Southwestern College Collegian

Issue date: 3/5/08 Section: Collegian Front Page

Sanchez

About 20 people attended an open session Feb. 29 in Pounds Lounge for Ruben Sanchez, who has applied for the men's head soccer coach position. Mike Kirkland, director of athletics, said one more candidate is going to be interviewed. Kirkland hopes to offer the position within two weeks, and hopes to have a new coach hired by spring break. Sanchez is the second candidate to be considered. Scott Turnbull, a first season assistant coach for the men's and women's soccer teams at the University of Minnesota-Morris, was interviewed Feb. 26 in Pounds Lounge in an open session. Sanchez reviewed his coaching credentials at the session. He has been the men's assistant soccer coach for one year. He became the interim head coach Jan. 25 after former head coach Roberto Dos Santos announced he was leaving to coach at Cowley College. Sanchez has played at a collegiate level for Southwestern during the 2004 through 2006 seasons. He has a bachelor of arts degree in finance from Southwestern and is working on his master's in business administration. He was twice named the most valuable player in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference while playing at Southwestern. This year he has been helping with the men's and women's teams as a graduate assistant. Sanchez said he wants players to show progression, not regression, next year. "I want to be competitive in the KCAC. I want us to be successful on the get-go. I want to win games consistently and have a home play-off game." Kirkland asked in the open session how Sanchez's style of play differs from Dos Santos'. "We have to make sure we hold the ball as long as possible. We have to be able to understand what each other is doing. You want to adapt to what the other team has to offer," Sanchez said. He added that the style of play he wants to take a part of is kickball. "I think a lot of times we aren't comfortable in our abilities to hold the ball, so we kick the ball in any direction and we're just back on defense. That's the thing I was to get rid of," Sanchez said. Giovanni Garcia, communication junior and midfielder/defender, asked Sanchez if coaching players that he played a year with would be a challenge. Sanchez said, "They understand my role now. They accept it. I want to pass on what I've learned and gained in 20 years of playing soccer." Several questions centered on knowing the role of being a student and an athlete in college. Sanchez said he knows the rigorousness of classroom work, and that he wants to recruit players who are good on the field and in the classroom. Sanchez also said under his coaching, there will be four positions on the field that will be depended on heavily. They are the forward, midfielder, central defender and goalie. "They are the backbone, the spine. If all four positions are strong, you're going to have a good team," Sanchez said. He said his ultimate goal is to get the team into the playoffs. "We haven't done it in several years. I didn't do it as a player and I want to do it as a coach," Sanchez said. "I want schools to fear us. SC is coming to play. I want them to think about it more than they have in the past. I want to be more successful." Monica Springer is a senior majoring in journalism. You may e-mail her at monica.springer@sckans.edu.

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