Mark was born in Redlands, CA in 1946 and
grew up in Modesto, CA before graduating from
University of the Pacific in 1967 with highest honors.
After earning his Juris Doctor degree from UC Davis
School of Law, he met and married his wife, Barbara,
and moved to Stockton in 1970.
In the 1970’s, Mark was at the forefront of starting the competitive soccer program in
Stockton. He continued his passion for soccer by creating the Stockton/California Cougars
Soccer Club that is still going strong today. Throughout the 1980s, Mark continued to coach
multiple soccer teams, including his sons’ teams. In 1982, Mark took a boys’ recreational
team to the competitive state cup championship – which was unprecedented at that
time – and lost to a team that ultimately had Major League stars. In 1992, Mark took over
the St. Mary’s High School Girls’ soccer program. In the 2000s and 2010s, Mark continued
to coach multiple teams, including the California Cougars and the St. Mary’s Girls’ High
School team until he retired from coaching in 2017. Of the thousands of players coached,
he sent hundreds of girls to play at the college level, obtaining a scholarship for many of
them. Mark was a master tactician whose success stemmed from intensely studying the
game. He devoted his life to coaching soccer and his love for the game and his players was
unparalleled.
Mark coached roughly 7,000 games with 5,500 wins and 15,000+ practices in 42 years of
coaching the Stockton/California Cougars Soccer Club while also coaching the St. Mary’s
girls’ team for 23 years. His teams had one boys’ CYSA State Cup Championship, six high
school girls’ section championships amongst 23 girls’ high school league championships.
His teams recorded two girls’ high school soccer records: 32 total shutouts in a season and
23 consecutive shutouts.
Two of his teams have been honored by the Stockton Athletic Hall of Fame Including the
the 1999 and 2012 St. Mary’s High School Girls’ Varsity Soccer Teams. The 1990-1991 Stockton
Cougars U-13 Boys’ Competitive Soccer Team was inducted into the Stockton Athletic Hall
of Fame in 2022.
Mark passed away in July 2017. Mark was inducted into the St. Mary’s Athletic Hall of
Fame in October, 2017
