Coupeville Sports

Paul Mendes and wife Heidi Hennessey. (Joanne Pelant photo)

Mendes as a Sounder. (Photo copyright nasljerseys.com)

The number of former professional athletes coaching at Coupeville High School just got a lot smaller.

Wolf boys’ soccer guru Paul Mendes, a man who once played on the same field as Pele, has decided to call it a career as a high school coach.

After decades in the game, with the last run being dedicated to building the CHS soccer program from scratch to a unit that went to state three times, it’s time to get off the bus.

Mendes will remain as a Spanish teacher at CHS, while one of his assistants, Kyle Nelson, who coached the Wolf JV, will step into his role as head coach.

Before he arrived in Coupeville and helped launch the Wolf boys’ program, Mendes, a native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, had already been hugely successful at multiple levels.

He coached Newport High School for 24 years, winning state titles in 1982 and 2003. During his tenure, he was a five-time KingCo Coach of the Year selection.

Mendes also scored big at the college level, where he was an assistant coach for Seattle Pacific University. During his time there, they won national titles in 1986 and 1993.

A brilliant player, he was a four-year letterman and three time All-Conference selection for the University of Washington.

Drafted by the Seattle Sounders in 1977, during the heyday of the North American Soccer League, Mendes played parts of two seasons as a midfielder, sporting jersey number 24, but his career was prematurely ended by lingering complications from a broken leg suffered as a rookie.