Super-20 League Feature
Friday, May 18, 2012
Wolfgang Suhnholz is no stranger to soccer in Texas. He has been coaching in the Austin area since 1983, working with such organizations as the Capital Soccer Club, the Austin Sockadillos of the Southwest Indoor Soccer League, and the PDL’s Austin Aztex in 2008 and 2009. He was the USL PDL Coach of the Year in 2008, and has won numerous other awards coaching at the youth level.
Suhnholz even worked with the U.S. National Team program for a time, including a stint as head coach of the U20 Men’s team from 1999-2001. Now, though, he returns to the Aztex organization as head coach of the men’s Super-20 team.
“What excited me about the Aztex is the passion that all the people in the organization have,” Suhnholz said. “From the Chairman, David Markley, to the front office and coaching staff. They are all very committed to the project of building a first-class club from top to bottom.”
The former German international understands the importance of youth soccer, and played in the North American Soccer League in the 1970s that helped the sport grow in the United States. He was named to the All-NASL First Team in 1977, along with international stars Pelé, George Best, and countryman Franz Beckenbauer.
“There is always the next step up in soccer,” Suhnholz said. “What I mean is that, as a player, you have to prepare as well as you can for the next level of play.”
After the relocation of the former Aztex franchise in 2010, Markley restored the Austin club in 2011. With a team in the PDL this season, the organization needed a way for local players to have the opportunity to reach that next level.
“The great advantage [for us] is that the U-20 players train at times with the PDL players and have the opportunity to learn from Coach Paul [Dalglish] and be seen by him as much as possible.”
Dalglish, head coach of the PDL team, is the son of Liverpool Football Club legend and Scotland international Kenny Dalglish. He, like Suhnholz, has had a soccer career in the United States, including a pair of MLS Cup victories with the Houston Dynamo in 2006 and 2007.
“Paul and I are working well together, as we should,” Suhnholz said. “I always thought that, as a coach, you are learning every day, so I am learning from Paul a lot and I think he learns from me, too.”
The Aztex are a part of the newly-formed Mid South Division of the Super-20 League, which consists of 10 teams from Texas, making it the second-largest division in the league. The club is joined by the Laredo Heat and Texas Dutch Lions as the only division members to field teams in both the PDL and Super-20 League.
“I have not had a chance to see any other team yet, we are just in the process to [build our] team,” he said.
With such a long career in the game, as player and manager, it would be easy for Suhnholz to call it quits and take a front office job somewhere. He finds fulfillment, however, in the successful careers of those he has coached.
“That’s why coaches do what they do,” he said. “The ultimate gratification for a youth coach is that as many [of his] players as possible get recognized by coaches and managers from those next levels [and get to] move on to have a career in the game; may it be in the college game, pro soccer, or maybe the ultimate goal [of playing] on the national team for your country.”
As for who he is eager to see perform when the club begins its season on Wednesday, May 30 against the Texas Dutch Lions, Suhnholz could not pick just one.
“I am excited about all of them,” he said. “So far we have [only] been able to work with our local players; we still wait for our out-of-town college players to arrive. We will have a friendly game against the Alamo team from San Antonio [Alamo SC San Antonio] before our season starts.
“The season will decide who the special ones are.”