SAN ANTONIO — The hiring of minority head coaches in sports will always be an issue at the forefront. In the third part of our series celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month we continued our conversation with area high school head coaches.
Johnson Jaguars Head Football Coach Mark Soto: "You would think there would be more Hispanic head coaches in San Antonio at prestigious jobs, especially in the coaching arena because we are coaching lots of Hispanic kids, but it is not that way. For me to be in this position I am fully aware that there are Hispanic head coaches watching me, and cheering for me, and understanding that it is huge. It's just hard. It is hard sometimes for us as a Hispanic, as a minority to move ahead."
Holmes Husky Head Football Coach Juan Morales: "I think we have come a long way. Back in the day it was the 'good ole boy' system, and it was just so hard to jump in, and say can we break into the network?"
Steele Knights Head Football Coach David Saenz: "I just think it is about opportunities, and sometimes you will get those opportunities, and sometimes it won't go your way. You may not get the head coaching job or things like that, but the main thing is you just have to be patient with it. When the opportunity presents itself you just try to do the best you can with the opportunity. You just have to put the work in, and people will notice hard work, the people that have good hearts and treat people the right way."
Judson Rockets Girls Basketball Head Coach Christina Camacho: "Truly it should not matter what race you are. It should matter that we have the best qualified person leading what we want to do."
Jefferson Girls Basketball Head Coach Natasha Benavides: "I don't think it should be based off anyone's skin color. We are all human and it all depends on the person. How hard are they willing to work? What can they bring to the table?"
We'll finish the four part series next Monday night.