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Fabian T. Barrett has worked within the soccer community of Fresno for over 10 years. He has assisted in the development of boys and girls from the ages of 6 all the way up to 19-year-old young men. Along with working with some outstanding people, he has had the opportunity to learn from some very accomplished coaches from around the world while attending coaching courses/classes throughout California. Coaches from Sporting Lisbon (Portugal), The Dutch National Youth Academy, and Queens Park Rangers (Scotland) just to name a few.
Fabian has always had an affinity for teams and programs that are looking to build from the grassroots, up. Even though everyone may not become a great player, everyone has the ability to do great things for their team if they are willing to put in the necessary work.
Some of his milestones in soccer include:
- 5 separate teams reached the State Cup Semi-finals.
- 2 teams reached the State Cup Championship.
- Won State Cup Championship (2016) *A team that won just a handful of games 2 seasons before.
- More recently Building a team (U19 Men’s) that competed very well versus some of the best squads in the state before some went on to play college ball.
His belief in the possibility that any program can be competitive with the right amount of support and leadership has carried over into other sports as well.
He also runs the Track & Field program at SJM. He came here to help rebuild a program that had not seen success in a while. In our short time these student athletes have taken SJM from track obscurity to a 2nd place finish at the CMAC League Championships as well as finishing Runner-up for a Valley Championship Team Title.
Fabian believes we have a strong foundation here. He knows that there's a great deal of support from the school, parents, and athletic boosters to help this program thrive!
We recently interviewed Fabian and he shared the following with us:
1. What are you most looking forward to as the Boy's Soccer Head Coach?
a. I look forward to working with these young men and the challenges that lie ahead for all of us. There is a satisfaction that comes when a group of young individuals with different strengths, ideas, weaknesses, and backgrounds, come together in search of a common goal. Additionally, I am excited to build on the program we have here at SJM. Our partner programs have done well to help our high school teams to be successful. But we can always do more.
2. What’s your top advice for our boys soccer team this year?
a. My advice to the boys is “Seize the Day”. Take advantage of every training session (this is where our standards will be set). What we do in training will manifest itself on match days.
3. What do you look forward to accomplishing with our soccer team this year?
a. Any accomplishments that we have this season will begin from day one. If we are looking to win the school’s first CMAC League Title (13 years in CMAC), a Valley Title (last one was 2008) or even a state placement, then we must have accountability in our daily tasks and a balance to it all. We must enjoy the time that is spent playing this game.
4. Why is it so important for students to play a high school sport?
a. While education in high school should always be the priority, the lessons learned through high school sports can also serve as a valuable teaching tool. Competition versus others has a way of letting us more about oneself. What current limitations we have and how to overcome them, beating our fear of failure through proper preparation and knowing that everyone on a team has a job to do in order for that team to be successful.
Fabian we wish you the best in this new and exciting chapter as the new Memorial Boy's Soccer Coach! Go Panthers!
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