In the fall of 2019, one-eighth of the Chico State men’s soccer team was living under one soccer-centric roof. Cooper Renteria, Garrett Hogbin, Alex Fluitt, and Justin Bethke practiced together, played together, talked soccer together on the way to practice, and talked soccer together on the way home from class. They argued about soccer. They laughed about soccer. They lived it and breathed it.
They loved it.
“Living in a house with four of my best friends and teammates was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had,” Renteria said. “It was just always on your mind. We were non-stop talking about soccer. We talked about it on the way home from class. We talked about it at lunch. We went to the coaches’ office to talk soccer. It kind of consumes your life.
“It’s just really fun.”
The only remaining holdover from that quartet, Renteria (who graduated in December with a degree in business marketing) enrolled in graduate school and plans to play his final season of eligibility in the fall. He’s in the midst of his first semester in the Master of Business Administration program with an option in project management.
Graduate school was not part of Renteria’s original plan but he knows that degree will help him in the future. He also knows it was his path to one more year of playing the game he loves.
“I recognize that I probably won’t be playing soccer after I’m finished at Chico State, so I wanted to take this opportunity to play one more time,” Renteria explained. “I’ve been competing my whole life. It is what I do. I love competing.”
Last week, following more than a year away from the game and their teammates, Renteria and the Wildcats were allowed to practice together for the first time in 2021. It was the start of a five-week-long return to activity for intercollegiate athletics.
“It was weird,” Renteria said. “When have you ever been away from your team for a year? The weirdest part for me was the shift in the team. It’s a very young group, which isn’t a bad thing.”
Fluitt’s gone. Bethke’s gone. Hogbin’s gone.
Renteria’s role has changed completely, which is something he is embracing.
“I’ve been on the team the longest and have the most experience so I am a leader, and I’m cool with that,” Renteria said. “It’s a different, exciting experience that opens me up to new adventures and will let me see different sides to myself. It’s something I’m excited for.”
Mostly, he’s excited to be back out on the pitch competing.
“I’m so happy to be out there again,” he said. “The first two trainings were great. The next four weeks will be great. I’m looking forward to training all summer after that and getting ready for the fall.”
Renteria has been competing since he was small. He credits his parents, Rod and Julie, with instilling in him a strong work ethic. They shuttled him from basketball to baseball to soccer practice, and everywhere in between.
He comes from a very baseball-oriented family, but after whittling his activities down to baseball and soccer, he settled his sights on playing soccer at the collegiate level.
“I’ve just always enjoyed running around and you don’t get as much of that in baseball,” Renteria explained. “For whatever reason, I was drawn to soccer. I just really enjoyed traveling for soccer and going on the road for tournaments.”
He and his Jesuit High School teammates went unbeaten as sophomores. Then, as seniors, they won the league title and Sac-Joaquin Section D-I championship.
It was Renteria’s first taste of the “all soccer, all the time” life.
“By the time we were seniors we had all been playing together for four years, so we were a close group,” Renteria said. “That month we were in the playoffs was an exciting time. It consumed our lives and I loved it.”
The journey is a huge part of what makes the destination so enjoyable for Renteria.
In 2008, Chico State advanced to the NCAA Championship Tournament and played in Azusa. The first memory of that experience to enter Renteria’s mind was the bus ride down.
“Being on the bus with your buddies. It just feels different. It’s very exciting,” Renteria said. “And when you step on the field it’s just a little bit of a different feeling as well. That was probably the most surreal sports experience I’ve had, honestly.”
It’s part of what has motivated Renteria to return for one more season. He’s hoping to help lead the Wildcats back to the NCAA Championship Tournament in the fall.
“I only have one year left. Getting back to the NCAA Tournament is definitely a motivation,” Renteria said. “Hopefully we can get there one more time before I’m done.”
Either way, he’s got a few more months to live and breathe the game he loves.
