Girls soccer coach develops players into better humans
Manteca High School history teacher Justin Coenenberg gives instruction to you his students. In the winter, Coenenberg doubles as the school’s girls soccer coach. He has led the program to two Sac-Joaquin Section championships. (MOISES RAMOS/The Tower)
By ETHAN FRASER
The Tower
Justin Coenenberg is a former soccer player at Delta College and is now the coach of the girls soccer team at Manteca High School.
The Manteca High history teacher has had many great seasons coaching at MHS. He has won two league championships with the boys team, and he has won two section (2016 and 2020) and three league championships (2019-2020 and 2021-2022) with the girls.
Along with his achievements as a coach, Coenenberg has had many achievements as a player. As a young player, Coenenberg played in various tournaments, including a tour through Europe as a senior in high school. Coenenberg started playing soccer at a young age and fell in love with the sport.
As a young player, Coenenberg was very competitive increasing his love for the beautiful game. Now as a coach, Coenenberg wants to spread this love to younger players.
What’s more, Coenenberg strives to make his players good humans on and off the field. Each year, his girls team hosts a Kicking for a Cure soccer game that benefits someone from the community in need of emotional and financial support.
One thing Coenenberg would like aspiring players to know is: “Play as long as you can. It is a beautiful sport. As you get older, it gets harder to play so just enjoy it.”
The Tower sat down with Justin Coenenberg to discuss his experience with soccer and his role as a coach.
Manteca High School history teacher Justin Coenenberg gives instruction to you his students. In the winter, Coenenberg doubles as the school’s girls soccer coach. He has led the program to two Sac-Joaquin Section championships. (MOISES RAMOS/The Tower)
The Tower: How many years have you been coaching at MHS?
Justin Coenenberg: I’ve been teaching here 18 years. I’ve coached a total of 25 seasons. I did 10 with the boys and 15 with the girls.
TT: Why did you become a soccer coach?
JC: Soccer is a sport that I grew up playing and I felt a passion for it. After I stopped playing and graduated, I wanted to stay involved in the sport, so coaching was the best option to do that.
TT: What is one moment you will never forget while coaching soccer?
JC: I am lucky enough to have a lot of memorable moments, but probably the first section championship. We’d actually been two years before; we made the final and fell short. This was our third year in the final, so I was kind of feeling a lot of pressure and we actually went down 1-0. Had a girl tie up on a great header in the second half. It goes to overtime, goes to PKs (and) the first six players on both teams made their PKs. Our seventh goes up (and) she buries it, and our goalie made a huge stop. We won the section championship. … The first one is the most memorable.
TT: What are your plans for the future of the girls’ soccer team?
JC: I just want to see that the girls and the program continue to develop, not just as players, but as humans as well. I get the girls involved in a lot of things outside of soccer, because I want to see them grow and develop and understand the importance of community and just being a good person. I want to see them grow as soccer players, but also, I want to see the grow as good citizens.
One of my goals is to make sure they have a positive high school experience. I always hope they know that I’m always here for them, whether it’s soccer based or things going on just in life. I just want to be the coach that they know they could always count on.
Justin Coenenberg, Manteca High girls soccer coach
TT: What made you love the sport of soccer so much?
JC: I just played it at an early age. It was like the first team sport I ever really played and after that I never really stopped playing. I just loved it. I grew up pretty competitive as a kid and I love playing against good competition, so I just continue to go through (Manteca Area Soccer League) and club soccer.
TT: How high of a level did you make it in soccer?
JC: I was actually supposed to go to Dominican, which in my time it was an NAIA school, and I was there for the summer. I kind of regret it now but I didn’t feel right. I ended up leaving and I ended up going to Delta, and I played two years of Delta.
TT: How has your coaching affected the players on your team?
JC: One of my goals is to make sure they have a positive high school experience. I always hope they know that I’m always here for them, whether it’s soccer based or things going on just in life. I just want to be the coach that they know they could always count on and I’m always there for them.