Calros Lopez

Lopez is Mr. Soccer in the town of Defiance. A native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Lopez immigrated to US in 1973 and moved to Defiance in 1975, becoming a US citizen in 1979. A soccer player in Argentina on Club and Semi-pro teams, Lopez and his father founded "The Red Machine Soccer Team" in 1975 which was the beginning of youth soccer in Defiance. In 1991, Lopez was hired as the Defiance High School soccer coach and held the position for 21 years before retiring. A year later in 1992, Lopez founded the Defiance Soccer Association and the Defiance Strikers, which grew into a boys and girls U-9 through U-14 organization. During his time as coach as DHS, Lopez won four Western Buckeye League titles (2000, 2001, 2003, 2004) and was named WBL coach of the year on four occasions. Lopez also had two teams win sectional titles and twice Lopez was named the NorthWest Ohio District coach of the year. His overall record at Defiance was 179-141-50. Lopez has been employed at John Manville for 38 years. He is married to his wife Adriana and they have three children, Sergio (Katie), Diego and Diandra (James) along with two grandchildren Pippa and Xavier.