By: Arielle Canchola
Men’s soccer is finally back at Wilbur Wright College! This has been a work in progress for the last couple of years but was finally approved in 2023.
Now, Wright’s soccer team plays competitively amongst the other City Colleges in Illinois. The season started in early August, and the team is three games in with a losing streak of 0-3.
Recently appointed Coach Carlos Del Toro leads the newly minted team. Del Toro has been playing soccer his whole life, following his father’s passion for the sport, and coaching since 2013.
He brings a lot of experience from coaching high schools and soccer clubs, but this will be his first year coaching a college-level team.
No captain is leading this team yet, but Del Toro is assured that “my captains will eventually show on their own. After a couple of games, we’ll see who has that grit who is very determined, a leader, and has captain vibes”.
If you’re considering joining the team, tryouts will be held for next year in early August of 2025. Del Toro wants the word out that he is looking and recruiting!
This year started on a rough note, regarding prepping for the season which started months after the typical starting time.
According to the Director of Intercollegiate and Intramural Athletics, Maurice Culpepper, it takes about a year to put a team together and gather the budget when introducing new sports programs.
Finding money in a state budget is one of the biggest obstacles. However, the most time-consuming part is performing a background check on the students to be a part of the team.
Culpepper has to go through each student's file and verify a basic background check, but most importantly every student is meeting the benchmark requirements they need academically to play.
Riis Park where the team practices (Photo Credit: Jenin Hattab)
Every student-athlete is aware of the seriousness of keeping their grades up. Checking in with his students and acting where he can help is a part of Culpepper’s responsibilities.
His job includes the numbers and the logistics that make every game and practice possible, but Culpepper makes it essential to be there for his students.
Del Toro ensures, that staying on top of his kids, means making sure they’re going to class, doing their work, and rewarding them with the sport they love to play. An additional benefit of experience in this role is gaining many useful connections. It's not what you know, it’s who you know.
The original budget would not have been able to create two new teams for this academic school year. Culpepper says, “A lot of this stuff, we get it done through people you know.”
According to the budget, the state gave the District $3.6 million to split amongst the seven CCC colleges, which leaves each school around $600,000 total to spend on sports.
For Wright College, each sport gets roughly $157,000 which covers equipment, uniforms, scholarships, etc. “We got it done. And we’re going to continue to get it done,” Culpepper confidently states.
It is intentional that other CCCs are ready for the soccer team because of Title IX, no men’s team can be created in a school roster without adding a women’s team.
Title IX was a huge pivotal point that increased women’s participation in sports. Culpepper says the teams in the works are women’s soccer and men’s volleyball, which hopefully will be in the next year or two.
It has been a few decades since the last men’s team at Wright College and the excitement around the team has been brewing.
Coach Del Toro says, “I do have a strong core of young men who are very committed.” He is looking forward to a season of winning and having leadership shine on the team.
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