Ask Milko Vasquez what the defining moment of his coaching career at Douglas High has been and he'll point to one that he didn't even get to see directly.
But he can tell you all about it.
It was last Fall as his fourth-seeded Douglas boys' soccer team was taking on High Desert League champion Reed in the first round of the regional playoffs.
The two teams had fought through 80 grueling minutes and two overtime periods in the bitter cold. They remained tied through the first four penalty kicks with Douglas High's Edgar Arceo posed to take the potentially decisive shot.
"I've never been more certain that we'd win a game than in that game last year," Vasquez said. "After Reed's fifth kick, when (then starting goalkeeper) Ivan (Gonzalez) saved it, even when Edgar still had to take his shot, I knew it was over."
The senior Arceo, who had missed kicks in that situation before, stepped up to take the shot.
"He'd been through so much and been with us for so long, I knew the ball was going in," Vasquez said. "I turned away from the field. I wanted to watch the kids.
"I wanted to experience the success through their eyes."
What he saw (pictured above), as Arceo hammered the ball home, summed up everything he had gotten into coaching for.
"We live in hard times," Vasquez said. "Everything in life is hard. The recession is driving people nuts. These kids experience that too.
"Watching that, just the sheer joy on their faces, that is why I coach. It's not about the win itself. It's not about winning titles. We were such an out-of-the-box team and we had to fight to even make it that far.
"On paper, we had no right to be there. We showed up because the kids believed. In soccer, they always believed. That's what coaching, what education is all about. Teaching people to believe."
After 11 years with the program and seven as the head coach of the team, Vasquez is resigning in order to pursue the next chapter in his life.
Douglas advanced to the state semifinals last year, where the Tigers battled eventual state champion Las Vegas to the final minute before losing on a tough strike from 15 yards out.
The Tigers struggled through a rebuilding year this season, going just 1-14-5 overall on the year. However, they are poised to made significant strides next year with 10 returning varsity lettermen and 29 returning players in the entire program, including junior varsity.
"We have so many guys coming back, I just felt it was time for the kids to have a different voice and vision about what direction this team was going to go," he said. "I've been coaching soccer 19 years.
"I've been on both ends of the spectrum. I've had a team win 29 games in a row and I've had a team go 0-17-2. This was a unique situation here.
"I had a job offer at Galena, and I had an offer down here. I knew it would be pretty enjoyable to coach in Douglas County. I knew (then head coach) Phil Sheridan. I had a good rapport with the people down here. It developed into something special.
"These kids, I'll always be there watching the game, at least for another five years and I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do."
Vasquez was asked to become head coach in 2004, but he chose to share the duties with Sheridan during the year of transition. He took over as the sole coach in 2005 and posted a 77-50-14 record in the six seasons since.
During his time with the program, the team advanced to the regional title game three times, advanced to state twice and won a regional title in 2007.
That success, he says, was bred early on as the Tigers were struggling out of the gates in 2004.
It was after a 3-2 loss at home to Carson, which set Douglas back to 5-5 overall on the year and 2-4 in league play, that the next five years of the program were literally mapped out.
"We had a real heart-to-heart talk with the kids following that game," Vasquez said. "We went out and tied Elko 0-0 and stayed positive. We just went on a tremendous roll from there."
Indeed, Douglas won six of its last eight, and tied Carson in the regular season finale to clinch the No. 4 spot in the playoffs.
It was the tie, though, where a late, questionable call gave the Senators a penalty kick and allowed the Senators to tie the game at 2, that had the lasting impact.
"The JV kids, there were some excellent players on that JV team, they were watching this play out," Vasquez said. "The JV team, there was a lot of emotion out there, they went out and beat Carson that night. They started believing that we could compete with teams like Carson, South Tahoe.
"The experience that not only the younger guys on varsity, but the JV guys got from that run was invaluable to the next few years."
Douglas advanced to the title game that season, where they fell 2-1 to Carson, but it's that season that Vasquez calls his most rewarding.
Three years later, as many of those JV players were in their senior years, Douglas captured the regional title.
"2004 was the turning point," Vasquez said. "That's what started moving us toward a regional championship.
"In order to have a good team, you have to have good players. But the only time you become a great team is when you develop that character and chemistry to take it to the next level as a group."
It was also during those early years that Vasquez began infusing more Hispanic players into the system.
"When I first got here, soccer was a sport where we barely had enough players for the varsity and junior varsity levels," Vasquez, a native of Chile, said. "The make-up was predominantly white.
"The issue of white and Mexican kids is a very sensitive issue, but I wanted to get the Hispanic kids more involved.
"When I look at the issue today, you are looking at a very diverse group of kids in the soccer program. To me, that is the environment of what sports is all about. That's one of the things I am most proud of, is getting the Hispanic community involved in this program."
Vasquez, who teaches social studies at Douglas High, said he will pursue his doctorate in teaching in order to someday teach at a higher level.
"I'd like to return to Chile and teach studies abroad courses," he said. "It's something I've been yearning to do. Going back to Chile with a title, a doctorate, would open so many avenues.
"I want to see my kids through college and watch them do what they're going to do in sports. Then I want to go back home. Go back to Chile and teach. It'll be a bit of my new culture combined with my old culture. That would be something else."
