Butler Traditional uses foreign roots to become regional boys soccer power
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BVM) — One thing that has become commonplace in the state of Kentucky is seeing the Butler Traditional High School boys soccer team in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association state playoffs. Over the past five years, the Butler Bears have won four Region 6 titles, which earned them placement into the state’s final championship. Unsurprisingly, Butler has become the most successful program in Region 6 with 66 wins and 14 losses.
“That’s not something that’s happened overnight,” Butler head soccer coach Mario Carrillo said.
4 out of 5 years of gold ain't too shabby! pic.twitter.com/Bo6pIJvJ3F
— Butler Bears Soccer (@SoccerBTHS) October 26, 2020
The Bears have been successful based on a number of factors from coaching to the skill of the players, but perhaps most significantly is the common bond the team shares with the game of soccer. This is important because many of the team members are not like other high school soccer players, as many come from a number of foreign backgrounds.
According to Carrillo, he has coached players from 14 different countries and estimates his team has had approximately 60%-70% of the roster, or about eight or 10 players a year, come from an international background.
“The international kids started showing up at the six-year point and from then on until now what you’ve seen is what happened,” Carrillo said. “They have completely changed our program. There was an influx of immigrant families that moved to the sound end of Louisville eight years ago and we were the recipient of a lot of those kids. Those kids were looking for a really good academic school and a solid soccer program. Those kids showed up and it just changed us from night to day.”
He also feels that their universal language, that of soccer, has helped the team be able to grow in its success.
“Soccer is the language they speak,” Carrillo said. “Even though there are 14 different languages, they speak soccer. They just play and want to win games and they put everything else aside. They don’t care if you’re from this country or that country or whatnot. We just roll the ball out and play and try to win games and it has worked really well.”
Looking down the roster, it is clear that Carrillo’s team is built a bit differently. Some names are certain to grab the attention of even the most novice fans, names such as Mustafa Almohammedawi, a junior from the Middle East, or the trio of Mulume brothers, senior Sam, junior Kevin and freshman Benit all hailing from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Even the team’s most prolific player of the past decade, recent graduate Hat’e Dievin, came from Tanzania.
Congrats Hat'e! pic.twitter.com/BRhm6YEWha
— Mario Carrillo (@MarCarrillo64) November 16, 2020
So how does one coach from a completely different country use his amalgamation of talented soccer players from across the globe to not only play soccer as a cohesive unit, but also make it one of the best in the area? Well, give it to the old Air Force veteran Carrillo to use his own experiences to solve the international puzzle.
Prior to his time with the Bears, Carrillo actually coached soccer overseas, coaching six years in the German youth leagues with FV Olympia Ramstein when he was stationed in the country. In 2007, Carrillo led his team to the semifinals for the u14 regional league in the German state of Rheinland Pfalz. He also served as the junior varsity coach for the Ramstein American High School in Ramstein, Germany where he led his team to an undefeated season while playing against teams from England, Italy, Belgium and from all around Germany. When Carrillo joined the Butler Boys Soccer program in 2008 as an assistant coach, it was fresh off of his international experience and the lessons he had learned from his time overseas aided him into building his program when he took over the head coach position in 2009.
“The time that I spent in Germany was more valuable than I realized at the time,” Carrillo said. “That time that I spent there was the most invaluable time I had ever spent when it came to soccer. … I’ve taken a lot of that and used it here and it really helped me with the kids I get. They know it’s more from overseas than it is here and they love that part.”
Overall, Carrillo is happier that the influx of international talent didn’t happen when he first took over the team, feeling he could have been in over his head trying to balance all the backgrounds. With a handful of years already under his belt at the program, Carrillo was able to create a culture that was more of a team first and family oriented style, one that had already been in place before his new pieces came in.
“When you create a family atmosphere and you give these kids a sense of belonging and a feeling of this is really something important, they just start coming and every year they keep coming,” Carrillo said. “If you were ever to see our guys when we were in school, they constantly hang together. Every year we get Adidas warm up jackets and I’ll have guys who graduated three years ago that still wear those jackets and come back to games. That’s how proud they are to be a part of what we’re doing. That’s that family thing.”
Success has been evident for the Bears not only with them racking up team awards, but also individual awards as well as Carrillo has coached at least one KHSAA all-state member each of the past five years. In addition, Carrillo’s players don’t just stop playing once they complete their time with the Bears as a number have gone on to play at the collegiate level as well.
With four of the past five regional championships, the Bears, led by their contingent of international talent, will look to add even more to the trophy case over the next few years. While the regional championships and state appearances have been nothing short of spectacular, Carrillo still has his eyes on the sport’s ultimate prize: a state championship.
“The program’s now at a point if we don’t win region and get into state it’s not a good year,” Carrillo said. “We want to take this and build it. Instead of just getting to state and making it to the first game or second game, we want to go all the way to the final game. That’s our goal. We have the players to do it and have them every year. We have the support to do it. Our goal now is to win a state title.”
With plenty of talent and a communication method that is as simple and efficient as the game itself, the Butler Bears will continue to be a team that makes noise in the KHSAA boys soccer landscape. Once the team is finally able to get over the hump and win a state title, it’ll be a moment Carrillo and his contingent of international players have long been working for.
“It would prove to me and show others that you can take kids from literally all points of the planet, blend them all together for one common goal and win a state championship,” Carrillo said. “It’s never been done here. There are others who have tried and we’re going to keep trying, but it would prove to me and show others you don’t necessarily have to speak the same language to win a state championship.”
