The Burton Pumas moved up from Division 2 to Division 1, thanks to the coaching of 18-year-old Mario Flores.
Mario Flores, high school senior and soccer coach for the Burton Pumas, speaks to the team. Photo courtesy of Enrique Rosales.Mario Flores, 18, began his senior year at Phillip and Sala Burton Academic High School in the Portola neighborhood with one goal: for the school’s soccer team to move up to the top division of the But when the college students slated to coach the team said they wouldn’t return at the end of last season, the team was left with no coach.
Sign up “I was like, you know what? I’ve been an assistant coach before,” he said. “I just took what I learned fromAlthough teammates said Flores “gave up his own playing time” to coach the team, he said he didn’t mind. “I just wanted people to be happy at the end of season and still have a connection with others on the team.” . But they ended the season at the top of Division 2, which means they are moving up next season. “There were tears of joy from me,” Flores said. “Once we realized that, oh my gosh, we made it to D1, it was a very happy moment.”The team started off the school year confused and unsure of their future. The review process for becoming a coach for a high school team can take up to a month, Flores said. They didn’t have time for that. “We were wondering if we were going to have a coach,” said freshman Zeke Levien. Without one, they didn’t even have access to the school’s facilities for practice.The girls team had two coaches: PE teacher Brian Pan and assistant girls coach Daniel Feifer, who teaches physics. Pan and Feifer helped the boys out by opening the school’s field when the team needed to practice, Levien explained. But other than that assistance, Flores took charge. “When Mario stepped up, it felt good,” said Levien. “He knows a lot about soccer.” Starting the first week of December, with less than a month until the first game, Flores began coaching the team intensely. They practiced almost every day, sometimes early in the morning before classes started and sometimes during the weekend. That included winter break practices at nearby Crocker-Amazon Park and a practice the day after Christmas during a torrential rainstorm.Flores said he expected 10 to 12 people to show up, out of a team of 25. There were 14 that day. Levien’s dad, Richard, said he was impressed at the fact that Flores was able to get students to practice during Christmas break. “He’s a kid, you know?” he said. “Just the fact that the kids have so much respect for him that they show up to practice during break is amazing.” During practices, teammates said Flores would often give feedback and suggest creative ideas for how to defend and improve their playing style. Before games, Flores would study the opposing team’s style so the Burton Pumas could strategize. One time at lunch, Levien said Flores had come up with a play to score against theJoseph Hernandez kicks the ball in a game against the Academy. Photo courtesy of Enrique Rosales.“You need to be in touch with the ball at least an hour or 30 minutes every day. So if they can practice at least an hour during breaks, that’s fine with me,” he said.“We weren’t supposed to,” he said. “But I said, if they take a week off, they’re going to come back rusty.”A normal school day for Flores involved waking up at 6 a.m. to plan what the team’s focus would be for the day. From 8:30 a.m. to 3:40 p.m., he was at school. From 3:40 to 5:30 p.m., he was coaching the Burton Pumas. Then, he had 30 minutes to get from school to his club soccer practice, which goes from 6:30 to 8 p.m. After that, he went home to reflect on practice, do schoolwork, eat dinner and work on scholarships. “Honestly, yeah, it was tiring,” he said. Flores balanced six classes, two of them advanced placement, with coaching and club soccer practices.“Mario wasn’t paid a cent to do this,” said Levien. “We’re trying to get him a present, but he was never expecting any money. He’s a unique kid.” The high school senior hopes to come back as an official coach for Burton next year. “I feel positive about how this season went and I’m ready for next year.”Because of you, Mission Local reached and surpassed our $300,000 year-end fundraising goal.Thank you for choosing to invest in a local newsroom rooted in San Francisco’s communities — one that listens first and reports deeply. Your contribution today helps sustain the reporting our city relies on all year long.Sophia is an intern reporting from Bayview-Hunters Point. She recently graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in Bilingual Spanish Journalism. She's written for SFSU’s student newspaper, Golden Gate Xpress, and previously interned at Radio Bilingüe.Mario Flores deserves a big reward for what he’s doing! Bravo to Mario!! And kudos to the intrepid soccer team members who showed up during vacation and even in the rain! Please keep your comments short and civil. Do not leave multiple comments under multiple names on one article. We will zap comments that fail to adhere to these short and easy-to-follow rules.Sign up for Mission Local's daily newsletter: The latest San Francisco news in your inbox, no more than once a day, for free.
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