Today we’d like to introduce you to Luis López.
Hi Luis, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
I am proud to share my story with you. My beginnings as a soccer coach were in 1986 at the “Colegio Santo Tomás de Aquino” (Caracas – Venezuela) training the U5 category, thanks to the opportunity that teachers Pipo Rossi and Güido Gallo gave me, that is where I was born my passion for directing in the sport that I had been practicing from a very early age. At that time I began my career as a coach, since I began to study and take courses and workshops to prepare myself as a coach of this sport. In a short time and due to the passion that these teachers saw that I had for teaching, they assigned me other categories, until I became their assistant in the LIDES (Student League) selection, with which we managed to be champions.
The following years, we went to represent Venezuela, in a high-level competitive international tournament in Brazil, in which we were champions with the U8 team and sub-champions with the U10 team.
I was always preparing myself as a coach year after year, continuing my career as a coach in different Institutions: Santo Tomás de Aquino, Colegio El Angel, Club Los Cortijos and Colegio St. George.
Later I founded an Academy called VIP in which we train more than 50 players, among whom I can proudly say that we have players who today are part of Professional Soccer in the country.
During this process, after taking courses in Spain, Italy and Argentina, to continue improving every day and acquire more knowledge, I was contacted by the Hebraica Club (Venezuela) to be part of the Club Coordination and train the teams that would attend the World Macabiadas 2017 in Israel, I stayed there for 4 years at the head of the Coordination, we also participated in the Pan American Macabiadas in Mexico 2019, obtaining an excellent participation with both teams.
Along with Hebraica, the company Be One Sports (Scholarships) contacted me to be part of its Staff as a Scout for university scholarships for the USA, loving the idea since I have been able to help my players become student athletes and achieve their dreams, not only with football, but also preparing professionally.
In 2020 my brother set up a Soccer Academy in Orlando, Fl (Diamonds Soccer Academy) and in 2021 I decided to come and help him and be part of the Academy as Head Coach, developing what I love the most, which is forming good human beings. , who will become good soccer players and good people of tomorrow.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has definitely been a quiet road, especially a lot of learning, where every day, in addition to learning something new, I teach something new, that teaching-learning process undoubtedly excites me and when you work on what you love, it transmits security, confidence and tranquility always obtaining good results both for myself and to transmit it to my athletes.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
VIP Academy is an organization dedicated mainly to the recruitment of young people and focused on offering a personalized and comprehensive service so that young athletes can obtain sports and academic scholarships at universities in the United States; The most essential thing about our project is to create upright, dedicated students/athletes who managed to achieve their goals, where they continue to practice the sport that they are passionate about while continuing to study for a university degree that allows them to expand their knowledge for their development as an individual. On the other hand, we are focused on dedicating ourselves to the practice of sports, in specific branches such as soccer, in addition to the combination of activities linked to healthy living and constant well-being, our principle is sports as a lifestyle, without leave aside everything that complements VIP Academy such as modernization, private classes, personalized advice, recreational, competitive, family activities, among others.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
Without a doubt, vacations with my family. We were many cousins and we desperately wanted the school vacation time to come to be together, we always went to the family home in Higuerote (place of beaches in Venezuela) for 2 months. From the moment we woke up until we went to sleep, we were always together, creating unforgettable moments, sharing toys, inventing games, taking care of each other.
Those moments made me the person I am today, knowing how to lend a hand to those who need it most, knowing that you never lose but always learn and that as a team we achieve incredible things… definitely without my family and your unconditional support, none of this would be possible.
Contact Info:
- Email: academiavipfc@gmail.com
- Instagram: @academiavip.fc
