Daily Lobo
UNM women’s soccer coach Kit Vela has played with and coached some of the best players in the country and she hopes her experiences will help build a winning program.
Vela has a list of accomplishments that includes playing for a highly ranked Division I soccer team, being an assistant coach for seven years and playing with and against some of the U.S. National Team players that helped win the 2000 World Cup.
With her background, she will try to resurrect a program that has not had a winning season in four years and compiled a 17-38-2 record in the last three seasons.
She was hired as the new head coach in December, taking over for John DeWitt, who resigned at the end of last season.
“Playing and watching players at such a high level helps me bring that knowledge to this environment,” Vela said. “It teaches you the ins and outs of players and tidbits. If you have never played against that, it is hard to coach against.”
This will be Vela’s first head coaching position after being an assistant for five years at the University of Southern California. She said she will not be intimidated by the situation because she has experienced soccer at the highest levels throughout her life.
Playing in the Women’s Semi-Professional Soccer League, she played with and against many players who are now in the new Women’s United Soccer Association and World Cup players such as Brandi Chastain, Julie Foudy and Joy Fawcett.
Vela grew up playing soccer in Southern California, an area well-known for producing talented soccer players. She played at Brown University from 1986-1990 and starred on a team that was nationally ranked all four years.
“That was the most influential time for me and the period I probably learned the most from,” Vela said. “Women were looked down upon culturally for playing sports, so we had to fight through that. I learned a great deal from my teammates and coaches.”
After her collegiate career was over, Vela returned to Torrance, Calif., to coach the girls’ soccer team for her alma mater, Bishop Montgomery High School. She helped lead it to three league championships, a 1994 California Division II title and was named the Division II Coach of the Year.
“That was a great experience,” Vela said. “That is where you need to start, at the ground level, and learn and get some experience like I did. I have coached some of the best players in the country, and it is a learning experience for both of us.”
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She then became an assistant coach for seven years at the college level. She started at Loyola Maramount University for two years in 1994 and 1995 and then moved to USC. She helped head coach Jim Millinder start the women’s program and build it into a national power. During her stay, the Trojans compiled a 73-27-4 record, including an impressive year this fall. The team finished 14-6-2, made the second round of the NCAA Tournament and finished the season ranked 21st in the country.
She also served as an assistant coach for the Olympic Development Program in the West region from 1996-1999.
“Its always nice that the coach is a good player as well,” sophomore forward Michelle Nowfel said. “She has played at the highest level, so it is easier to understand stuff from her. She wants to take the program to the next level, and you can already see that.”
Vela will not be coaching the Lobos alone. Her assistant coach will be her husband, Jorge. He also was an assistant coach at USC the past five years and is a well-known goalkeepers coach. Vela played goalie on his native Guatemala’s under-20 national team.
“We are experienced coaches and we bring our own style, and it is a winning style,” Vela said. “We like to play, pass the ball around and be physical. We try to keep a very positive environment. Nothing is ever the wrong decision, just not the best one. I think we are more positive coaches than other coaches. It gives the team more inner confidence.”
Vela has already made her presence known as the head coach. With her connections in California, she recruited a highly touted player in Coco D’Angelo and said she’s recruiting five or six players from the state.
Vela wants her team to have the same experiences she had playing against some of the top players and teams in the nation. When she arrived, there were six openings to fill in the schedule for next year. With those vacancies, she scheduled some powerhouse schools. The fall schedule includes five teams that played in the NCAA Tournament and eight teams that were ranked.
“Through my experiences, I know that if you want to be the best you have to beat the best,” Vela said. “I wanted to schedule teams that would help us improve. This will give us an opportunity to build this program up quickly.”
The Velas have the team working hard in the offseason training everyday, and some improvements have already been made. The Lobos scrimmaged and beat two college teams and had a good showing in a recent trip to California.
