After longtime soccer coach Chris Hardman stepped down from his position after last season, it offered the program an opportunity to bring in a new voice to lead the team.

The School landed on Mauricio Zavala, a soccer coach of four years at various levels to be that voice to lead the program forward. 

Zavala, a native of Peru, began his soccer journey by spending time on the pitch with his father and uncle, who both played professionally. 

Zavala discusses how he fell in love with the game.

“I actually started playing when I was one,” Zavala said. “I remember my dad used to give me a ball: that was basically my first gift.”

Zavala’s uncle, a member of the Peruvian National team, would take him to his games, exposing Zavala to the highest levels of the game at an extremely young age. 

Zavala started nurturing his love for playing soccer when he turned 5 years old, when he joined his school and club team. Zavala expresses how his enjoyment of soccer progressed as he grew.

“I remember when I was around 10, I started practicing every single day, basically Monday to Sunday,” Zavala said. 

This consistent dedication to perfecting his craft led Zavala to find excellence in the game all through grade school, which blossomed into a pro career in the first division of Peru when he turned 18. Unfortunately, his playing days were cut short, as lingering back issues caused Zavala to hang up the cleats and pursue new opportunities in the game.

This led Zavala to take on a coaching career. After Zavala moved to Boston four years ago, he took on a coaching position with the Boston Bolts, a local club program with teams scattered around Massachusetts. Zavala balanced this coaching position while running his own company outside of the game. 

With the Bolts, Zavala developed his love for coaching and helping younger athletes develop and excel on the pitch. As his Bolts teams found success, he was rewarded with more leadership in the program. 

After coaching the middle school boys soccer team last year at Brimmer, Zavala was chosen as the head coach of boys varsity soccer this year. As Zavala started practice with the team during preseason, he picked up on team tendencies and nuances that would help elevate the team’s play, and bring a new culture to the soccer program. 

Zavala discussed how he brought together the variety of skills on the team.

“Going through the first week, I was seeing what was going to work for this year,” Zavala said. “I understood that what was gonna work is bringing the power and physicality of the seniors and combine that with the talent of the freshmen so they can help each other.” 

Zavala’s approach to the game and leadership has helped the Gators excel so far this season, as they have started the year off making a statement. The team has rattled off three big wins, most recently achieving a 3-0 shutout win versus Boston Trinity Academy on homecoming. The team currently stands at a record of three wins, no losses, and a tie.

Captain Quinn Teschke ‘26, the goalie of the soccer team, expresses how Zavala’s leadership has elevated the team.

“He has helped change the energy of our team,” Teschke said. “His energy has helped us start the season strong with a few wins, and change the trajectory of our squad.”

Despite the early success, Zavala’s principles remain the same, as his values of consistency and team unity drive his team each day they step on to the field.

 “All I expect from them [is that] they’re playing as a team [and] everybody’s giving a hundred percent.”

The team plays away against last year’s MBIL Champions, Gann Academy, today at 4:00 PM.