July 27, 2012
When you think of New Mexico men’s soccer, the Jeremy Fishbein era of 2002 to present comes to mind and rightfully so. The last decade of Lobo soccer has seen the program rewrite nearly its entire history book. But for all the achievements and accolades of the last decades of Lobos, there are still some things that haven’t changed.
Enter Justin Sells.
The Rockton, Illinois native nearly re-wrote the entire offensive portion of the record book on his own during his career from 1994-1997. He became the program’s all-time leader in goals, points and hat tricks among other records en route to All-Conference, All-Region and All-American honors. Most of his records have withstood the test of time and the numerous great players the program has fielded in the past fifteen years.
“It’s nice to still be mentioned along the same lines as many of the other top players that have played for the program over the last few decades. My time at UNM was great as I have a bunch of good memories. I was fortunate to get the opportunity from Coach Weber, to stay healthy, and to play a lot of minutes while at UNM,” Sells noted.
His 57 career goals record is one of his most untouchable records as no Lobo has come within less than a dozen goals of his mark. He had five hat tricks in his career and three of them were in the 1996 season. By comparison it took the 2011 Lobos the first five games of the season to score nine goals as a team. His prolific career lead the San Jose Clash to select him in the supplementary round of the 1998 MLS Draft.
But for all the records and accolades Sells has to his name, his career in Albuquerque means much more to him than numbers. It’s the part of his life that taught him discipline, perseverance, commitment. More importantly, it introduced him to his future wife Rene who is a former UNM women’s soccer player herself. It’s also compounded his love for soccer, which he still spends his day-to-day life in as the Technical Director of the New Mexico Rush Soccer Club.
“It (coaching) allows me to stay on the field and involved with the grassroots aspect of youth soccer. I love working with children and seeing them develop year to year as players and young adults. I believe coaching is truly an amazing privilege and opportunity,” Sells reflected. “Coaching gives me the opportunity to share my experiences, as a former player, with young people. Hopefully in the end that helps them to reach the goals they may have set for themselves within the game of soccer and/or life in general.”
While Sells didn’t have to opportunity to play for current Head Coach Jeremy Fishbein, the two actually crossed paths during the mid-1990’s. Those Lobo teams would actually play then Jeremy Fishbein-led Division II Fort Lewis College during the spring season. Sells can’t help but admire the transformation the program has undertaken in the past decade under its current head man.
“The program has had a lot of success in Albuquerque since Jeremy moved to UNM. The team plays a good brand of soccer and the program seems to be very well run and organized from the top down. The program is one of the top college soccer programs in the country and it’s due to the hard work and commitment of the current staff and players. “
As a citizen of the Duke City, a member of the local soccer community and a product of the New Mexico men’s soccer program, Justin Sells is a living example of how the soccer student-athlete experience can really mold a young adult.
“I think when soccer players learn work ethic and teamwork at a early age, and are around people that have similar beliefs, it carries through the rest of their lives on and off the field.”
And sometimes that’s carried through to the lives of those who still live on and off the field.