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In the summer of 2009, Kyle Hagenburger, now known in the community
as “H,” was hired as a history teacher at a brand new charter school
called King-Chavez Community High School in downtown San Diego. The
school's purpose was to help build up and breathe life into a
neglected immigrant-based community. King-Chavez Neighborhood of
Schools serves the special needs of the kids from Logan Heights,
thepoorest and most gang- and crime-infested neighborhood in San
Diego. In addition to creating the curriculum for the very first
incoming 9th grade class, Kyle had a vision to start a high school
soccer program for these at-risk, disenfranchised inner city youth.
Upon holding an introductory soccer camp at a local park for the
incoming freshmen that summer of 2009, Kyle realized his vision could
become a reality - over twenty kids showed up to play. But the school
had no home field. They had very limited funds. Most of the kids had
no experience playing organized soccer, and with a school demographic
of over 90% Latino, a few of the players did not even speak English;
and Kyle speaks no Spanish. But with devotion to his vision and
determination to make it happen, Kyle, as program Founder, Director
and Head Coach together with the King-Chavez Athletic Director and the
young, eager players set out on a mission to build a legitimate
competitive high school soccer program from the ground up. Today, the
Boys Varsity Vaqueros are renowned in San Diego as the up-and-coming
team that won the first three Frontier League Championships in which
the team ever competed. This is an unprecedented achievement.
In the first year of the soccer program, there was one boys team
and one girls team. Kyle coached the boys and recruited coaches and
assistants to work with the teams for free. The boys held their first
game on a Friday night under portable generator lights used at
construction sites. They played - and beat - Morse High School. It was
the first-ever sports related event to take place in Logan Heights.
Over 150 people showed up to watch. Passersby stopped and cheered. For
the first time in many of their lives, parents were able to see their
boys play. Halfway into the season, a school in the heart of Logan
Heights agreed to allow the Vaqueros to use the school’s patchy
beat-up field as their home turf. This haggard field is now proudly
considered home of the Vaqueros. The Vaqueros developed an average
crowd of 100 fans at home games. Fans began making signs and banners
to wave during games. The Vaqueros have their very own high school
cheerleading squad with orange and green cheerleading uniforms and
pompoms. In this fourth year, the crowd grew to nearly 200 and has
developed cheers, chants, and special songs to call out in support of
their Mighty Green Vaqueros.
Gang activity dominates Logan Heights, to which the soccer
program quickly fell victim; in the first year of the program, the
local gang tagged the teams' goalposts. In the second year, a group of
gang members attacked one of the players on his way home from practice
one evening, his injuries so severe he ended up in the hospital. The
kids in the program are accustomed to living amongst gangs, drugs, and
constant criminal activity. Many of them were already on track to the
troubles of the barrio, and we have sadly lost a few players to the
inducement of street and gang life in Logan. But the soccer program
provides another option. It provides daily practices on a real soccer
field, haggard as it may be; competitive high school games and
tournaments; and the chance to be part of a high school team, a united
family, and a movement that has become so much bigger than its
individual parts, so much more widely and deeply significant than Kyle
had ever imagined.
In the second year of the soccer program, Kyle decided to create
a varsity program for both the boys and girls. Because King-Chavez
High School was only in its second year and had a student body of only
9th and 10th graders, Kyle knew a varsity program was a risk; varsity
teams are typically composed of 11th and 12th graders. But the kids
were fired up, and over two-thirds of the school's population showed
up for tryouts. Student-athletes began getting their highest grade
point averages just so they could play on a team. Kyle had to find
more coaches, which meant convincing more people to volunteer their
time. With the odds against them - poverty, reliance on public
transportation, immigration status issues, inexperience, lack of
funding, losing players because their families needed them to
contribute financially to the household, and playing against teams
that out-sized and out-experienced them - the first-year Boys Varsity
Vaqueros won the 2011 Frontier League Championship. College scouts
began coming to watch the Varsity Boys play; these coaches are now
persistently recruiting from the team.
The Boys Varsity Vaqueros went on to win the 2012 and 2013
Frontier League Championships. They ended their third season as a
varsity team with an unrivaled record of 18 wins, 2 ties, and only 1
loss, a shocking and devastating loss that did not come until the CIF
Semi-Final, just one game away from taking the CIF Championship. The
team created such a pervading buzz among rivaling high school soccer
programs in San Diego that local media were compelled to tell the
Vaqueros' story. They were featured on NBC 7, Channel
10 News, Fox 5 and on the inside front cover of the
sports section in the San Diego Union Tribune. More recently Top
Drawer Soccer, Soccer Nation and San Diego Magazine have taken an
interest in the Vaqueros' story.
The soccer program became so popular since its inception in 2009
that it is now composed of four teams - both boys and girls Junior
Varsity and Varsity teams. Young kids from Logan Heights and siblings
of current players show up to practice and tell Kyle they "want
to be a Vaquero” and play for him one day. Kyle, his devoted and
generous volunteers and the passionate, dedicated players have created
a lasting and impactful program, a deeply prideful tradition for this
marginalized community. They have created a powerful and permeating
school spirit. This is a real-life story of hope and meaningful
triumph in the face of crushing odds. This soccer program Kyle has
worked so tirelessly for the last four years to create must be
continued, and the future players and coaches need to know where it
started in order to keep the spirit and tradition alive and strong.
2013 marked the first graduating class of King-Chavez Community
High School, which included the boys and girls that started the soccer
program and have played since its creation back in 2009. We want these
student-athletes and the exceptional Boys Varsity Vaqueros to have
something to remind them how truly special they are and what
extraordinary feats they have accomplished and are continuing to
inspire. Our mission in making this documentary is to provide a
tangible, everlasting memento of their excellence, their brilliance,
their hard work and amazing talent, and - in the face of tremendous
adversity - their unparalleled success. We want to make sure this
story lasts. We want it to inspire, uplift, encourage, remind and give
strength and hope forever.
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