By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Winning the inaugural Class 6A state championship in boys soccer last April continues to bring recognition to the Rivera Raiders.
This time, it’s national recognition.
Rivera’s Salvador Garcia has been named national coach of the year for the high school winter season by Topdrawersoccer.com. Also, Isidro “Chelin” Martinez, a recently graduated senior attacking midfielder and one of Rivera’s top players, has been chosen to be part of the winter season first-team All-America squad.
The Raiders completed a 28-0 season by defeating Katy Cinco Ranch 2-0 in the 6A boys state final April 18 in Georgetown. Martinez scored his team’s first goal in the title match. In Topdrawersoccer.com’s final winter-season rankings, Rivera was the No. 2 team in the country behind a soccer academy in Florida.
Following his senior season for Rivera, during which he scored 23 goals and spearheaded the Raiders’ fluid attack, Martinez was named All-District 32-6A MVP, All-Metro MVP, All-Valley MVP and 2015 USA Today/Gatorade Player of the Year for Texas.
Along with getting this latest award, Martinez said he is happiest for his high school coach.
“I’m glad for Coach Garcia that he got it because he deserves it more than any other coach,” said “Chelin,” now a member of the soccer team at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley along with former Hanna standouts Juanito Garcia and Carlos Acevedo. “Being All-American is just an award I obtained with hard work, and without my teammates, I wouldn’t have been able to do it.
“It’s just an award,” he added. “I’m starting fresh here at UTRGV. It’s a new start for me, and I hope I can make positive things (happen) here.”
Garcia just completed his 18th year as Rivera’s coach. He served six seasons as an assistant under Lorenzo Garza prior to that. The Raiders have advanced to the playoffs 23 times in the past 24 seasons. Garcia’s record as coach at Rivera is 365-101-49. He also guided Rivera to the UIL state tournament in 2005 and 2007.
Besides crediting assistants Andres Macias, Jose Dominguez and Jimmy Montalvo for the Raiders’ success, Garcia is quick to mention his faith as an important factor in his coaching.
“I am super proud to give something to BISD because I am a product of the system as a student, educator, assistant coach and head coach,” said Garcia, a 1986 Hanna graduate. “Personally, the award means a lot to me because it proves that working as a team with the coaches and players, and with God as our guide, and having the correct attitude, and setting high, precise and realistic expectations, everything is possible.
“In my humble opinion, the biggest and most rewarding compliment that I have received is the fact that people have told me how impressed they were with us as coaches and players with what we did by putting God first and giving Him all the glory,” Garcia added. “Personally, that is very rewarding. (To me) life is good and God is great.”
In retrospect, nearly half a year since winning state, it now feels a lot like a dream, the Rivera coach said.
“I was telling the middle-school coaches during our coaches’ back to school meeting (last week) that what the team did seems unreal to me (now),” Garcia said. “It is like a beautiful dream.
“As I reflect back on my life, to come from where I came from to where I am now, it only reaffirms what I have been preaching for a long time, and that’s how blessed I am,” he added. “This (latest award) is just great news.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.