What We're Reading
American coach achieves quick success in Guatemala
- New York Times Goal Blog, Thursday, May 19, 2011 12:40 AM
Guatemalan-based soccer writer Brent Latham profiles American Ziggy Korytoski, who is making a name for himself coaching
soccer in ... Guatemala.
Korytoski, the former director of soccer on Northern Mariana Islands and assistant at Cal Poly, landed in Guatemalan when he met Antigua team director Ricardo Arenas (a former U.S. college star at Mercer County Community College and Rutgers) on a scouting trip for Mustangs and was soon thereafter offered the head
coaching job.
Despite the fact he has marginal command of Spanish, Korytoski led Antigua to the third division title and promotion to the second division, and the club has drawn crowds as
large as 10,000, a 20-fold increase over the previous season. Korytoski praises his players.
“I think a lot of it is just the environment,” he said. “These guys come
from nothing. They just don’t have a lot. We don’t have a consistent training facility. We don’t have a lot of equipment. But we have a lot of guys who are very committed to the
project.”
