Meet Alexander Ramirez | Soccer Coach and Educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alexander Ramirez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alexander, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I was born and raised in Vista, California and I still reside there to this day. My parents got divorced when I was about four years old, but luckily they maintained a relationship that was in the best interest of my brother and I. Yet in still, life was super hard for a single mother raising two young boys. My father was absolutely present, but it still did not make life easy going back and forth between houses. Looking back though, they made it work and I am forever grateful for that. My older brother was the first to play recreational soccer and I can still remember sitting on the sidelines of his games, just waiting for my chance to get out there. I started recreational soccer at five years old and never looked back, I was in love. I played for five years and made the all star team every year, which always came with the competitive club coaches calling my house to recruit me. I begged my parents every year to play for the Vista Storm competitive team, but every year I was disappointed when they told me it was too expensive. Finally when I was ten years old my parents agreed to let me play for the Storm team, but I had to quit all the other sports I also loved to play. No more hockey and basketball? No problem. I also had to help with the fundraising our club offered to help pay for the registration fees. My Mom sold grocery store script to all her co-workers and I loaded up my back pack with candy bars everyday to sell to anyone I could at school. Fast forward, my semi-professional playing days had come to an end and I started coaching for the Vista Storm, thanks to one of my childhood coaches who was now the Director of Coaching giving me an opportunity. Over the course of the next nine years I saw and coached so many players who struggled paying their registration fees, families constantly defaulting on their payments, and club admins tracking me down in the parking lot giving me a list of players on my team who were ineligible to play due to non payment. I couldn’t do it and more often than not wrote them personal checks on the spot, because I didn’t have the heart to tell any player, in full uniform, warming up that they couldn’t play cause their parents hadn’t made a payment. I guess that is the long way of saying that, because of my family’s own struggles to keep me in club soccer I knew that I never wanted money to be an obstacle for a child to be able to play soccer. The devotion of helping others had spread through every aspect of my life and I owe it to soccer.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My coworkers joke that I am the man of a million jobs and they are not far off. I have literally done probably every job you could think of off the top of your head. Fishing boat deckhand, check. Produce Manager, check. bar back, check. Graphic designer, check. The list truly goes on and on however the majority of my professional life was in retail with ten years being split between Costco and Smart and Final. I did all of this while attending Mira Costa Community College part time, slowly chipping away at that Associate’s Degree. It would be safe to say that none of it was easy and the hardest part of it all definitely being when I had three jobs and was in school. I was a full time produce clerk at Smart and Final, worked Friday and Saturday nights at a bar, coached a youth soccer team twice a week with games on the weekend and had class twice a week. I remember my Fridays being at the grocery store all day, going home to take a nap, heading into the bar at 9pm, getting home at 3am, taking a shower, laying down and my alarm going off 30 minutes later to head back into the grocery store for a full shift. People asked me why I did that to myself and the short answer is that I wanted to be independent. I essentially supported myself completely as soon as I graduated high school. I saved a ton of money during this time, was able to take a nice long trip to Europe, pay for all my own school, and took so many unique skills from each and every job I held. All of these jobs had their own challenges, skill sets and taught me a variety of life lessons which in hindsight is the exact reason that I am so well rounded and diverse in my abilities. My compassion and empathy for those who are struggling is really, because I know exactly what that feels like.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I actually do have a friend coming into town next week from Nashville and although he grew up in Vista and Oceanside with me it has changed so much since we were in high school. First thing I would do is take him to downtown Oceanside near the pier. We would cruise the strand with our windows down, feel the breeze and take in that ocean air. After that we would definitely go eat at Johnny Mananas which is right up the street, a staple of any local kid’s childhood. It may seem like a classic Mexican taco shop, but the owner Alfonso is actually Costa Rican so it’s got a bit of a twist, mainly just the yellow rice and use of black beans instead of refried. I would definitely head to the Oceanside harbor afterwards and grab a refreshment at the Lighthouse Oyster Bar and Grill that over looks the marina, best view in Oceanside. Aside from those three musts, I will definitely show off downtown Vista as it has come a long way with respect to breweries and restaurants popping up all over.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Honestly there is singlehandedly, one person that I have to thank for pushing me to have the courage to follow my heart and his name is Michael Ramos. He is a young, self made businessman and entrepreneur who owns and operates R.M.B Shave Parlor in Temecula. Although Michael is not technically a blood relative of mine I refer to him as my cousin and he will always be a part of my family. I vividly remember the day I sat in his barber chair in December of 2019 and he said to me, “I don’t think you are doing enough with soccer. You have such a gift, kids and parents love you and I just think you can make so much more of a difference in your community using your platform. Have you ever thought about starting a nonprofit?” Ironically enough I had already had this inkling of wanting to somehow make a positive impact on our youth through soccer. When I told him that I had been thinking about that a lot lately, he asked if I had a name already, and I said, “As a matter of fact I do, Leaving Futprints!”

Website: www.leavingfutprints.org

Instagram: @leavingfutprints