Our Lady of the Lake University hits the jackpot

HARLINGEN - Shane Hurley knows the kind of soccer talent that's in the Rio Grande Valley.

After all, he played here for Harlingen and at Texas-Pan American - when the school still had a program - and he's also coached here.

So it's no surprise that the Our Lady of the Lake University coach makes the area one of his prime destinations when recruiting.

"No doubt, there are a tremendous amount of resources here," Hurley said Thursday while in Harlingen at the signing of four local soccer players. "Some of the best coaches and players go overlooked."

On Thursday, Hurley signed two players from Harlingen and two from Harlingen South as Cardinals Marco Herrera and David Bazan along with Hawk Claudio Arellano and Lady Hawk Pat Torres inked letters of intent to the San Antonio-based school.

For Herrera, a goalkeeper, the chance to play college ball is something of a salve to the pain of missing his senior year to a knee injury.

"Playing in college has been my dream," he said. "I have to give a lot of thanks to my dad, he's a big role model."

The program at OLLU is in its infancy. Last season was the school's first year to have a men's team and this year a women's team is being added.

So it's a chance for Torres to get in on the ground floor and that's something the South midfielder is looking forward to.

"It's an honor," she said. "I'm a little bit nervous. Everybody is saying it's the beginning of your future. There are a lot of emotions."

Hurley has some experience in helping to start programs from scratch. While at UTPA, he started a women's program.

He was also the first girls coach at Harlingen High, when the school added a girls' program.

In his first year at the helm of OLLU, the Saints men's team went 10-4 with a team that already has a heavy Valley influence including Erik Torkildsen from Harlingen South,  Carlos Garcia and Mario Robles from Hanna, as well as players from San Juan and Mission.

Because there are a number of Valley athletes at OLLU already, the adjustment to college will be a little bit easier, said Arellano, a defender.

"It will help us get used to it," he said.

"It will be comforting," Torres added.

Bazan and Herrera, who have played together on the Cardinals' defense, plan to room together.

Harlingen wasn't the only stop in the Valley for Hurley as he received letters of intent from seven other athletes in the McAllen area.

OLLU is a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) school. OLLU will become a member of the Red River Athletic Conference. The Saints will visit UT-Brownsville for a match on Sept. 20.