UNM men’s soccer head coach Klaus Weber has influenced the New Mexico soccer community in many ways, including building a respectable soccer program and helping soccer become a popular sport in the state.
Weber is starting his 15th season at UNM and carries his responsibilities as a coach well beyond the collegiate level, helping support the local youth soccer teams.
“You have to get involved with the kids; it’s just natural when you are a coach,” he said. “It also helps get more exposure for the sport.”
Weber was a major influence in getting youth programs and leagues started in the local area, increasing interest in the sport. He helped organize and start many of the Albuquerque youth leagues in the late 1970s, including the Duke City Soccer League.
Weber also has helped organize adult leagues.
“No one can really take full credit, but it is nice to have been involved in the growth of soccer,” he said. “It would have developed one way or another, but being one of the catalysts is a nice aspect.”
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
He said he thinks that about 20,000 kids and adults are now playing soccer in New Mexico.
Sophomore midfielder Ryan Grange, an Albuquerque native who played in the youth leagues for much of his young career, said Weber is well respected by coaches and players in the soccer community and his influence is well known.
“I think he is responsible for the success of Albuquerque soccer,” Grange said. “Soccer has grown so much here and we are getting teams into regionals and on the national level, and I credit him for some of that.”
Weber, an Olten, Switzerland native, can usually be seen at local soccer fields helping coach club teams, running skills clinics or watching his son or daughter play.
Weber, who has more than 40 years of experience as a player or coach, said he is always looking to help teach the game of soccer to interested players.
His teaching was on display Sunday when he and members of the UNM men’s and women’s team held a free skills clinic at Winrock Mall for children ages 4 to 13.
After a disappointing 6-12-1 record last year, UNM’s first losing season since 1995, Weber and the administration mutually agreed to hire another coach to share the duties with Weber. UNM hired Jeremy Fishbein as the associate head coach. Fishbein coached at the University of Incarnate Word, a Division II school, for the last two years.
Weber, who had two part-time assistant coaches working with him last year, said he does not mind sharing the coaching duties because the move will help improve the program.
“It gives us a top notch staff,” Weber said. “To get better in recruiting, you need to be well staffed and we have that.”
Fishbein said he looks forward to working along side Weber, who he has known for about eight years.
“He is a great coach,” Fishbein said. “He is a mentor to all coaches. He loves the game and cares for the players.”
Weber, 59, said that he evaluates his coaching career at UNM every year and wants to continue coaching for as long as it is enjoyable.
“A coach is a teacher and that’s what you are,” he said. “That’s my personality, that’s my calling. It’s what I do and it’s what I will continue doing.”
