Eric Solberg wears two hats.

He is assistant coach of the Men’s Baseball team and head coach of the Men’s Soccer team.

Solberg has held the baseball coaching position for 28 years now and the soccer team one for 17 years — 45 years combined experience in grooming winning Fresno City College teams.

“It’s a long time,” Solberg said. “One unique thing about this job is the environment never changes.”

He said part of his success can be attributed to the differences in the two sports. Baseball and soccer come from two different backgrounds and cannot be coached in the same way.

“The culture of the two sports are very different,” Solberg said.

He said that coaching both teams brings challenges but also opportunities to learn life lessons that help deal with issues that come up on the field.   

“I think I’m a coach’s guy; I think people like me,” Solberg said. “I like to be liked which could also be one of my weaknesses.”

He said having the opportunity to coach both teams is rewarding. Both teams complement each other pretty fairly, resulting in great seasons. With great seasons come great records, broken records and maybe even a state championship game.

“The most rewarding thing is, and it doesn’t happen a lot which is probably why it’s the most rewarding,” Solberg said. “It’s when the players come back years from when they played and tell me that they get it.”

Solberg wants his young players to realize that just being on the team is an honor, that they are given an opportunity to play the game while dozens of others cannot. “The reward is making the team and being a part of the college atmosphere,” he said.
“Grasp what’s going on,” Solberg said. “Enjoy the ride, even if you don’t see yourself on the field.”