Legendary Bravo training Chivas players Three looking to represent U.S. in Sweden
Vinicio Bravo and Esmaldo Hernandez can actually be considered rivals with Bravo having a legendary career with Club America and Hernandez being the president of the Porterville based South Valley Chivas, which takes its name from the Guadalajara Chivas.
Club America and Guadalajara are Mexico’s two most legendary, successful and popular professional soccer teams and arch rivals.
Bravo made his mark as a player for Club America during its golden era in the 1980s. But despite what could be a rivalry, Hernandez said about Bravo, “We’re best of friends.”
Over the past month Bravo has spent most of his time training some of the Chivas elite 17 and under players. Bravo is training many of the players for a chance to possibly train with a Mexican professional team’s youth academy.
And three of the players, Porterville High juniors Efren Herrera
and Edwin Nava and Granite Hills junior William Ruiz for the chance to represent the United State’s at Sweden’s Gothia Cup in July. The Gothia Cup is referred to as the World Youth Cup as it’s the largest tournament of any kind in the world. There will be about 18,000 youth competing in the event next summer.
Herrera, Nava and Ruiz have been training throughout California for some time for a chance to represent the U.S. at the Gothia Cup. The last training session was held last week in Merced and the three were scheduled to find out if the were selected to play in the Gothia Cup this week.
“We have high hopes for all of them actually,” said Hernandez about the three players being selected for the Gothia Cup. “They fared very well.”
“There’s a good chance, yeah,” said Ruiz about if he thought he could be selected for the Gothia Cup.
“Yes,” said Herrera when asked if he thought he would be chosen for the Gothia Cup. “I think I did pretty good.”
“It feels awesome,” added Ruiz about being trained by Bravo. “It’s a different experience.”
“It’s fun,” Herrera also said about being trained by Bravo. “He does the training good. We learn new things, new drills.”
It’s not the first time Bravo has come to help out Hernandez as he’s been to Porterville to train Chivas players before. When asked to rate the level of the Chivas players he’s training this time, Bravo said, “muy bueno.”
But Bravo added, They are talented but they need to believe in themselves.” About being selected for a Mexican professional team’s youth academy, Bravo said, “They have a high chance of making it down there.” But he added “they have to go with the mindset they’re going to make it.”
And Hernandez said his players have to be realistic as only the really elite players are selected to train with
Mexico’s two most prestigious teams, Club America and Guadalajara. But he said he’s players have a chance to be picked up to train with another Mexican professional team.
Bravo works as a scout to find youth players who can compete in Mexico. He came from Utah to California at the end of September and has also been scouting players along with training the Chivas players.
It’s no secret Mexico and the United States compete for many of the same players. “The last couple of years it’s been really a war,”said Bravo about the U.S. and Mexico competing for the same players.
There’s also another huge event Bravo has been training the Chivas
players for. The Chivas players will be attending a college showcase on November 11 and 12 hosted by the Davis Soccer Club in the Sacramento area. About 150 college coaches will attend the event.
The Chivas coaches said they’re also benefiting from Bravo’s presence. Bravo will be with the Chivas through the end of the month.
“It’s awesome,” said Chivas coach Alexis Hernandez about Bravo training the Chivas players. “It’s a great experience for the kids and us.”
“I think it’s an honor,” added Chivas coach Rick Saldana. Saldana, Chivas coach Arturo Ibarra and Hernandez talked about the opportunities the Chivas players are receiving.
“A lot of exposure for the boys,” said Ibarra about what the Chivas players are experiencing. “Not a lot of people can say that about their clubs in this area.”
“They’re opening a lot of doors for themselves by the way they’ve been playing,” Hernandez said.
“That shows the talent these kids have,” added Saldana about someone like Bravo being willing to train them.
That talent has been shown by the South Valley Chivas Elite Classico U15 boys soccer team being ranked No. 1 in the Elite Club National League regional rankings, which covers Northern California. The club has been No. 1 in the rankings for several weeks.