Saturday's Internet Edition, July 31, 2010.
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| New Athletic Director Domingo Vento talks about his "new philosophy" for Van Horn sports programs. |
- For those of you who may not have heard by now, Domingo Vento is the new Athletic Director for Culberson County-Allamoore Independent School District. Vento assumed the position following the resignation of Joe Salinas, who had been the AD since 2007.
Coach Vento came to Van Horn with Salinas and served as his offensive coordinator for 3 years. Vento applied for the AD post after Salinas resigned and Superintendent Guillermo Mancha selected him to replace Salinas. Superintendent Mancha said, in making his announcement, “Vento brings his own leadership style to the position and he knows where we’ve been and where we want to go.”
The Advocate met with Vento this week to talk about his “change in philosophy” and what he hopes to accomplish during his tenure.
Vento, who will also be the new head football coach commented, “Our philosophy is a little different than Joe’s. It’s quite simple. You can’t beat me if you can’t score.”
Vento went on to add, “It’s my goal to see that this philosophy is contagious. It will go from me to our coaching staff and ultimately to our kids.”
Vento told the Advocate that he has named Raul Tucker to be his offensive coordinator. He further noted that, “I’ll keep Luis Garcia as my defensive coordinator so there will be little change to our system, offensively or defensively.”
“Our kids have had 3 years to learn our system and it will be basically the same, although we’re thinking about some new wrinkles as we go forward,” Vento went on to say.
“We’ve got Bryan Alvarado returning as our quarterback and we have 3 runing backs ready to step up and replace last years outstanding back, JJ Baca,” Vento added. He also noted, “We’ve got a good crop of returning linemen with experience on both sides of the ball.”
Vento went on to note, “Joe taught me a lot of the inner workings of how to be a good AD. I just may be a little more vocal than he was.”
Vento, a graduate of La Feria High School, received his college degree from University of Texas at Brownsville and has been coaching and teaching since 1990. He brings a wealth of experience and winning traditions to his new position here.
Vento reported that one thing he has already accomplished is developing a staff room for his girls sports coaches. He said, “I did not know that they didn’t even have a place to put their stuff. The coaches are excited about having this new facility, which was converted out of unused space at the gymnasium.” He added, “That is a real morale booster for the girls coaches and certainly will be reflected later on.”
Vento also said, “We’re looking at scheduling for our spring sports so that there will be little interference for the kids that are active in all the spring events. This will also be a morale booster for us.”
The Advocate asked Vento about the upcoming gridiron schedule for 2010 and he replied, “If you look at our schedule, you’ll notice that there are no easy schools or games on it. As we were putting it together, we were even approached by Sudan and Goldswaite who wanted to play us. That is a clear indication that want has been accomplished in the last 3 years has drawn attention to us and our program is now attracting tougher schools. And, we need to play tougher schools so that when we enter district play, we’re ready for that level of competition.”
Vento went on to note, “The schedule was put together by Joe and myself and is a reflection of where we want our program to be headed as we go forward.”
“This year we’ll be in District 1-5A, Division II,” noted Vento. Our district will be comprised of Iraan, Marfa, McCamey, Wink and Van Horn.
The schedule this year will be as follows:
August 27th - Crane, away
September 3rd - Anthony, here
September 10th - Kermit, here
September 17th - Ozona, TBA
September 24th - Open
October 1st - Tornillo, away
October 8th - Iraan, here
October 15th - Marfa, away
October 22nd - Fabens, away
October 29th - Wink, here
November 5th - McCamey, away
Coach Vento remarked, “We’re looking for big things from our kids this year and we’re going to make it fun for them. If it’s not fun for them, they’ll lose interest fast. Two a days with the new philosophy get underway on August 2nd. ”