Longtime UC Riverside club soccer head coach Gabe Mendoza joined the Highlanders men's soccer staff as a volunteer assistant to Coach Nat Gonzalez in the Fall of 2001.
A 1985 graduate of UCR with a degree in Spanish literature, Mendoza played for the Highlanders' intercollegiate program from 1979 to 1983. He went on to become the women's club team head coach from 1992 to 1997, then became the men's club head coach from 1998 to 2000. He also served as the ehad coach at Ramona High School in 1994-95.
Mendoiza was voted team MVP in 1983 and invited to try out for the US Olympic Team.
He is a graduate of North High School in Riverside, where he was named the most valuable player his senior year, leading the Huskies in scoring as a junior and senior.
Mendoza, who works in the UCR Tutorial Center in addition to his coaching duties, was voted UCR alumni of the year in 1997 and outstanding staff member in 1999.
In his gree time, Mendoza enjoys reading, playing tennis and playing chess. He and his wife, Patricia, have three children, Gabriel, Mariel and Ismael and reside in Riverside, CA.
