.

So, Hunter graduates in 2018, and while most of his peers (Pasadena’s Bryce Hamilton and Darius Brown II, Maranatha’s Chris Austin and others) were off to play D-1 ball in college, Woods wasn’t getting the same attention most believed he had earned.

Instead of whining, Green and her support staff pushed Hunter to spend time in the weight room to put some more muscle on that 6-foot-7, 180-pound frame, and he attended and competed for Golden State Prep, along with playing in showcase games throughout the country to get noticed.

Over that stretch, both Green and Hunter showed class in being genuinely happy for his friends that were set for college, and step by step, every day, KG continued to believe in her son, as did her entire family and his buddies at both Muir and PHS.

Hunter finally did get noticed, and not just for his size, skills and versatility.

But it was also for his intelligence, team-first mentality, humility and articulate delivery when talking to scouts, coaches and in interviews that make him the real deal.

This story has a very happy ending.

To everyone’s delight, Hunter Woods earned his spot at Elon University in North Carolina last year.

Elon had monster programs like Georgia Tech, Michigan and North Carolina on its schedule.

In games one through 34, Green updated her thousands of Facebook friends with scores and stat totals throughout the game, not to mention who they played next, when, and how one could follow it online or on TV.

It was something she did during every Muir game, including her sending this reporter stats for every contest, win or loss, and for each Mustangs’ players, so they all got their due credit.

Being eternally grateful, Woods wanted to make sure Elon knew he appreciated their support and that the program had made the right decision, so he set a freshman record for rebounds.

In fact, his 224 rebounds led the Elon basketball program this season.

His 10.1 points per game ranked third best and the future looks very promising.

Hunter Woods deserves all the credit in the world for his success, but none of it could have happened without the love, sacrifice, guidance, patience, funding and the example set by his mother.

Kimberly Green, your son, family, friends and alma mater are all better off because you are in their lives.

And that’s why we excitedly honored you in this way.

Happy Mother’s Day, KG!

Quotable:

Hunter Woods: “She was super motivational during the time I was hoping to find a college to play at, and she helped me keep my head on straight. She told me my time would come and trust in God. She emphasized my education my entire life. That always came first. She’s stepped up and played every role in life. She loves me and isn’t afraid to give me tough love when I need it. I’m so proud of how selfless, welcoming and hard-working she is. My mom is the real deal. My friends look at her like a mother figure as well and she welcomes them all with open arms. I want her to know how much I appreciate and love her and nothing she does goes unnoticed. From her lead, I also try to be as selfless and giving as I possibly can.”

Muir principal, Dr. Lawton Gray: “I was honored to have one year with Ms. Green, it was my first year as principal and Hunter’s senior year. What I witnessed from her was that she was there for every student. It wasn’t just Hunter, she was a mom to everyone. Once the basketball season started, I would get these amazing breakfast burritos each Friday. I thought, man, someone really appreciates me. Come to find out, not only was she bringing breakfast burritos for the team, she was also feeding the entire office staff. That is the type of person that she is, she thinks about everyone.”

Muir boys basketball coach, Simaine Stewart: “To describe Kim would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power or the marshmallow, gooey and sticky, but we all love it in the end!”

Muir baseball coach, Adonis Harrison: “Kim Green is a mom every kid should want! She is a great community person and always cares about every community kid! Every since I met her, she has been the same…. very caring and full of humor.”

KG’s aunt, Gloria Brown: “Kim has always insisted that Hunter’s academic achievements are what’s going to carry him through life. Basketball is a means to that, and anything else is a plus. She has dedicated her life to his excellence. They both make our family proud.”

KG’s brother, Michael Green: “She is very giving and generous with herself and time, constantly putting others needs before her own. She put off hip surgery in 2016 and 2017, because she wanted to be supportive to Hunter’s teams, be that high school or AAU. She always found her way of being the team mom. She has done an amazing job raising Hunter and guiding his path in becoming a tremendous young black man. She keeps his head on straight and Hunter has nothing but respect for the job his mother has done. She makes my job as Hunter’s uncle easier because of all she has done.”

Pasadena assistant boys basketball coach, Darius Brown Senior: “I’ve known Kim for years. Before high school, Darius (Brown II) and Hunter played some AAU ball together and Kim has always been the mother type for everyone’s kids. As the boys got older and the boys became rivals, she still had that mother in her for any Pasadena city boys, regardless of what school. The only time she turned that hat of was for the 32 minutes of the PHS vs Muir games. Kim is one of the biggest advocates for these young men becoming successful.”

Muir English teacher, Alfredo Resendiz: “Kim is an awesome mom. She had a huge impact on the basketball program when Hunter was at Muir. The most memorable thing she did was cook full-scale, delicious meals for the team on game days. These weren’t just little plastic plate meals, but huge plastic container meals! I remember asking a player once where he bought his food from because it looked so darn good, and he said, “Buy? I didn’t buy anything, this is from Ms. Kim” It was the only time I wanted my son to have been on the basketball team instead of the football and baseball teams.

But the best memory I have of her as a mom, was trying forever to have her son play baseball. As a little leaguer, Hunter was really good. He is left-handed, extremely tall, and loved to pitch. He was a little league stud. As a lot of kids in our community do, Hunter gave up baseball shortly after little league and stuck with basketball. But, his mom would always encourage him to pitch. Well, his senior year came and after basketball season, Hunter finally decided to give it a chance. We were all really excited to see if he still had it, and she was, too. I think she wanted Hunter to challenge himself. I think she wanted him to remind himself of what hard work looks like, and how it feels to maybe even ride the bench, to learn to be humble. And he was humbled. He struggled in the one game he pitched, and because we were in league already, we didn’t really have time to develop him the way we would’ve liked, and he didn’t play the rest of the year. But Kim was at every single game to support the team the same way she did when her son was the stud for the basketball team.”

KG’s close friend, Courtney Patton-Jackson: “When I think of Kim, I think of Wonder Woman! I met Kim years ago when my son and Hunter were on the same Pop Warner team. Within minutes of talking to each other, I knew she was a great person, a great mother and a fellow Mustang. In the years that have followed, I’ve watched Kim feed the boys basketball team weekly, she’s always raising money and working in the concession stand to benefit Muir. It isn’t uncommon for her to have four or five boys or more over to her house for a meal. The John Muir High School Alumni Association celebrates homecoming weekend every year. We have events for three or four days and Kim shows up with the boys from the basketball program to help in any way we need. We can always count on her. Her family has won the barbeque kickoff and she instantly donates it back to the basketball program.

Although Hunter graduated two years ago, Kim continues to support Muir in as many ways as she can. She also works fulltime, She continues to support John Muir even though Hunter graduated 2 years ago. Whatever it is that Kim does, she’s all in. She carries so many titles including mom, sister, daughter and friend. She’s also involved in a bowling league in her church, she helped organize her 30th class reunion last year and when her close friend passed unexpectedly, Kim was there to support her friends mother and their family. Kim made all of the arrangements, down to every detail. She doesn’t do anything for any other reason, except there is a need. She is kind, sweet, helpful, humble & thoughtful. When you connect with Hunter, you immediately know he is a not only a great athlete, but he is also a great person. You know that he is direct result of the nurturing love & support he has received from his family. Kim is not only Hunter’s mother, not just Michael and Tasha’s sister or Mama Joyce’s daughter, she is also an aunt, niece, cousin and she’s my friend. Happy Mother’s Day, Kim!”