PROGRESO — Progreso’s Gerardo Alanis does it all. He serves as the mayor of Progreso, a husband, a father and does some work for the school district.
This year, head coach of the Red Ants was thrown onto his plate following the resignation of longtime head coach Margarito Jimenez, who led Progreso for 28 years.
Alanis took off running during his first year at the helm, marching the Red Ants into the regional semifinals, one of four Valley teams to accomplish the feat this season.
For his successful first season, Alanis is The Monitor’s 2022 All-Area Boys Soccer Coach of the Year.
“It’s a good feeling but it caught me on a complete blindside,” Alanis said. “I don’t consider myself as one of the best coaches. I came out to support the student-athletes, and teach a sport that I love and once played in my hometown.
“Progreso is home to me. I grew up here. I played on this same field. This is my alma mater. I see myself in my athletes. I see the love they have for the sport, and that makes it all worth it to me.”
Alanis’ first season wasn’t without any challenges, with the Red Ants nearly two years removed from their last UIL contest. Their 2020 season was cut short due to COVID and was followed by Progreso opting out in 2021.
Without soccer for nearly two years, other obstacles also arose.
“A huge challenge we had due to being out of the game for two years is not having the usual numbers of players,” Alanis said. “But the players that did come on the team came with drive and hunger to be back on the field to do what we know best to do — play soccer.”
After ironing out the kinks, Alanis transformed Progreso into an offensive juggernaut, implementing a fast-paced offensive system. Behind his offensive philosophy, the Red Ants netted 70 goals, the most of any Valley team during district play.
“We try to get our shots early, get inside and resolve the game during the first half,” Alanis said. “We don’t want to wait until second or the final 15 minutes. It’s happened, where we had to go to overtime to win. We don’t want that. We want to resolve the game during the first 15 to 20 minutes, and put the game in the bag and emerge victorious.”
The Red Ants’ dominant offense gave them momentum going into the postseason, picking up wins over Brownsville IDEA Riverview (2-1), Corpus Christi London (1-0) and Brownsville IDEA Frontier (1-0) en route to the Region IV-4A semifinals.
Their goal of a state title ultimately fell short during the fourth round, falling 8-1 to eventual state champion Boerne. Still, Alanis’ expectations and goals for next season remain the same — capturing the state title.
