By JOSHUA McKINNEY, Staff Writer
Soccer is the gift that keeps on giving in Brownsville, and a scene at Pace late in the spring showed exactly why.
The Vikings had a strong 2015 season, advancing to the Region IV-5A championship before losing to eventual state champs Porter. Meanwhile, the Lady Vikings enjoyed a playoff run of their own.
But the high point of the campaign came after the season ended, during a May 27 signing ceremony.
Ten soccer players, plus one track and field athlete, signed their letters of intent to various colleges in the United States.
Mario Zamora, Pace’s second-year boys soccer coach, had six of his athletes sign to play soccer at the next level starting in the fall (Benlly Galvan, Juan Garza and Hector Rojas for Cayuga Community College in Auburn, New York; Johan Rios and Alejandro Castaneda for Texas College in Tyler; and David Morales for Lindenwood University in Belleville, Illinois).
“Soccer has been getting more popular in the Valley, and better and better (each year),” said Garza, a midfielder who’s going to play for Cayuga Community College in Auburn, New York. “Porter won state this year and Rivera won last year. In my opinion, I think everyone wants to play college ball or more than that.”
Brownsville coaches seem to agree.
It’s not just Pace sending several kids to the next level. Twenty-three athletes from Brownsville schools will join collegiate soccer programs in states ranging from Texas to Illinois to New York. All six BISD schools will be represented.
The Lopez Lobos had seven soccer players — four boys to Texas College (Benito Cazares, Ulysses Ortegon, Ruben Sauceda and Allan Ramos) and three girls to Texas A&M University-International in Laredo (Gloria Ortegon, Estrella Espinoza and Samanthia Ruiz) — sign to play at universities in Texas.
Lopez boys coach Amadeo Escandon, who’s led the Lobos soccer program for 18 years, has won at the district, regional and state level.
Despite winning a district and regional title this year, he views the signings as the pinnacle of the 2016 season.
“To me it was the biggest accomplishment,” Escandon said. “After a while you get a different state of mind with soccer and winning and losing.” It’s about helping the kids get to the next level. That was probably the proudest moment of last year.”
Porter’s Alexis Anzures and Uriel Sepulveda are both going to Wiley College in Marshall, and Brownsville Veterans’ Estuardo Teran is heading to Our Lady of the Lake Univeristy in San Antonio, rounding out the amount of Brownsville set to play men’s soccer in 2016 at 13.
Girls teams might lack of the trophies and prestige of their male counterparts, but it hasn’t stop recruiters from signing female soccer players from Brownsville.
A total of ten girls signed with colleges in 2016, including those from Pace and Lopez. Hanna’s Priscilla Villarreal and Julissa Urbina (Texas College) and Yesinia Ortiz (Concordia University in Austin) are making the jump to the college level.
The talented Brownsville girls soccer players have yet to win a regional title but Pace girls soccer coach Jesus Villarreal says it’s only a matter of time until it happens.
In the meantime, getting girls to the next level is the number one goal.
“In fact, (it’s worth) more than a championship to me.” Villarreal said. “An education is far more valuable. Myself, I went through this also. I didn’t play four years of college, but just the fact that they’re doing that step up is nice. It’s good. As long as I’m working at Pace, it’s about the transition between college and childhood. My practice is to have that type of mentality. They’re not just playing for varsity and district competition. They’re play for the next level.”
This past school year, soccer had the most players sign letters of intent to play college sports. Football had the second most with nine athletes and cross country/track & field followed with five
The difference is the success Brownsville soccer teams have had at the state level, which helps the sport gain more exposure when it comes to recruiting.
Back-to-back, nationally-ranked boys state championships in Porter (5A in 2016) and Rivera (6A in 2016) to go with a long line of state qualifiers makes Brownsville soccer a top recruiting target.
“For me, it’s something that we have to keep working on,” Zamora said. “I think our job as coaches is not only on the field, but in life. We have to make an impact on those kids and convince them to go to college and have an education. Why not do both things … have an education and play soccer?”
Joshua McKinney covers high school sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @joshuabvherald.