By Cooper Hemmes
A new hope has arrived within the Grand Rapids Community College women’s soccer program, as the Raiders have hired Mario Zuniga-Gil as their new head coach.
Zuniga-Gil enters his first season with the program but has a wealth of experience within the college soccer community. Zuniga-Gil played soccer throughout his childhood but realized that playing professionally was not in his future, so he changed his view of the sport completely and looked toward coaching.
Zuniga-Gil went to college without the thought of soccer at all, but then one day was asked to help out his uncle who was the head coach of a club in Zuniga-Gil’s home country Spain. It was there that Zuniga-Gil’s love for the game grew in a completely different way.
“I went to college for something that had nothing to do with coaching, and it was during these years that my uncle, who had coached for a long time, told me to come out and start helping out,” Zuniga-Gil said when asked about his background in soccer. “I developed a whole new love for the game from a completely different perspective, and shortly after I decided to pursue coaching as my profession. I started working on my coaching licenses and becoming completely absorbed and dedicated to it, which had never happened to me before with anything else.”
While Zuniga-Gil started working beside his uncle, he has had many other coaching gigs all over the world. Zuniga-Gil has worked with a professional club in England where he gained connections and great experience, but he knew deep down that if he wanted to be the head coach of a soccer club he was going to need to come to the United States.
Zuniga-Gil has been in the United States coaching for 10 years now and has completely settled into the idea of coaching here. He has worked in both men’s and women’s soccer programs, as a head coach he has worked at both the high school and college level. As a high school coach, Zuniga-Gil has worked with Father Gabriel Richard (Girls) and Chelsea (Boys). He knew after years at the high school level that he was ready to take the next step to the college game, where he was a part of the University of Michigan’s women’s soccer staff which he said was “without a doubt one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences of my career.”
Following his experiences at Michigan, he then went on to be a full-time assistant coach at Grand Valley State University. After GVSU, he then moved to club soccer where he coached with the older girls at the Michigan Rangers, a soccer club located in Hudsonville, Michigan. His final experience before arriving at GRCC was at Calvin University which he mentioned as “A short experience, but extremely enjoyable thanks to the amazing people that are a part of the program and how well we did!”.
When asked what he was looking forward to in this upcoming season, Zuniga-Gil responded with a slew of answers.
He began by mentioning how he looks forward to making sure the team has fun and competes at a high level. Zuniga-Gil has a philosophy when it comes to coaching, “Strongly believe results are merely a byproduct of what you do every day. Our focus cannot be on getting a result for the next game, but rather on using the short time we have together each day to get 1% better on the field, and intentionally developing the relationships we have with each other. If we don’t get too low with the lows nor too high with the highs, if our goal is to devote ourselves to the team and truly put egos aside, there are no limits to what we can achieve together. I think we will become a very strong team if we can stick to that.”
When asked if the experience of being a head coach at a Community College was different from his previous experience as an assistant coach elsewhere, he first mentioned that the resources at GRCC have been great regarding the NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association).
He also mentioned that the biggest difference between GRCC and the other levels that he has coached at was recruiting. At other colleges, specifically Michigan, he mentioned that they would be recruiting players from all over the country as well as other countries. While they do get some players from other countries here at GRCC, he mentioned that most players here are homegrown Michigan residents. He also stated that players here have not yet fully reached their ceilings and one of his goals is to see the development of his players increase as they play here at GRCC.
When asked how his experience personally has been here so far at GRCC, he stated how everyone he has met here has been extremely welcoming and down to earth so far. He mentioned that whenever he has needed help he has had many different people volunteering to go out of their way to help him with whatever he needs. He also stated how he loves how passionate people are about athletics here at GRCC and how people will do whatever it takes to see the athletics at this school thrive. Finally, he talked about how he loves the diverse population at GRCC and how he strongly believes in the value that GRCC education holds.
When asked what his expectations are for the future of GRCC soccer within the next five years, Zuniga-Gil began by saying “I want to make GRCC a prime destination for players to have two amazing years of academics and soccer, build meaningful friendships and memories, and move onto great programs to finish their degrees and college careers.” He also explained how he wants to build recognition within both the men’s and women’s soccer programs, making sure people know who the players are both on and off the field. He wants to set this program up to be consistently at the top of the conference and hopefully go on postseason runs.
From here we look forward to what the future holds within the GRCC Women’s Soccer program and after hearing what Zuniga-Gil had said, it’s safe to say that the program is in good hands.
