Speaking Same Language: Tara’s soccer program emerges from depths to build successful program headed to regionals
by: William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
Third-year Tara High soccer coach Howard Buras said his phone began pinging with text messages Sunday night.
The requests came from players, a day after a 6-0 victory over Ellender in the Division II state playoffs, seeking video of their next opponent.
No. 9 Tara (15-1-1) makes a return trip south of Lafayette for Wednesday’s meeting with No. 8 North Vermilion (15-4-2) at 6 p.m. in state regional action in Maurice. The Trojans suffered their only setback of the season to the Patriots, 1-0, on Dec. 18.
“They are so looking forward to the rematch,” Buras said. “They’ve been saying, ‘We’ve got you, Coach’. They’re ready and excited. I’ve been getting texts for game film from North Vermilion’s playoff win (4-1) with Livonia and our previous game with them.”
Because of the team’s playoff win at home on Saturday, the turnaround has been brisk, trying to put together a fan bus to support the team.
They’ve been part of a meteoric rise for a program that didn’t exist following an ugly conclusion to the 2022 season. The team had one victory in five matches in a season that ended when disenchanted players walked off the field at halftime of a game against Live Oak.
One of the players with remaining eligibility, Luis Acosta, approached Buras because of his familiarity with the Tara High librarian. Buras’ sister taught Acosta in middle school, creating a friendship that resulted in the player asking Buras, a faculty member, for help.
“Luis thought we weren’t going to have soccer the next year (2023) because they didn’t have a coach,” Buras said. “I told him if no one’s going to do it, I would be there for them.”
Without a background in soccer or speaking Spanish, Dumas took over a program without any American-born players. The program was more like a melting pot of players from predominately Central American countries such as Guatemala and Honduras where soccer is No. 1 in their home countries.
Since then, the Trojans have a record of 42-8-3 and won three straight first-round state playoff games to become the most successful sport on campus by a wide margin.
A win over North Vermilion would potentially send Tara to the state quarterfinals to face top-seeded Teurlings Catholic in Lafayette.
“My players live and breathe soccer,” Buras said. “It’s not a skill issue with them. All of them come with a high skill level. It’s teaching them not to be selfish, playing together as a team. It’s not about you scoring five goals. It’s about winning and togetherness. All of our players get along. They don’t showboat a lot.
“My first year they were doing that, but we’ve changed that culture,” Buras said. “We have a student-led prayer before the game which is a team decision since most of them are Catholic. It’s changing that culture and winning helps. We have it going in a really positive direction. They’re good kids.”
Finding the essentials to field a team
Buras took a grass-roots approach to trying to revive a soccer program that had endured the ’22 season with a 1-3-1 mark. The Trojans had last won a playoff game in 2020 where they fell 5-0 to state powerhouse St. Thomas More in the regional round.
To assist players from cash-strapped families Buras reached out to an online site – Donors Choose – and listed several projects to help players with such necessities as uniforms, cleats, shin guards, soccer socks, and balls.
During his three seasons of leading the program, Buras has garnered more than $19,000 worth of items to fund the 77 projects he applied for.
“Any public school, any teacher in America can go and put in projects,” he said. “For athletics, Dick’s Sporting Goods matches 50% of donations. I told them in the proposal we had a large Hispanic population at Tara that has economic challenges, and to please help us provide the support. People across America really care and our kids really appreciate that.”
Buras, assisted by James Wilson and Lawrence Brown, lauded the efforts of Tara principal John Hayman who spearheaded efforts to purchase two soccer goals so that the team could train and play on campus for the first time in approximately two decades.
“Some of these guys played in dirt in Guatemala,” Buras said. “It’s a luxury what they have here.”
The pieces were beginning to fall into place for the Trojans who began to meld their vast talents into a cohesive unit.
They were 14-4-2 in Buras’ first season and defeated Morris Jeff of New Orleans, 2-1, in the opening round of the Division III playoffs before running into eventual state runner-up Bossier which broke open a scoreless tie in the last 15 minutes with a pair of penalty kicks in a 3-0 regional victory.
“Winning cures all,” Buras said. “It took a while to build some trust. If a player asks me why we’re doing this, I’ve explained why we did it. I don’t run a dictatorship. I’d be foolish not to listen to the players on the field and what they see. We have a tradition where at halftime I meet with our two captains away from the team and talk about what’s happening both good and bad.
“I don’t speak a lot of Spanish,” Buras said. “My two captains (Jimmy Funez and Yoel Hernandez) are bilingual. We talk about what we see, and this is what we want to do, and they relay the message to the rest of the team. I’m about having a player-led organization. I don’t have to give 40-something different instructions. We have 41 players on our varsity and two JV teams. I rely on my captains and senior leadership to carry out my vision and my plan.”
Learning a game to benefit highly skilled players
The 50-year-old Buras was a novice when it came to soccer when he began his ambitious journey of coaching players with elite skills as a result of their soccer-specific backgrounds in their respective home countries.
He fast-tracked the process of coming up to speed soccer-wise by watching YouTube clips of drill work and applied common sense to a sport that had some similarities to American football.
“You’ve got zones, you’ve got spacing like you do in football,” said Buras, a former LHSAA official for approximately 20 years in football, basketball, and softball. “You can take some of those principles. Do you want to be defensive or offensive and apply it to soccer?”
There was also a language barrier to climb, but because of his preference for communicating through his captains, they’ve served as liaisons for the rest of the team. They’ve helped to carry out the message of their coach during training sessions and with game strategy.
There was a certain flair and showmanship among some of the offensive players in the infancy stages of the ’22-23 season that Buras says has given way to a more cohesive team working toward one objective.
“We play hard,” he said. “Our team gives effort. No team’s going to outhustle us. If we get beat, it’s because of size (Tara’s tallest player is 6-foot). Nobody’s going to outwork them. Nobody’s going to have more knowledge and skill. It’s just putting it together and getting them to play as a unit.”
Tara continued its winning ways last season with a 13-4-1 record. The Trojans were victorious in a 1-0 road playoff decision over Morgan City, setting up a Division III regional at home against eventual state champion and top-seeded The Willow School in a 4-1 defeat.
During the regular season Tara displayed its growth in wins over Division I schools Central and McKinley. They were also competitive against established private schools such as University High where a year after losing 5-0 to the Cubs, they were edged, 2-1. There was also a 3-3 tie against Parkview Baptist.
With Sahir Martinez and Andy Soto both earning first-team all-district honors, the Trojans returned the nucleus of their team that would feature 10 seniors and a pair of juniors.
Players succeed in more than soccer
Buras is equally excited about his team’s classroom performance where six players have maintained grades of A’s-B’s, and 13 others have marks of A’s, B’s, and C’s.
“When these kids come to America, they’re placed in school based on their age, not academics,” he explained. “There may be some discouragement there. This was they’re put in a technical background until they can learn English and get acclimated and work on other core stuff.”
Tara has the resources necessary to help such players with English through the school’s English is a Second Language program instructed by bilingual teachers.
“If you were in Guatemala and the teacher was speaking Spanish and you haven’t spoken Spanish a day in your life, how do you think you’d fare?” Buras asked rhetorically. “Probably not very well.”
The East Baton Rouge Parish school system features a technical school, or C-Tech, which acts similar to that of a trade school where students can earn college credit and work toward gaining certification in industry-based occupations such as electrical and HVAC (air conditioning).
“That keeps the kids motivated to stay in school,” Buras said.
Buras said his players, who also represent countries such as Costa Rica, Columbia, and Cuba, eventually adjust to the language barrier and have gone on to succeed in the classroom.
Of his senior class, Buras said all have passed the state’s LEAP exam and will graduate in the spring.
Players such as senior Yoel Hernandez have received practical experience in the workforce. He worked a roofing job in Texas throughout last summer toward his certification which caused him to be late by a week for the start of the school year.
Buras said it’s common for players to take off jobs landscaping or handling electrical work during the holidays to help their families. Senior midfielder Gerber Orozco completed work toward his electrical certification with work on a project at Towne Center.
“It’s not hard for them to find work,” he said. “People are always looking for painters and landscapers.”
Dominate season continues
Tara won its first nine games this season before running into North Vermilion which handed the Trojans a 1-0 setback.
Tara hasn’t tasted defeat since winding up the regular season against Prairieville for the District 6, Division II championship that was deadlocked after regulation. To determine first place in the league the Hurricanes survived a penalty kicks shootout, 4-3, to gain a No. 7 seed in the playoffs where they’re hosting Archbishop Rummel at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Tara’s taken wins over Central (8-0) and Woodlawn (2-0) – a pair of Division I programs. A third scheduled match with Division I Baton Rouge High was canceled because of rain.
Dominance would be the best way to describe this year’s team which has outscored its opponents, 108-4.
“I start nine seniors and have two seniors that come off the bench,” Buras said.
Martinez, who moved to Baton Rouge last year, earned first team-team all-district, all-metro, and Division III All-State honors last season. He’s been at the forefront of an offense that averages more than six goals a game with a team-high 39 goals and 24 assists.
Martinez led the way in the team’s first-round playoff win over Ellender with a hat trick and a pair of assists. Funez scored on a pair of headers and freshman Adrian Rodriguez also added a score.
“Sahir’s really fast and not many people can keep up with him,” Buras said of Martinez who averages better than two goals a game.
Sorto compliments Martinez at the top of Tara’s offense with 28 goals and 7 assists. Funez and freshman midfielder Fredy Cardenas have each scored five goals with Hernandez adding four goals and 8 assists.
The scoring prowess of Martinez and Rodriguez has overshadowed the solid play from Tara’s midfield of Cardenas, Orozco, and senior Antonio Matute.
Junior goalkeeper Cristian Ixchajchal is part of a defensive unit that’s allowed four goals and recorded 13 shutouts, including last week’s playoff opener. The team’s backline of senior Anderson Ac-Perez, Hernandez, Funez, and junior Deivi Alvarado have been the catalysts in the clean sheets and have helped limit the number of shots Ixchajchal has had to contend with.
“It just warms your heart,” Buras said. “It warms the kid’s heart. It’s been very rewarding. We had that success, and we’ve just built on it.”