By Daniel Perez
UTEP News Service
As hundreds of the world’s best soccer players gathered in Brazil for this year’s World Cup tournament, members of The University of Texas at El Paso’s 1989 men’s soccer club reunited on campus to remember what it took to win their national championship.
Eight of the 20 players talked about the grueling practices that drained them physically, mentally and emotionally, but ultimately united them to achieve the level of skills, conditioning, camaraderie, and trust in one another for a competitive edge.
The club won plenty of close games that fall on their way to a 12-2 record and an invitation to the National Collegiate Club Soccer Association tournament Nov. 10-12 at the University of Kansas, which was the No. 1 seed.
The team went 5-0 in the tournament including a 1-0 win against Kansas in the semi-finals and a 2-1 overtime victory against Texas A&M University in the finals.
El Paso native Daniel Martinez, a midfielder on the team, said that the biggest thing he learned was that things pay off in the end. He earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice in 1993 and served as UTEP’s soccer club coach from 1996-2000.
“I lived and died on a work study salary (as a student), but I was enjoying the sacrifice,” said Martinez, a counselor with the Paso del Norte Academy Charter School District who continues to coach youth soccer clubs.
The former players admitted the various sacrifices gave them the mental and emotional discipline to deal with life’s trials, and they try to share those concepts through their careers in education, medicine, law enforcement, engineering and business.
“There was a lot of hard work and dedication involved,” said Luis Villalobos, a defender on the team who now works for the El Paso Electric’s information technology department. He earned his bachelor’s degree in computer information systems in 1992 from UTEP and his M.B.A. eight years later. “We were tired and didn’t want to (practice) anymore, but we were told to enjoy it. That prepared us mentally to get through the tough times. We learned to enjoy what we experienced, even if it was hard.”
The club’s story begins in 1987 when students from America, Mexico and several other countries petitioned UTEP’s Recreational Sports Department to start a soccer club. The initial tryout drew about 50 students.
After a rough first two seasons against more established teams in the Juárez and El Paso adult leagues, the club settled down and began to experience success in the Rio Grande Intercollegiate Soccer League that included academic institutions in Arizona, New Mexico and Chihuahua, Mexico.
Among the team’s initial supporters was Sonny Castro, assistant vice president for auxiliary services; Roberto Tucker, a UTEP student with extensive professional playing experience in the Mexican leagues; and Hector Muñoz, recreational sports department (RSD) assistant director at the time. Castro was the staff sponsor, Tucker was the coach and Muñoz was the conditioning coach.
Players credited Castro, Muñoz and Tucker for raising their work ethic. They lauded Tucker for blending their talents and skills and teammate Jesus Enriquez for his leadership on-and-off the pitch.
Tucker, who earned his bachelor’s in education in 1991 and teaches at Our Lady of the Valley Catholic School, said he scouted UTEP intramural games for players who could help the club and eventually assembled a team with players from Yemen, Honduras, Malaysia, Mexico, the U.S. and Argentina.
The team was running on all cylinders by fall 1989. It finished its official schedule winning many close matches with a pressure defense to include definitive contests against favored opponents.
The victory earned minimal fanfare locally, but the players were excited and proud of their achievement. Several players stated it was a testament to the team that so much was accomplished with limited resources. The club conducted a few youth soccer camp fundraisers and acquired funds from the RSD’s sports club program and the Student Government Association.
Castro, chief diversity officer at the University of Central Missouri, said the team was successful because the students embraced their multiculturalism and channeled their passion for the game into a commitment for the program and a pride in the University.
“The occasional derisive comments that we encountered in some of the games provided (the coaches) with motivational material, but more importantly became the bond that molded the group of players into a high-achieving team,” Castro said.
Greg Contreras, junior accounting major and president of UTEP men’s soccer club, said the team’s success in 1989 and its participation in the national championship tournament in 2004 and 2013 motivate today’s players to grow as a team.
The club’s president in 1989, William Miller, M.D., said he felt blessed to have been part of UTEP history and to have played alongside that “group of characters.” Miller, one of the club’s founding members, graduated in 1991 as a Top Ten Senior with a degree in biology. He went on to graduate from medical school and serve as an Air Force flight surgeon for nine years. He currently manages his medical practice in Denver. He was unable to attend the mini-reunion but emailed his comments.
“What a great experience,” said the Michigan native. “(It) makes me smile whenever I think back to those halcyon days.”