Juan de Dios Garcia
Inducted 2015
Hometown: Matamoros, Tamps., Mexico
High School: Brownsville High School
College: Pan American University at Brownsville
Best Known for: Coaching – Soccer
b. March 8, 1954
Juan de Dios Garcia is considered by soccer aficionados as the Father of Soccer in the Rio Grande Valley.
He grew up in Matamoros playing soccer in the early 1960s. After graduating from Brownsville High School in 1974, he played on multiple all-star teams in Texas and Mexico in the 1970s. He realized that he needed to finish college, and did so in 1982 at Pan American University at Brownsville.
The UIL approved soccer as a new sport in 1982, and Garcia was there to serve as the first head coach at Brownsville Hanna that year. He stayed 30 years as boys’ soccer coach there, which was the longest-tenured soccer coach in the Rio Grande Valley in any sport at the time. His career record was 437-206-66, a winning percentage of .663. He took the Eagles to the playoffs 20 out of the 30 years, and took seven Hanna teams to the regional tournament, including five straight times from 1999 to 2003.
Hanna’s 1-0 victory over previously undefeated San Antonio MacArthur in the 1990 regional final marked the first time that a Valley boys’ soccer team advanced to the state tournament. Those 1990 Eagles lost in the semifinals to Tyler Lee, 4-3, in a marathon 22-player shootout.
Several of Garcia’s former players are now successful coaches, including Rev Hernandez of Sharyland, Salvador Garcia of Rivera and Amadeo Escandon of Lopez. After retirement, he served as a volunteer assistant coach for the UTB/TSC women’s soccer team from 2007 to 2010.
Garcia was inducted into the Texas Association of Soccer Coaches Hall of Honor in 2012.