Redes was the first club to reach high sporting levels in Mexico, laying the foundations for the Charales de Chapala.
The veteran team of Sports Club Redes Chapala with recognition in hand, minutes before the start of their last friendly match against El Chapala. Photo: Jazmín Stengel.
Jazmín Stengel (Chapala).- A team with history. Club Deportivo Redes celebrated its 62nd anniversary in style and with a dedication to Othón Rayo, an outstanding sports promoter in Chapala.
Former and veteran players were recognized by the Government of Chapala.
With the mariachi Águila and three friendly matches, Juan José Rayo Castro, Othón’s son and current manager of the club, praised those present on February 28, as he does every year, with the aim of not letting the tradition die that his grandfather Juan Rayo Suárez started in 1960 and later inherited from his father, Othón Rayo.
Municipal President Alejandro de Jesús Aguirre Curiel also joined in the celebration and presented awards to the most representative players in the club’s 62-year history, such as Mario Sánchez, Rafael Rayo, Nano Sánchez, Luis Ayala, Manuel Huerta, Kiko Camarena, Salvador ‘El Chato’ Chavoya, and goalkeeper Humberto ‘The Spider’ Reyes, among others who were present.
After the presentation of awards, Alejandro Aguirre kicked off the first match, in which the veterans of the ‘El Chapala’ team faced each other. It is worth mentioning that many of the members lived in Los Angeles, California, where they founded a second club under the name of Redes Chapala.
In the second match, the B division of Club Redes played against the champions of Chapala, Niños Santos. To give way to the stellar match against the Chapala pre-selection for the Jalisco Cup 2022, who demonstrated their level with a 4-0 win. «They are twice our age,» commented Juanito, a Redes director, who explained that in addition to being ten years older than the other players, the club only plays in the local area.
Compared to before, in 1974 they won against Chivas de Guadalajara 2-0, recalls Mario Sanchez, who scored both goals when he was only 17 years old at the time. Or the tour of the United States in 1991, when Reyes Oliveros was the president of the California Soccer League.
Around the 1970s, they counted on the presence of Evelio Ortiza, Brazilian, and Antonio Olivera, Costa Rican, foreign coaches of first and second division who pushed the team to the professional reserves.
«Many said that Redes was for snobs, but I am proof that this is not so. It was for those of us who wanted to grow up,» denied Antonio Mendoza, proud bearer of the number 13 during the first decades of the club’s trajectory.
Over the years and thanks to the initiative of Jesús Cabrera Jiménez, during his 2010-2012 administration, the current third division club Charales de Chapala was founded, supported by the best former players of Club Deportivo Redes as coaching staff.
Translated by Elizabeth Shields
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