The first Westmont student to graduate with a major in physical education, he began his career as a coach, teacher and principal at schools in Oregon and Washington. He participated in football and baseball in high school and college and even aspired to enter the major leagues. Russ understood the power of sports in students’ lives. Although he had no budget for it, he started a junior varsity team to allow less adept students to play. He never cut a player the rigorous preseason weeded them out. “My goal was to build people of character and integrity who walked with Christ,” he explains. “If you’re going to be the best, you have to play the best.” He focused on recruiting talented players, especially from overseas. “My coaching philosophy was simple,” he says. In addition, he taught education classes and chaired the department at Westmont. He also directed a collegiate all-star squad and helped to select U.S. Named National Coach of the Year in 1972, Russ earned 22 district or area Coach of the Year honors. There was only one ranking for college soccer teams Westmont usually made the top 10. His teams always made the playoffs in an era when Westmont regularly played UCLA, USC, Stanford and San Diego State. Although he had never played or coached soccer before he returned to Westmont in 1966, he led the Warriors to a national championship in 1972 as well as 11 NAIA district titles and seven area championships. Described by a sports reporter as the John Wooden of soccer, Russ compiled one of the most impressive records of any soccer coach in the country: 211-108-26. In 1983, after 17 successful years as a collegiate soccer coach, Russ left Westmont to start Sports Outreach Institute. The plight of these children - and many others throughout the world - haunted Russ.
Before they left Guatemala, the players bought shoe-shine kits for the youth to help them earn a living. The kids even sat excitedly on the team bench during the soccer match. He started talking to them and learned they lived in boxes, without parents, without support, without hope.įor three days, Russ and the team adopted the children, bringing them food and blankets and smuggling them into the hotel to the displeasure of the staff. They looked at him nervously, with dark eyes darting under unkempt black hair. All he could think about were the dirty, dishevelled children digging there for food amid the foul-smelling trash. But the moment he stepped outside his high-rise hotel into a cluttered alley, the game became secondary. The coach for a squad sponsored by the State Department, he welcomed the chance to play the Guatemalan national team. Russ Carr ’56 went to Guatemala City for a soccer match and left with a new purpose in life.
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