Gonzalez sets new soccer standards

by Matt Paulson
Staff Writer

The University of La Verne men's soccer team has recently hired a new head coach Crescencio Gonzalez, a longtime contributor to the men and women's soccer programs, as well as many other sports programs at ULV.

Before partaking in any coaching, Gonzalez played for two years at Azusa Pacific University where he played "as a starter at the collegiate level on a team below .500 my junior year," he said.

The next year, Gonzalez was doomed to ride the bench as his team improved immensely and ended up playing in the National Championship.

After hanging up his competitive boots, Gonzalez did his time at the high school level head coaching for Western Christian High in Covina, Calif. His tenure at Western Christian lasted two years.

After his stint at Western, Gonzalez came to ULV and served as an assistant coach for the women's team in 1994.

This lasted only one year though, as Gonzalez would be transferred over to the men to start a seven-season run as assistant coach for that program.

When Gonzalez's seventh season came to a close in 2001, he had no idea that it would be his last as an assistant coach at ULV.

Shayon Jalayer, the second head coach that Gonzalez had coached under at ULV was offered a position as the head coach at Cal Baptist. Because the position offered Jalayer advantages that ULV could not, he took it, leaving the job of men's head soccer coach wide open for the upcoming season. Gonzalez vied for the position and won.

"I'm just excited to have this opportunity," said Gonzalez.

As Gonzalez coached at Western Christian High School from 1992-1993, he accumulated head coaching experience that will help him as he takes over the position at ULV.

But there are obvious differences between head coaching high school players and collegiate players.

"For one, the skill level and the physical level are definitely better" at the collegiate level, Gonzalez said.

He went on to list other differences. The first of these was recruiting.

"At the college level, you have to convince people that they want to be in your program," he said.

Also, Gonzalez said, at the high school level, a coach basically walks up to practices and games everyday ill-prepared relative to the level of preparation a college coach must go through.

"As a collegiate coach, you must be prepared for advanced tactics and conditions," Gonzalez said.

He continued to list other factors present at the collegiate level that are not at the high school level.

Gonzalez said that, as a head coach at the university level, a person must have individual interviews with players, watch and study videotape and be prepared for relatively excessive time constraints.

Overall, he said the switch from a high school head coach to a college head coach is a "big difference."

Whatever the differences between being a head coach at the high school and collegiate levels, Gonzalez feels that he is fully ready to accept the new challenge. He states an abundance of justification for this readiness.

"I bring knowledge as far as tactics. Being an assistant coach under two different coaches, you learn two different approaches," he said. Gonzalez also cites "extensive experience in cardiovascular and strength conditioning, experience with administration and the program, and comfort in working with the budget and the administration" in declaring his readiness for his newly acquired position.

He also said that his playing experiences at Azusa Pacific have helped shape his perceptions simply because he saw, in two-year period, both ends of the spectrum: He started one year and incubated the pine the next.

Gonzalez's readiness for his newly accepted challenge has also inspired him to set a few goals for his first season as head coach of the ULV men's soccer team.

"The first goal is to have 25 players out there. The second goal is to get the team prepared, to be competitive," he said.

Another concrete goal of Gonzalez's throughout the 2002 season is get La Verne Television to cover a few of the games. He wants the chance to get a "videotape of a game with their look."

Gonzalez stated an additional, more abstract overall goal when he said, "We're going to win some games; we're going to lose some games; but what we do with those experiences will define what kind of team we are at the end of the season." Gonzalez emphasizes the importance of the ultimate picture of a season. At the end of the season, it becomes trivial how many games the team has won. The importance lies in the team's reaction towards how many games were or were not won.

Occupying another spot in Gonzalez's laundry list of goals is the idea of communication with the players.

He deems this a staple in the success of a head coach in relating to his players.

"I need to get good at that," he said.

This communication establishes a favorable relationship between coach and player, which is one of the factors that is conducive to the success of a team. In this, the team's reaction to Gonzalez's appointment must be duly noted.

"He brings a lot of dedication and hard work," John Helmer, a senior approaching his final season for the Leopard men's squad, expressed a favorable response. "I think that that will help with recruiting because it'll show the potential recruits that we have a serious program."

In addition, this hard work and dedication, said Helmer, "will hopefully rub off on [the team]."

Helmer also pointed out one factor independent of Gonzalez that will contribute to the success of the Leopards with Gonzalez now at the helm.

"We have a solid returning team. I think that will really help to set the precedent for the upcoming season," he said.

The stage is now set. Gonzalez is the head coach of the men's soccer team for the 2002 season.

The Leopards now entertain the ability to start fresh next August and show their competition that they belong with Gonzalez leading the charge.

Gonzalez addressed the upcoming preparation to become the leader of the Leopards: "This is a real dream come true for me. Now the real work begins."