By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Anyone who has spent any amount of time around Marissa Wood knows she has a strong passion for coaching, particularly when it comes to the game of soccer.
The Los Fresnos coach passed along that enthusiasm to her Lady Falcons this season as they won the championship of an ultra-competitive District 32-6A with a 12-2 record, enjoyed a school-best 27-4 season and became just the third team in Rio Grande Valley history to reach a regional final in UIL girls soccer.
The Lady Falcons were the only Valley girls team to advance five rounds in the playoffs this season. Also, they finished No. 1 in the final Valley rankings for the second time in three years.
For all those reasons, Wood is the RGVSports.com 2015 All-Valley Girls Soccer Coach of the Year.
Bidding to become the first Valley girls team to advance to the UIL state tournament, the Lady Falcons led San Antonio Reagan 1-0 until the Lady Rattlers tied the match with 30 minutes remaining. Reagan eventually went ahead to win 2-1 and qualify for state in the Region IV-6A final April 11 at Brownsville Sports Park.
Wood, whose team barely missed the playoffs one season ago after going to the regional tournament and finishing No. 1 in the Valley in 2013, said she is honored to be the All-Valley coach of the year.
“This is a blessing for sure, and I’ve got to thank my team and (assistant) coaches,” said Wood, who became the Lady Falcons’ coach this season after two years as an assistant. She’s now assisted by Patricia Hernandez and Mando Gonzalez. “You work really hard to have success, but it’s not just you. I wouldn’t be here (as coach of the year) without our players putting in their part and buying into the program that we wanted to run this year as a coaching staff. It was a group effort.
“It’s really incredible to receive such an award,” added Wood, the wife of Los Fresnos co-offensive coordinator Josh Wood. “This (honor) hasn’t really sunk in yet, and, actually, our season hasn’t even really hit me yet, just how great things went and all the good things that are going to come out of it for our program.
“For me personally, I couldn’t have asked for a better first year of coaching (and directing the squad). To have our team make it to the ‘Elite Eight’ of Texas was amazing and such an honor. We thank the whole Los Fresnos school district and the community for being behind us. I also thank my husband.”
Athletics became an important part of Wood’s life long before she graduated from Birdville in 2006 and Texas State University in 2010.
“I’ve been around the game of soccer since I was 9 years old,” said Wood, who is also the Los Fresnos cross country coach. “And when the (U.S.) national women’s team won (the World Cup) in 1999, that’s when I fell in love with it.”
In recent weeks, she also has been selected All-Metro and 32-6A coach of the year.
Still, an even more momentous event is upcoming in the coach’s life as she plans to give birth to her first child in late July.
“Our soccer season was pretty amazing this year, and to be pregnant at the same time, I’m so thankful that it has all worked out,” Wood said. “Coaching this team was definitely a reason to come to work every day, when sometimes during the first trimester I didn’t feel like it. It was certainly worth it, and it was a good distraction. Literally, the day after we played Reagan, I looked down and said, ‘Oh, I’m pregnant. This is happening.
“The girls have been my first daughters, and now here I am (having my first child),” she added.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.