To jumpstart its future, Dade Christian School’s soccer program looked to the past.
On hiatus since 2016, Dade Christian restarted the program this season and hired alumnus Marino Torrens, Jr. as its new head coach.
Torrens, 31, helped the Crusaders to a district championship during his senior season in 2008.
He was hired to help oversee the programs at the elementary, middle school and varsity levels.
“I am excited and eternally grateful to Dade Christian School for bringing me home to lead the soccer program,” Torrens said earlier this year. “There is no place I rather be coaching and I am looking forward to building a champion team as well as giving our student-athletes the best experience possible here at Dade Christian School.”
Torrens previously coached women’s soccer at Florida Memorial University and was on the coaching staff for the boys team at Ronald Reagan High in Doral.
Torrens said he was born and raised in Hialeah and played soccer at Optimist Clubs for Miami Lakes and Miramar.
Dade Christian’s Athletic Director and head football coach George Stubbs said he sought a coach who could restart the program with the modest goal of winning district titles, and that Torrens was the best fit.
“We are blessed to have a college-caliber coach,” Stubbs said.
Miami Lakes Councilman Josh Dieguez graduated from Dade Christian and said he was excited about the program’s return.
“The revival of my high school alma mater’s soccer program is an exciting development,” Dieguez said recently. “Soccer is only gaining in popularity and sports are an integral part of child’s growth.
“I also view this move as part of the school’s re-commitment to excellence in all facets of education,” Dieguez said.