Behind Marcos’ boys soccer turnaround

3 February 2012 One Comment Mark Heller

Remember the original iPhone? Barry Bonds hitting his 756th home run? Luciano Pavarotti’s death?

Those were in 2007, the same year Marcos de Niza was last relevant in boys soccer. Until now.

This year’s few Marcos’ seniors who’ve been around since their freshman year had a total of seven wins through the first three years of high school soccer at the school. Needless to say this season has been a renaissance, as the Padres went 12-0 in power point matches to earn a No. 3 seed in the Division II state tournament.

That would have been cause for a parade by itself, but, in typical Padres fashion this season, they beat a solid Phoenix Washington team in penalty kicks to begin the state tournament; Another nail-biter that went the Padres way that kept their season alive.

The Padres host a Tucson Catalina Foothills team that is better than its No. 6 seed on Saturday afternoon. But, outcome aside, in some ways it’s a moot point.

Former Padres coach Greg Vanney was one of the best soccer players in state history, but when RLS and, eventually, the pros called him about a job, he couldn’t say no. But before that, he got a Californian and former player Daryl Chavez onto Marcos’ coaching staff. Chavez had won state championships coaching Seton Catholic’s girls when the school had just opened.

Chavez fully took over when Vanney left (though Vanney often missed practices and matches because of his other job duties). Chavez walked into a culture of “nothingness” at the school when he took over the program barely a week before last season.

“The culture of winning was non-existent,” Chavez said this week. “It was like, ‘Eh, nobody cares about Marcos. Who cares about us?’”

Thus began the painful transformation. Losses piled up in 2010-2011 while he attempted to earn the trust and acceptance of his players.

But they saw his 4 a.m. alarms for his 6 a.m.-3 p.m. day job (finance) then to practice and matches at the school. Everyone on the team had to sign a four-page contract laying out expectations by players, coaches and parents. He set up a summer camp twice per week in the heat, and players/kids who wanted to try out for the team attended.

“We have athletes but didn’t understand the game to save their life, but outside of teaching the game, the standards and pride are the two biggest changes we’ve tried to make,” Chavez said.

There’s no escaping the notion that this two-year scheduling implementation has been advantageous for the Padres. It has.

So, too, has senior goalkeeper Victor Sanchez, who Chavez has raved about this season and did so in making a big save in the shootout victory earlier this week. It’s the first time in recent memory the Padres had a goalkeeper instead of an unknown trying to just fill in that key position.

“He really is a huge impact and giving us that kind of assuredness in net,” he said.

Danny Molina played RSL soccer but came back to play high school this season. Naveed Khosraviani, David Ieng and Jose Segura have been integral, and the Padres have played most of their bench regularly.

After missing the Diablos Tournament during Holiday Break (Chavez said the team was in the tournament and then notified by the school a day before they weren’t playing it. It remains a mystery), Marcos played seven matches in nine days to end the regular season, and it took its toll.

But not enough, because the players have bought what Chavez is selling. When an already-ill Chavez couldn’t get out of work to go with his team to Yuma for a match, a parent who works for an airline pulled some strings, and Chavez wound up on a one-way flight to Yuma for a soccer match. He arrived, grabbed dinner, coached the team and rode back to the Valley with another parent.

When things like that go your way, maybe a first soccer championship in 20 years is no longer a fantasy.

“It’s been worth the price of admission,” Chavez said. “I’m thrilled for them that the effort has paid off and people are rallying around them.”