“This is my second year coaching Varsity Boys’ Soccer,” said Ms. Megan Flores. Before that, she coached the Junior Varsity team at Armijo. She also coached Boys’ Rugby for a year at Ygnacio Valley High School.

This is her fifth year teaching Physical Education (PE) at Armijo, but soccer has been an integral part of Coach Flores’s life. “I’ve been a soccer trainer for MPHFC soccer club for about 12 years now,” she said. MPHFC stands for Martinez-Pleasant Hill Futbol Club. “I started training soccer teams as soon as I aged out of my team in high school and then went to school to become a PE teacher.”

Coach Flores ran track and played soccer in high school herself. She also spent four years playing club soccer and two years in collegiate women’s rugby. She became a coach because she loves soccer and wanted to pass on her knowledge and experience to the next generation.

Stability means a lot to Coach Flores. “When I was in high school, our coach changed every year, which hurt our ability to improve,” she said. “I want to give my athletes that dedication and support I never had.” This is especially vital during the pandemic.

“We would usually start training as soon as school starts,” said Coach Flores, “but that was postponed along with our season. It’s a bit of a waiting game at this time to get things going 100%.” She said that she is so proud of what the boys have accomplished over her three years coaching, winning League. “I hope to continue our strong showing this year,” she said. “I know a couple teams are looking to take us down quickly after losing to us last year and I look forward to the challenge.”

If she could make a change to Armijo, she would want to have a second field or an indoor soccer space for the students so they wouldn’t have to share the football field, which makes training and practice difficult during a regular school year. This year, if and when the seasons are moved up, that challenge will be intensified.

Between her family and her coaching responsibilities, Coach Flores said that she doesn’t really have time for anything else. Her family includes Mr. Matt Flores, who she met in college in 2007 and married in 2015, and her son Aiden, who just turned 4 in September. At the end of December, she is expecting her daughter Elizabeth.