The Greeley West soccer program has taken another hit this season. The recently hired coach, Louis “Paqui” Morales, has announced to the team that he will be leaving the program to attend law school. This is the second year that a coach who was hired before the season left the team.

Junior Jovon Torres was mad with the announcement as he also experienced the prior coach leaving the team. Torres had high hopes for the season as he knew Morales had a plan for them this season. Torres was attending the practices Morales hosted in the mornings before school, so he was ready for the season to come around. But Torres will be a senior next year so he knows how to be a leader and step up when needed from his teammates. “I will try and be a leader and help guide the younger students, “ Torres said.

Junior Roberto Arellano is another athlete who experienced the last coach leaving mid-season, so this is another disappointment for him. Arellano had so much confidence in Morales based on his resume and meeting him and had his trust, so his leaving made him upset. Arelanno knows the struggles that happened last year with the coach leaving so he already has an idea of what’s going to happen. Arellano will be a senior next year so he knows the younger kids will be looking up to him. “It’s the same situation as last year with the coach leaving last minute, at least this time he letting us know with time,” Arellano said. 

Sophomore Emmanuel Silva wasn’t surprised by the announcement, but what helped him deal with it was Morales had a good reason to leave, unlike the previous year. Silva was also there when the previous coach left, so Silva doesn’t believe that it will affect him that much as he’s pretty used to it. Silva was able to sense Morales eager to coach them. Silva has been on Varsity for two years, so he isn’t new to the sport and will know how to lead the team. “He was really nice and you can tell he has experience playing and was eager to coach us,” Silva said.