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Coach Ray Santana was born in San Luis Rio Colorado Sonora, Mexico, in July 1988. Ray was the 3rd child out of his 4 siblings, and he has 3 sisters. Mr. Santana came to America in 1993 at just 4 years old. Shortly after, he started school in the tri-cities at Pasco Elementary.
Ray played for the local youth club AYSO, growing up in Pasco, WA, and then made a big change to play for 3 rivers soccer club when he reached Ochoa Middle School. Mr. Santana also played with Pasco high school before dropping out his Senior year to help his family after his father had a severe surgery procedure. Ray's family is familiar with farm & field work, picking many apples & cherries as well as cutting and preparing loads of asparagus. That was Ray's main source of income and work for his family until he was promoted to become the warehouse manager.
Ray's favorite moments from his youth soccer career was when he would celebrate goals or wins with his grandmother, who Ray considers to be his guardian angel.
Ray has always had a deep love and passion for futbol. He plays the perfect role to unite players from all sorts of backgrounds or cultures. He simply loves to unite groups and play, doesn't matter the race, culture, or age to him. Mr.
Santana has used this passion for his development by hosting local tournaments, hosting pick-up games, entering men's leagues, and then eventually submitting teams into large tournaments around the nation. After doing this for a couple of years, Ray decided to start his own team in 2020, called Spokane United, so that he could create a platform to welcome all sorts of players for him to feature and develop. Ray's journey as the owner and coach of United has been the path less favored, but Mr. Santana has stuck with his ideas and constantly rebuilt teams to feature in tournaments or men's leagues. He's always changing rosters, postions, and the players he features, which we take seriously here at United.
Many players have earned exposure and created great memories due to Ray working hard to host our local tournaments and submitting our teams into other leagues or tournaments around the nation. Ray's favorite times with Spokane United have been the 2021 indoor season, the 2022 outdoor season in Pasco, and then our big tournaments such as the Space X Showdown in Cocoa, FL, Copa Mariachi in Chicago, IL, and Copa Guero in Portland, OR. Due to Ray's hard work and motivation as a manager, he put together some quality teams full of great character that have shown very well around our region and nation. These results are what helped us earn our way into the Cascadia Premier League. Without Ray, there would be no United. Without his dedication, motivation, love, and passion for the game, many of us would still be hopeless for our dreams.
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