Lake Tahoe Community College celebrates soccer programs' successes

When Nick Arbelaez moved to South Lake Tahoe with his fiancee Stephanie Shamo, he was taking the Assistant Soccer Coach position at LTCC and she was headed to Barton Health.

After Head Coach Ben Wade and LTCC parted ways mid-season, Arbelaez stepped in as interim head coach, leading the Coyotes to the final four for California Community Colleges.

At Tuesday's board meeting, Arbelaez was introduced to the trustees along with

Arbelaez was most recently in Las Vegas where he was earning degrees in Health and Physical Education as well as counseling. His undergrad work was completed at San Francisco State. Nick also serves as the TRIO coordinator at South Tahoe High.

Women's Coach Jeremy Evans wasn't at the meeting, but his success was acknowledged as were all other members of both coaching teams.

The trustees were all given Coyote Soccer Team sweatshirts.

The 2015 challenges began with over 100 young men showing up for tryouts for soccer in July. Many of these students were international students or out-of-state students, who traveled a long way and paid out of state fees to attend LTCC full-time.

The California Community Colleges Athletic Association does not allow for junior varsity team play, and with the number of students that came to LTCC, Mike Spina, Athletic Director, recommended starting a soccer club to provide an "soccer experience" in South Lake Tahoe for the young men wishing to stay. The Board wishes to acknowledge Mike's sincere efforts to take care of this group of students.

Ian Hill, a local and international businessman, volunteered and worked with the soccer club, providing character building opportunities, leadership development, and club soccer play against universities such as the University of Nevada, Reno, Stanford, and Berkeley. Ian had been an incredible volunteer and provided the club team a great "soccer experience." Ian has a strong track record of volunteerism and giving back to the community.

"This is what we were hoping for when we started the college forty years ago," said Board President Dr. Frederick Wenck.

Also, critical to the men's soccer program is Al Frangione. Al was acknowledged for selflessly donating his time to work with the student athletes, providing guidance and expertise. The Board thanked Al for his ongoing commitment and hard work to ensure the success of the LTCC soccer program.

Barton Health has supported the LTCC soccer teams through providing a trainer. Jeremy Vanderhurst has a background a Santa Rosa Junior College and has provided outstanding support to the soccer team.

The following individuals have also made significant contributions to the soccer program and were honored during the meeting as well:

Men's volunteer assistant coach - Joe King
Women's paid assistant coach - Brandon Garinger
Women's volunteer assistant coach - Stephanie Busch