When Holtville’s Angie Garcia starts a project she sticks with it, even if it goes on for 30 years. Since she and her sisters couldn’t play sports in school, Angie, and her sister, Isabel Jessee, decided to start a soccer team for children under 8, and later took on youngsters 6 and under. And that’s how the Li’l Vikes soccer team came to be in September 1982.
“I’ve loved it from the beginning,” she said. “My sisters and I couldn’t play sports because we had jobs at the Dairy Queen after school.
“During the summer our family would work in Hemet picking apricots. The boys picked the fruit, and the girls worked in a shed removing the apricot pits. Later in the summer we worked in the grapes near Fresno. … People would live in tents or in small houses furnished by the farmers,” said Angie. “We had parties and dances after work. It was a lot of fun. We also picked cotton in the Valley. That wasn’t fun, we were covered with scratches.”
Angie attended Jasper Elementary School south of Holtville, and graduated from Holtville High School in 1965. She took classes at Imperial Valley College before she started working a variety of jobs in El Centro. Later she clerked at Holtville’s Family Liquor Store.
Following those jobs she sought employment with the Holtville Police Department, retiring after 33 1/2 years. She was in charge of the dispatchers, and the keeper of evidence and records. Police chiefs during that time were Coy Taylor, Pete Henthorne, Bob Weaver, Charlie Simpson and John Jordan.
Former Chief Jordan said of Angie that she was the best at what she did. “She knew where everything was, and she knew everyone, and everyone liked her.”
During all the years she worked full-time she went home after work, changed her clothes, and headed for the practice field. Holtville recognized Angie’s efforts by naming her Citizen of the Year in 2002. Angie is also in her 28th year of coaching the Padres T-ball team.
“At the start of the season we gather the parents together and let them know that my husband, Willie, and I furnish cups and water,” she said. “No snacks are to be eaten during the game. I tell the kids not to say bad words, or pinch or push anyone. I tell the parents to cheer for the kids and not put them down, and to leave the coaching to the coaches. … I try to put myself in the kids’ shoes. I love them, I don’t belittle them.
“Every year we get a group of good parents,” she said.
Pepe Larios is president of the Holtville Little League organization.
“We are always short of managers/coaches for teams,” Larios said. “We can always count on Angie. She is always available to take a T-ball team, for the 4-, 5-, and 6-year-old kids.
“When we do signups every year parents ask if Angie is coaching, and many ask to have their kid on her team,” Larios said. “If I honored all the requests I would have 36 kids on her teams.”
Fellow coach Paul Chambers said, “Angie provides a lot of structure and discipline, and does it in a way that 4-, 5- and 6-year-olds can relate to because she is so consistent. Her teams usually do well. She is very competitive and cultivates the desire to win.”
Chambers says Angie takes an interest in the kids long after they are no longer on her teams.
Her original Li’l Vikes soccer team will be marching in the Carrot Festival Parade scheduled for Feb. 9 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the founding of the team. The team was made up of the following players: George Garcia, Jeff Jessee, Anthony Iten, Mark Rodgers, Charlie Garcia, Justin Stacey, Jimmy Diez, Neal Schaffner, Carlos Vasquez, Matt Toth, Richard Kendall, Jack Vessey, Richie Dollente, Ian Wells, Gabriel Heraz, Brandon Fusi, Brian Hoff, Derek Pittman and Clint Pennington.
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