By JOSHUA McKINNEY, Staff Writer
When people think about prep soccer players joining their high school’s football team, images of ace kickers and punters come to mind.
But in a city where soccer rivals King Football as the top sport, it’s no surprise that skilled athletes make the transition from the pitch to the gridiron.
Jose Echevarria, a junior-to-be at Lopez, is the poster child when it comes to the mutual benefit that football and soccer have from sharing players.
Echevarria is a do-it-all type for the Lobos’ football team, whether it’s lining up at wide receiver or running back on offense, playing defensive back, or returning and kicking on special teams.
“Jose breaks that mold,” Lopez soccer coach Amadeo Escandon said. “Jose plays anywhere and that’s an eye opener for everyone else because everyone else, the typical soccer player only kicks the ball. He’s just the kickoff specialist. Not with Jose in this case. It’s a big eye opener for everybody else.”
Echevarria continues that theme of playing all over the field when he joins Lopez’s soccer team in the winter, slotting in as a “Number 9” behind the forward and midfielders.
“Soccer helps me with football because I kick, too, so it helps me get my accuracy and stuff,” Echevarria said. “Football gets me faster.”
Soccer players contributing to Brownsville football teams isn’t limited to Echevarria.
Former Brownsville Veterans Memorial athlete and current Our Lady of the Lake University soccer player Carlos Vasquez played both sports from 2011-2013 and currently plays soccer for Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio.
Vasquez played goalie and slot receiver for the Chargers, and he thinks the skills he learned from both went hand-in-hand in making him a better athlete.
“Being a keeper, you use your hands a lot,” Vasquez said. “You develop technique to where you’re always catching the ball. You catch the ball. You hold onto it even if they hit you, which is kind of similar to football. If you catch it, you better hold on to it. Any contact, you hold on to the football. I think that’s why it helped me transition over to football and become a receiver.”
Brownsville Veterans football coach and athletic coordinator David Cantu likes the idea of having kids play multiple sports. With a limited pool of athletes, it’s almost a necessity.
“If anyone’s seen them at a game or at a practice, it’s amazing to see them do the things they do,” Cantu said. “So when I’m able to get a soccer player who’s interested in playing football, that excites me, especially down here because of the competitiveness they bring from playing at a really high level. Bringing that aspect to the team is good for being competitive but also, in my opinion, the guys who play soccer step on the field and expect to win.”
That’s probably because boys soccer in Brownsville has won — a lot. This past spring, all six BISD teams, plus Brownsville IDEA Frontier and St. Joseph, made the playoffs. Not to mention the four collective state titles and numerous state appearances the programs have racked up since 2004.
Like Cantu, football coaches in Brownsville are likely hoping that success finds its way to the football field.
Cantu said he’ll have several soccer players lining up on the football field this season, which is exactly what he wants. He’s hoping some of that completive attitude forged in the Brownsville soccer gauntlet spills over to Friday nights.
“Well, I know that I want soccer players on my football team, so I’m trying to get the success that we’ve had spill over in our team,” he said. Yes, they’re great athletes. Yes, they train year around and so forth. A lot of that has to do with the mental part, that tenacity that they play with. We need more of that in football.”
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.