Bandidos

From a report in The Albuquerque Tribune:

The proudest man in Albuquerque this weekend might be a 57-year-old Peruvian with an eye for talent and a knack for teaching.

Three of the four teams still kicking in the College Cup [the NCAA Division I men’s championship] have Albuquerque natives who played club soccer for the Classic Bandidos, coached by Ricardo Beraun. …

Three of the four were part of Beraun’s core of original Bandidos, formed when the players were 9 years old. Albright joined the team when he was 13. …

Beraun, who briefly played in Peru, focused much of his coaching on technical skill. Each practice began with about 30 minutes of juggling exercises, and Beraun awarded players with special soccer pins if they reached certain milestones.

Those incentives were so strong that the ex-Bandidos still remember their best juggling performances. Ashwill once juggled a ball 2,000 times without it hitting the ground. Moss reached 1,000. Albright said his personal high is about 500.

C’deBaca is precise; his record is 1,029. …

Two of the four play for the New Mexico Lobos, the third for Clemson and the fourth for Maryland. SMU is the other team in the soccer final four.

Beraun, the coach, is a thermal scientist at Sandia National Laboratories.

Update: The New York Times also reports on UNM and Classic Bandidos.