Kick Start

New Mexico has become a youth-soccer hotbed, thanks in part to changes that have opened the game to more Hispanic immigrants

By George Dohrmann

Players on southern New Mexico clubs like the Strikers (in black) are filling more state all-star slots. Robert Beck/SI

When Ofelia Lira immigrated from Torreon in northern Mexico to Las Cruces, N.Mex., last July, she believed she was doing right for her two sons, Ivan, 11, and Gaspar, 9. But as she watched Gaspar play soccer on a windy desert night a few weeks ago, the outline of the Organ Mountains off to the east, the single mom admitted she might have made a mistake.

"It has been hard to find work, and I have been thinking about going home," she said in Spanish, looking down at Ivan, who was seated at her feet. "But I cannot leave because of the opportunity they have here to play soccer. They love it, and I can't take it from them."

Immigrants like Lira have long brought soccer-loving children across the Rio Grande (legally and illegally), part of the reason New Mexico, and particularly the southern part of the state, where Las Cruces is located, has become a hotbed of talented youth-league players. One has only to look across the 23 packed fields on the Santa Ana Pueblo in Bernalillo outside Albuquerque -- site of this month's State Cup -- to appreciate the sport's popularity throughout the Land of Enchantment. But more discerning eyes, such as the pair belonging to the Liras' coach, Linda Lara, look across the fields in Bernalillo and see the results of a grassroots movement that only recently succeeded in bringing change to the soccer culture here.

Even as New Mexico's Hispanic population grew to more than 42% as of 2000, the highest proportion of any state, the top level of youth soccer was inaccessible to many of the best Hispanic players. The selection process for the state's Olympic Development Program (ODP) -- US Youth Soccer's tool for identifying potential national-team players and a pipeline for college recruiters -- was dominated by coaches from big club teams in and around Albuquerque, New Mexico's largest city. Participation fees and the cost of traveling and staying in Albuquerque (the only place practices were held) prevented many of those Hispanic players who were picked from participating. "It was like ODP was only for the rich," says Lara.

But reform in the New Mexico Youth Soccer Association (NMYSA), and the dedication of people like Lara, has greatly altered the state's soccer scene. A number of Hispanic players, many of them poor immigrants, are now excelling in the ODP and helping their teams win state high school and club titles. "The people on the board of directors [of the Albuquerque-based NMYSA] fought tooth and nail against some of the changes," says Bob Bigney, the association's former director of coaching who's now a club coach in Las Cruces. Adds Mark Paffett, the NMYSA president, "There are some people who don't want to give up the power. Albuquerque had always been the big dog and made all the rules."

The big dog in Las Cruces is Lara, though she hardly looks the part. The 48-year-old elementary school counselor stands just over five-feet tall and never played soccer. She started a team called Strikers FC when the first of her four sons began playing 20 years ago. She now manages five teams at varying age levels -- a total of 78 boys and girls, a third of whom each year are recent immigrants.

"Linda is like a fairy godmother," Paffett says. "She puts up thousands of dollars a year to help these kids play, to keep them in school. She is allowing them the opportunity to better their lives."

Lara doesn't ask if a family can afford registration or tournament fees or travel costs; she only requires that her players make practice on time, stay in school and earn solid grades. She rarely loses a player at a time when the high school dropout rate for Hispanic immigrants in New Mexico is more than 40%. "Linda is the support system for a lot of the families," says Scott McClanahan, whose son, Ryan, plays for Lara's under-17 team.

At a recent practice Lara was more into bragging about her players than talking about her generosity. She ticked off the college prospects of each player. Patrick Jurney, 17, started playing with the Strikers FC but moved to Albuquerque when he was eight years old because his mother changed jobs. For the past couple of years he has driven more than three hours to Las Cruces for practice most weeks. "I tried playing for a club in Albuquerque, but no one cared for each other," Jurney says. "Playing for Linda and the Strikers is more meaningful."

The meaning isn't lost on Edgar and Noel Castillo, brothers who have greatly benefited from Lara's generosity. "These two were born here but made the transition to English after they joined the Strikers," she says proudly. They have developed into two of the state's best players. Edgar traveled to Chile last month with the District IV all-star team and has been invited to Adidas's Elite Soccer Program, a collection of the top 150 youth players in the nation.

Change came to New Mexico soccer when Bigney arrived at the NMYSA from Virginia in 1999. "You'd see some of Linda's kids and ask why they were not in ODP," he recalls. Bigney did away with tryout fees and made it possible for any coach -- not just those running the big clubs in Albuquerque -- to recommend a player for the program. He also took steps to draw attention to players outside Albuquerque, holding ODP practices in Las Cruces, even bringing a national-team coach to scout players there. Strikers FC players were soon starring in the ODP.

"The first year I tried out for the state team [in 1998], there were all guys from Albuquerque and two from Las Cruces," says David Lara, 17, Linda's youngest son. "This year there were only four from Albuquerque, and the rest were from the south."

Despite the success of Strikers FC, Paffett believes the biggest indicator of the changing landscape of youth soccer in New Mexico was the Class 5-A state high school title won by the girls' team at Las Cruces High in 2003, the first by a school from the southern half of the state. The team was made up largely of players from the lone under-15 girls' club team in the Las Cruces region, the Jornada Sharks. Like Lara's Strikers, the Sharks reflect the diversity of Las Cruces, with nine Hispanics, five U.S.-born whites, two Slavic immigrants and one Native American. Like the Strikers, many of the Sharks are "scholarship" players, meaning that the club's coach, Ivan Strnad, pays their fees or enlists other parents to help cover costs.

Among Strnad's players last season was Taylor Lytle, who qualified for the national pool in the girls' under-15 division. She and Edgar Castillo might not have reached the national level had it not been for Wayne Suggs, coaching administrator for Las Cruces's High Noon Soccer League. He raised $6,000 to help pay travel and registration fees for Las Cruces players in the ODP, which the NMYSA matched, although not without dissent from some board members and parents in Albuquerque, Paffett says. He believes their protests were grounded in the fact that southern kids are winning spots on state teams in place of their own children. "It's been a battle," Suggs says.

John Madding, NMYSA director of coaching and education, says, "There was some resistance -- as there is any time you ask the majority to make sacrifices so a minority can participate. Albuquerque is where most youth soccer players are, but when they saw how much better the state teams were with Linda's players, they became more accepting."

Paffett is now trying to reach out to New Mexico's other substantial minority group, Native Americans. An initiative spearheaded by Madding and buoyed by casino money (there are 15 Native American-run casinos in the state), is building fields and training coaches on the pueblos. "The goal is simple: Give more kids the opportunity to play," Paffett says.

Ivan Lira, while watching his brother in action at the High Noon Soccer Complex, overheard his mother say she couldn't take him from the Strikers; he looked up at her, smiling, and nodded his approval. He grabbed a ball from a U-16 Strikers player and dribbled off, just a typical New Mexico kid playing the game he loves.

Issue date: May 24, 2004