'I don't call it a job'

Carpenter needed.

Julian Sanchez, coach and director of The Elgin Recreation Center (also know as God's Gym) soccer program, is looking for a volunteer carpenter to help with his unique clutter.

Large and small and every size in between, trophies fight for space in Sanchez's office. The largest trophies are housed elsewhere awaiting a trophy case, Sanchez reports.

"The rest are in the conference room. They're too big to fit in here."

Recently his 10-year-old, competitive-level soccer players added to the collection by winning an international tournament in Orlando, Fla.

"We usually take one team to state and a couple of teams to Orlando," Sanchez said. "This was our third time, and the last few times we only got second place.

"This time they brought back first place," he continued.

"It was an experience for not only the kids, but for the parents."

Soccer wasn't the first love for Sanchez, who moved from Mexico to the United States as a teenager in 1988. Baseball was his game. His father held no love for soccer, either, and was a Cubs fan -- even in Mexico.

But when Sanchez checked out the baseball program at his new school, Elgin High, he realized the language barrier precluded his participation.

His younger brother was drawn to soccer and Sanchez accompanied him to a practice through Elgin Parks and Recreation. The same language barrier stood between his brother and soccer.

"The coach didn't speak any Spanish and we didn't speak any English," Sanchez explained.

Sanchez, who was 18 at the time, volunteered to coach a Spanish-speaking offshoot of the Elgin Lancers, which soon grew to 45 members.

The team began to explode with Spanish-speaking soccer players.

"Kids just kept coming to the practice because they knew there was a coach that could communicate with them," Sanchez said.

After the season ended, Elgin Parks and Recreation officials suggested Perez separate from the Lancers and begin his own league, due to the overwhelming numbers of is players.

When faced with the dilemma of what to call their new team, the kids did what most kids sports teams do: they turned to the professionals.

It was decided that they would be named after the then world-champion professional soccer team, the Mexico Pumas. From that one team, they grew into the current 60 teams, an organization large enough to become a league.

While he ran the Pumas from his home, Sanchez began working at the Renz Center in Elgin.

While he coached Spanish-speaking kids, their parents were required to take parenting classes at the center.

He spent five years with the program, which helped many area immigrant families cope with parenting issues in their new culture.

In 1993, Joel Perez, director and founder of what was then known as God's Gym, approached Sanchez having heard of his growing reputation -- not only with Puma team and the Renz Center, but also with a number of organizations in the Hispanic community.

Perez offered Sanchez, who was 18, the opportunity to bring his team to God's Gym. Sanchez, who was dealing with budget cuts at Elgin Parks and Recreation, agreed to make the move.

Meanwhile, Sanchez graduated high school and began attending Elgin Community College, earning a degree in computer-aided drafting.

His mother joked that he was majoring in professional volunteerism.

"I was involved with a lot of organizations on campus and in the community," Sanchez said.

"I'm just passionate about helping people and being involved.

"I remember seeing a counselor (at ECC) and he said, 'Do you want a good paycheck, or do you want personal satisfaction?' So I went with the personal satisfaction."

Having graduated from ECC, Sanchez now receives a paycheck from the Elgin Recreation Center -- the name God's Gym now uses -- with unique benefits.

"I guess it's a natural high, being with all of the kids and seeing the excitement of the kids when they play soccer," Sanchez said.

The league consists of recreational players from 3 to 14 years old. Those players between ages 8 and 16 who show the most promise are promoted to the competitive level. They then travel throughout the state and country, competing and often winning.

"Our mission is to have an opportunity for the kids and we take everybody," Sanchez said. "We don't discriminate: boys, girls, different levels."

The teams are no longer oriented to Spanish-speaking kids alone.

Sanchez estimates that more than 90 percent of the kids speak English. All of the coaches are certified and the league is affiliated with the Illinois Youth Soccer Association

"We're very affordable, too. Right now we charge $40 for the whole season, and they get a trophy and a shirt," Sanchez said.

"We play against clubs that charge $3,000 to $5,000 for the whole year.

The competitive program is comparably reasonable as well.

"We have a reputation as a well-organized, quality club," said Sanchez

More than 65 parents volunteer their services throughout the year.

"Some of the kids that started with me in the program are coming back as referees," Sanchez noted.

"The scary part is that some of them are bringing their kids that start at 3-year-old level.

"It's becoming a full circle. It's a sign that we're doing something right."

Some of what is being done right falls outside of the confines of soccer.

After-school programs and tutoring are offered through The Elgin Recreation Center, and Sanchez cites examples of parents who have come to him for help with disciplinary issues.

"Parents use soccer as a tool because the kids love soccer so much that they can use it as a tool to reinforce rules at home or at school," Sanchez said.

"Having them practice two or three times a week and playing one or two times a week definitely keeps them out of trouble."

The program keeps Sanchez busy as well, but he's not complaining.

"We spent 13 hours a day for the last weekend; it's tiring but I'll do it again."

"I love what I do," Sanchez said.

"I'm lucky to have a lifestyle like this, I don't call it a job."

Meanwhile there's the question of those trophies.

"If anyone knows how to make a trophy case, give me a call," Sanchez said with a laugh.