Jal Educator of the Week CVictor Soliz

By John Earp

Coach Victor Soliz, who is in his first year as a teacher and coach with Jal School District, brings with him a long history of 30 years as an educator and coach, 26 of which were in Texas, four of which have been in New Mexico. He said, “I got out of the Marines, and went to college at Tech, and said, ‘If I’m going to teach, I’m going to coach.” Soliz teaches Algebra and Geometry. He says, “I love math.” He loves teaching and coaching, and he always emphasizes the importance of working hard to his students and athletes. He says, “If it was easy, everybody would be in it. Only the select few can be in athletics, and y’all are the select few. You remember when it was hot and you guys were out here in 108-degree weather? I tell them it’s a lot like the Marines. You guys are going to be the few and the proud. Y’all be proud of yourselves.” He says he was most pleased to see his team improve over the course of the season, particularly in the intensity they brought to the field, as well as how the players support each other.

Soliz originally intended to become a petroleum engineer at Texas Tech. He said, “I couldn’t pass my junior-level physics, so I went to my advisor, Mr. Anderson, and said, ‘Hey Dr. Anderson, I need to graduate, because the Marines, the money’s fixing to end. So, he said, ‘Victor, you’ve got a ton of Math hours. You have 54 math hours, so you could get a degree right now in Math. So I said, ‘Okay, I’ll do that, sir. Now, I’m so happy. I love it.”

Soliz hails originally from Hereford, Texas, where he was profoundly influenced by Jeff Smart, who was a Marine drill instructor as well as a coach. He also was influenced towards coaching by Coach Sowers, who said, “Victor, your job is to rebound.” This was during basketball season. He worked at being good at rebounding, and that led to his becoming a strong rebounder for his basketball team.

Soliz’s wife also teaches Spanish in Jal Schools. He says his most important values in life are God and family. He says, “You always want to treat the kids like your son and your daughter.” The Soliz’s grown son and daughter are also graduates of Texas Tech. His son graduated from Tech and now works in Tech. His daughter works at University of North Texas in Denton.

Soliz says what he likes most about Jal School District is that the people are really nice, the administration and other teachers are all helpful. “They don’t just leave you hanging,” he said. He also is impressed with how the kids are hard workers. He says, “The only thing is it’s a little too hot here.”