By MARTY JAMES martyjames.sports@gmail.com
Mark Corbett doesn't have one job. He has four jobs.
Corbett is the head coach for Napa Valley 1839 FC, a National Premier Soccer League team, that plays in the West Region's Golden Gate Conference.
He is the head coach for Napa United's under-19 girls team.
He is the head coach for the Napa Valley 1839 FC under-23 women's team.
He is also the head coach for the Napa Valley College women's team, which after a one-year absence of not playing due to not having enough players, is back on the field and off to a 1-1 start in nonconference matches.
"It's kind of what we moved from England, to Napa, to do, trying to make a positive impact in the soccer community," said Corbett. "I'm enjoying what I'm doing."
One of the ways that Corbett stays organized and on top of what he is doing is the due to a calendar board that he has in his office in the Napa Valley College Athletic Department. There are pens with different colors – green for Napa Valley 1839, red for Napa United, purple for NVC – that he uses to reference the teams that he coaches.
"It's for all the games. It's definitely having an understanding, that's for sure," he said.
Soccer is year-round for Corbett, who oversees spring and summer sessions for the Storm. They lost their season opener to Chabot College-Hayward, falling 10-1, on Sept. 8. They bounced right back, beating Ohlone College-Fremont, 3-0, on Sept. 12.
"Excited to get the season up and running," Corbett said recently. "It's always a challenge at our level to get enough female players. Obviously, pleased that we've got 12 players, and all at a good base level, which is great.
"The first few games will be pretty challenging in the nonconference. We'd like to think that we can be competitive against at least half of the schools that we're going to be playing against in conference."
The Bay Valley Conference season for the Storm begins on Tuesday, Sept. 26, when they are at home for a match against Solano Community College-Fairfield starting at 2 p.m.
Also in the conference is Los Medanos College-Pittsburg, Mendocino College-Ukiah, College of Marin-Kentfield, Merritt College-Oakland and Woodland Community College.
There are four sophomores and eight freshmen on the NVC team.
"I think just because it's new players coming together, this is more of just getting the team to gel and having a bit of an idea on how we want to play and the system and the formation and what is going to be kind of expected from them come for when the real results matter, and you're playing for points in the conference season," said Corbett.
"There are definitely going be some tough games, so we kind of use them as benchmarks."
In the win over Ohlone 3-0, the Storm got two goals from Jocelyn Diaz, a goal from Tanya Rivas, two assists by Brianna Munoz, and a save from Ariel Nunez, the team's goal keeper, on a penalty kick.
With 12 players, Corbett goes about carefully monitoring everyone's fitness and energy levels and giving them time to recover.
"It's a fine balance on trying to push them to get their fitness levels up. But then also knowing that they need to recover quickly, because there's such a small roster," said Corbett. "We need everybody to be fit and healthy and playing all the time.
"In the nonconference, we've avoided scheduling two games per week. So, that's helped us and we've been able to manage and build the fitness levels up gradually. And then we're hoping by the time
conference starts, when we're going to have to play two games a week, hopefully, by then they will be ready."
Annie Sanchez is the Storm's captain. Jasmine Alonso is the team's vice-captain.
Corbett said he is expecting a big season from Sanchez.
"With Jasmine Alonso, Ariel Ramirez-Ruiz and Paola Rameriz coming back as returning players, I'd expect them to be setting the standards. And with the rest of the freshmen coming in, or those who are playing their first year of college soccer, I think they've got some good leaders to look up to," said Corbett.
"We've got a nice blend of returning players, and then freshmen coming. A lot of those freshmen I've worked with over the last few years with Napa United. So, I know they're coming in with a great base level through the previous experience. They've been playing club and in high school.
"We have raised the base level of the group coming in. I'm excited to see how they do in the conference."
Corbett took over as NVC's head coach in August of 2020. He has an extensive playing and coaching background.
From 2007-2020, he played semi-pro for Walton & Hersham, Alton, Farnham, Sandhurst, Newport IOW and Camberley. From 2012-2016, he played for England International Beach Soccer. Corbett was named as the England Beach Soccer Player of the Year during the 2014 season.
From 2017-2019, he was with Alton FC as a player manager. He was the community projects manager for Portsmouth Football Club, based in England. He was a community coach for the Chelsea Football Club, also in England.
The NVC team consists of:
Ariel Nunez, Alexis Orozco, Paola Rameriz, Aileen Torres-Robledo, Melina Shaline-Solis, Tanya Rivas, Annie Sanchez, Riann Palomo, Brianna Munoz, Jocelyn Diaz, Jasmine Alonso, Ariel Ramirez-Ruiz.
Corbett said he talks to the team, which due to having limited numbers, about the playing time that everyone will be getting. "They're all going to be on the field. I know, if I'm a player, I wouldn't necessarily want to be in a 30-player roster and potentially not play. I would want to be somewhere, where I'm going to be guaranteed to be playing. For me, that's a big positive, that these girls are going to give a lot of commitment, up to two games a week and practices. We look at it positively."
Meredith Cuevas is NVC's assistant coach.
CCCSIA women's soccer poll
Five Northern California teams are in the California Community College Sports Information Association women's soccer poll, announced by the California Community College Athletic Association, in a report at www.cccaasports.org, on Sept. 13.
Listed in the poll:
No. 7 Folsom Lake, No. 9 Cosumnes River-Sacramento, No. 12 Merced, No. 15 Foothill-Los Altos Hills, No. 18 San Joaquin Delta-Stockton.
* Marty James is a freelance writer who makes his home in Napa. He retired on June 4, 2019 after spending 40 years as a sports writer, sports editor and executive sports editor for the Napa Valley Register, a daily newspaper in Napa County. He is a 1979 graduate of Sacramento State and a member of the California Golf Writers & Broadcasters Association. He was inducted into the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame in 2016, the Vintage High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019, and the Napa High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022.