Soccer is in Ingrassia's Blood
by Doug Krikorian, Long Beach Press-Telegram
October 13, 2004 Mauricio Ingrassia grew up a long distance from the United States in an Argentina hamlet called Rosario, and soccer became as sacred a part of his existence as eating, breathing, schooling and doing family chores.
His idol was Maradona, and he would remember his hero's famous Hand of God goal that would prove to be the margin of victory against England and that would play a vital role in his country winning the 1986 World Cup soccer championship.
He would come to America when he was 10, and suddenly the kids in his neighborhood were engaging in alien activities like baseball and basketball and football.
But soccer remained his passion, and he would continue to play it with extraordinary skill, as he would become a stout performer at Los Alamitos High and then would continue the pursuit at San Diego State and Cal State Fullerton.
Coaching the sport never was an ambition and he would major in psychology, but he had no idea what vocational tack he would pursue.
"I really didn't know what I wanted to do," he admits now with an almost sheepish laugh.
It is, of course, one of the ironies of life that so many human beings wind up doing what they have no plans to do because of the maddening confluence of a fickle set of circumstances.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was an obsessed bodybuilder who kept winning Mr. Olympia titles, and he had no serious aspirations of becoming an international movie star or governor of California.
Jerry Buss had a doctorate degree in chemistry and had only a passing interest in athletics, but he dabbled in real estate and soon had enough capital to buy the Lakers and become a hallowed part of the Los Angeles sporting scene.
Lana Turner became a legendary actress only because an agent spotted her one afternoon seated at a soda fountain at Schwab's Drug Store in Hollywood.
Marv Levy obtained a Master's degree in English literature from Harvard, which, of course, had nothing to do with his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame for coaching the Buffalo Bills into four Super Bowls.
Mauricio Ingrassia might sound like the name of a guy who would sing tenor in a Milan opera, and, indeed, he will tell you that was about as likely to happen as, well, his becoming one of the most respected coaches in women's soccer.
"Coaching soccer never entered my mind at all," says Ingrassia, in his first season as boss at Long Beach State after turning the Long Beach City College program five state titles, two national titles and a 184-24-8 record into the top one in the state junior college system during his nine-year incumbency. "But when I was attending Fullerton, I found out some of my teammates were picking up an extra $1,500 coaching in high school. I figured that would be a good way to make some extra money."
Ingrassia would make contact with his old Los Alamitos mentor, Jerry Stowell, and Ingrassia soon would be in charge of the frosh- soph team at his alma mater and the field of psychology soon would be spared the possibility of another Freud or Jung entering into it.
It was as though Mauricio Ingrassia was struck by an epiphany, as he instantly became enamored with the new duties.
"I knew as soon as I started coaching that that's what I wanted to do," says Ingrassia, who did it so well at LBCC that he was accorded National Coach of the Year acclaim in 2003 and won his conference's top coaching honor three times. "I like the way you have the opportunity to mold kids into better players. And I think the fact that I played soccer for so long was beneficial to me as a coach because I could demonstrate the different techniques to the players. I just liked everything about the job."
The following year Stowell would employ Ingrassia as his assistant, and Los Alamitos would, perhaps not so coincidentally, win a CIF title.
At a mere 21, Ingrassia would succeed Stowell in 1993 and would post a 23-12-11 record during his seasons at Los Alamitos before taking over at Long Beach City College in 1995 and turning a floundering program into a rousing success.
Naturally, he caught the attention of Long Beach State's revered athletic director, Bill Shumard, who was able to lure Ingrassia away from LBCC despite not being able to match that school's financial benefits.
"Mauricio Ingrassia has an incredible vision, and he's not afraid to dream big," says Shumard. "And he has an incredible passion for the game of soccer."
No doubt about that.
Mauricio Ingrassia has such a passion that even the woman he married, Erin, was a former soccer player herself, and you can be sure his young daughter Madison also will be destined to play the sport.
"Obviously, soccer runs in our family," he says.
Mauricio Ingrassia is a husky fellow at 5 feet 11 and 200 pounds, and the green eyes that peer out from a youthful face that belies his 33 years are alert and lively and give one the impression nothing goes unnoticed.
Women's soccer at Long Beach State has struggled since it was resumed in 1998, and neither of Ingrassia's predecessors, Julie Cochran or Peter Reynaud, was able to field teams with better than a .500 record.
The 49ers, who play at Utah State on Friday, are now 5-6-2, but Ingrassia is spending all his spare moments recruiting and he already has lined up several prime prospects for next season's team.
"It's going to take some time, but my goal is to turn us into national contenders," says Ingrassia, who went 7-10 his first season with the Vikings and then lost a mere 14 games during the next eight seasons.
Bill Shumard is hoping Mauricio Ingrassia does for women's soccer at Long Beach State what Brian Gimmillaro has done for women's volleyball.
If he does, George Allen Field, named after the late, great football coach who always dreamed big himself, will need to be renovated to make room for the bigger crowds that inevitably appear when an athletic team starts piling up the victories. |
