By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Soccer players have an appreciation for coaches who once played the game themselves.
The state-bound Rivera Raiders boast that kind of coaching staff. Three of the four Rivera coaches are recognized as soccer standouts from their high school playing days in Brownsville.
They include head coach Salvador Garcia, a 1986 Hanna graduate; Jose Dominguez, a 1992 Porter graduate; and Andres Macias, a 1995 Rivera graduate. They all made a name for themselves in soccer as players at their respective schools.
The fourth member of the coaching staff is Jimmy Montalvo, a 2001 Rivera graduate who played football in high school.
“I’ve been saying for a long time that I consider myself a fairly good coach only, but once you add Coach Macias, Coach Dominguez and Coach Montalvo into the mix there is no doubt in my mind that we have the best coaching staff,” said Garcia, who has a 363-101-49 career record in 18 seasons as Rivera’s coach. “I don’t mean any disrespect to anyone else, that’s just the way I feel. When you put those three guys into our coaching mix, we are the best staff. There’s no doubt in my mind.”
Garcia was an assistant under Lorenzo Garza for six seasons at Rivera prior to becoming the head coach in 1998.
The players feel pretty positive about the coaching staff, too.
“We have great coaches, all of them,” said Eliseo Ortiz, a senior forward for the Raiders. “On the field and off the field, they have great personalities, and because of the soccer experience they have, including at college, they know what we need. I think they make us a really good team.”
Added teammate Jesus Torres, a senior defender, “Our coaches know a lot of things about soccer, and they give us the best advice about the game and also about things in school. We’ve learned a lot from them.”
The Rivera coaches want to guide the Raiders (26-0) to two more wins, the first against North Mesquite (22-3-1) at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the Class 6A semifinals at the UIL state tournament in Georgetown, and then against either Katy Cinco Ranch (21-0-4) or Arlington Sam Houston (23-2-2) in the 6A state final at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
“This team has been developing every year (and going farther each season in the playoffs),” said Macias, who comes from a family of soccer coaches and is now in his sixth year as a Rivera assistant. “After every (season-ending) game we’ve lost, we analyze it and try to find out what the mistake was and see what we can do to help correct it. Every year we’ve found something to correct.
“This year our objective was to get the players to believe that they could go to state and do a good job,” Macias added. “Bottom line, this year, that’s what it was. Every year we’ve kept adding on to what the team needs. It’s awesome to finally be going to state now.
“To me, it’s an honor to coach here under Salvador Garcia. He’s the best in every single way. He’s been a mentor to me for 20 years already.”
Dominguez has been an assistant with the Raiders for five years.
““I think with the experience we coaches have, we’ve been able to keep the players motivated (all season), and now I don’t think there’s any doubt that we can take it all the way,” Dominguez said. “I’m 100 percent certain, and I have no doubt about it. These guys have worked so hard throughout the year, and they deserve it, so that’s why I think we’re going to take it.
“This is an awesome program,” he added. “Coach Garcia has done an excellent job. I’m just glad to be part of this journey and also glad to be part of this family.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.