The Texas A&M University-San Antonio Intercollegiate Athletics department brought in Fredy Sanguinetti as the new head women’s soccer coach this semester.
Sanguinetti, who was the former men and women’s head soccer coach at Cinco Ranch High School, has been given the opportunity to run this second-year program.
Before taking this position in January, Sanguinetti retired from coaching in the Spring of 2021 to support his son’s collegiate soccer career at Grand Canyon University.
“That was a very tough decision to do that…I only had a small window to watch him,” he said.
His retirement ended up being short-lived as the opportunity to become a head coach was offered to Sanguinetti by Darnell Smith, director of Intercollegiate Athletics at A&M-San Antonio.
“When this opportunity came…the way that Darnell was so upfront.,” Sanguinetti said regarding his plans for the department going forward. “ …It just felt really good and that this is the place that I needed to be.”
Sanguinetti turned to his family who fully supported his decision in becoming the next women’s head coach.
My son calls me…he goes ‘you’ve always done stuff for us…this is your time…it sounds like a great opportunity so take it’. …They were all behind me…it’s always been a dream of mine.
-Fredy Sanguinetti, A&M-San Antonio women’s head soccer coach
Sanguinetti gained experience coaching at five different high schools during his 30-year career.
Sanguinetti built a resume with a number of accomplishments, including:
- Overall record of 585-73-83
- 13x District Championships
- 20x Bi-District Championships
- 18x Area Championships
- Six Regional Championships
- Six UIL semi-final championship tournament appearances
- Five-time Region III Coach of the Year by the Texas Association of Soccer Coaches
The players share a big portion of the credit for his accomplishments, Sanguinetti said.
“It starts and finishes with the players,” he said. “They’ve given me everything I’ve asked for… they have no idea what they’ve taught me throughout the years.”
Since being hired, Sanguinetti said he has been busy from Monday through Saturday, with practices, meetings and recruitment.
“My schedule looks kind of crazy,” Sanguinetti said. “. …The first couple of weeks have been meeting after meeting…the best thing is that we’ve been training from 3 p.m.-5 p.m. …and then we’re lifting in the morning.”
When it comes to the current team, Sanguinetti wants to evaluate the players from last year and give them a chance to stay and contribute.
On the other side, while recruiting all over the state, Sanguinetti looks for players that can add a positive impact on the team.
“Iron sharpens iron,” Sanguinetti said when describing the process of adding new players that can help the team get better. “We’re looking to recruit players that fit the character we want our girls to represent.”
Sanguinetti has set his expectations for his players and the program on and off the field going forward.
“We want to compete at the highest level,” he said. “We want them to act the correct way when they aren’t competing. … as far as on the field stuff, one of the things that we want to do is we want to be competitive.”
Sanguinetti says that to compete at the collegiate level, it has to be done the right way to present a product worth watching.
“The girl’s work ethic has made it so much easier,” he said regarding the hard work they’ve put in since his arrival. “We’re going to have to work crazy days.”
Sanguinetti said that his humble beginnings in Uruguay, a country in South America, are what pushed him into the coaching position that he is in today.
“It’s one of the dreams that I wanted to do,” he said. “It’s an honor to represent this university for the southside community.”
For more information and news about A&M-San Antonio’s women’s soccer team, follow their Instagram and Twitter accounts @tamusawomenssoccer and @TAMUSA_WSoccer or follow the team’s coverage @tamusasports for more information.
