“We all know about soccer, but we don’t have it organized.” With that phrase, Luis Molina, the new Technical Director for the Guanacaste Sporting Association (ADG – Asociacion Deportiva Guanacasteca), explained the topic of planning as a coach and trainerfor soccer players.
Molina arrived in the country three months ago and since then has been training the ADG’s first team, thanks to an agreement the institution has with Davie University in Florida in the United States.
The coach gives priority to the players’ diet, and revealed that there is work to be done: “We have found players who are overweight or have little muscle mass. A player has to be an athlete. Today science is part of sports,” he said.
Though the ADG does not currently have the means to hire a nutritionist, Molina guides the players in their diet, prohibiting junk food. In addition, he has started to use a scale to measure how much they weigh when they enter and leave every day of training and therefore have a better understanding of the young men’s weight.
Molina recognizes that the challenge has not been easy, above all because of his concept of soccer and the limits that come with training a team trying to rise. “I think the main limitation that my players have is economic, as many have to have other jobs while training; it doesn’t allow them to see soccer as their profession,” he explained.
Regardless, Molina is optimistic about being able to transmit his knowledge and experience as the head coach. “I like to form smart players with ambition,” he said.
Though he was born in the coastal city of Callao, in Peru, and he began his career as a left forward in the lower divisions of the Sporting Cristal, at the age of 16 years old Molina travelled to Venezuela, where he became a resident – which is why he prefers to call himself Venezuelan.He then continued along his path to Sporting Tachira, later becoming a coach.
At 60 years old, Molina has directed the DWF Tornados FC in the United States, Tucanes de Amazonas FC in Venezuela, AC Mineros de Guayana and the sub-15 Venezuelan national team, among others.
In addition to being a coach, he studied Communication Science and has worked in the media in the United States, Peru and Venezuela.
Costa Rican soccer is experiencing a great moment following the events of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. However, the Venezuelan believes that there is a lack of planning to have more players in the best leagues in the world.
“This is a world-class country; the problem is that many of the players who played in the World Cup are not playing in the world’s best leagues,” he said.
For now, the tactician’s goal is to form a competitive staff and to fulfill the dream of returning the Guanacastecan team to the first division: “My challenge is to leave something in the players. I want them to remember me as someone who worked for them. I know I will be subject to the results, however there are players that have realized that they can make history,” he concluded.
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