At the age of 16, Luis Somoano immigrated to the United States as a political refugee from Cuba.
He put himself through college at Villanova in Philadelphia, where he met his wife, Kathy, of Irish descent.
Monday, their son Carlos Somoano, 41, was named head coach of the North Carolina men’s soccer team after nine seasons as an assistant, making him the only active minority head coach at the University and the first-ever Latino head coach at UNC.
“Diversity is ever-present, as it should be,” said UNC athletic director Dick Baddour of the hiring search, adding that at least one of the other three candidates interviewed was a minority. “We had a diverse pool, so while that was consideration, the main consideration was the person’s ability to lead the program.”
In addition to being the only minority head coach currently at the University, Somoano is just the second in school history. Hubert West, who is black, was coach of the track and field team from 1982-83.
Though he did not know he was the first Latino coach in school history until he was contacted for this story, Somoano said he was proud of the distinction.
“Growing up in Texas as a Cuban, I would say to most of the people I knew growing up in school, every Latino was a Mexican,” Somoano said. “There’s such a wide variety of cultures in the Latino community. It’s always good to have people representing their cultures in leadership positions.”
Somoano’s Latin American origins are also of use to him in communicating with his players on the team.
North Carolina sophomore forward Enzo Martinez said Somoano’s ability to speak Spanish helped him feel comfortable around Somoano while he was one of the team’s assistant coaches.
