KERRVILLE, Texas – Reece Zunker graduated from New Braunfels Canyon High School in 2007.
Zunker and his wife, Paula, were among the victims of recent floods in the Texas Hill Country. Their children, Lyle and Holland, remain missing.
Zunker was the head boys soccer coach at Kerrville Tivy High School. The tragedy has deeply affected many, including the local soccer community.
Canyon Head Boys Soccer Coach Rob Rush, who coached Zunker in high school, spoke about why he was so beloved.
“He had a good personality,” Rush said. “He genuinely cared about other people. Yeah, I was talking to one of his buddies the other day about him, and Reece — it’s cliché — but he was the type of guy who would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. And I mean, that describes him.”
Rush and Zunker faced off on the pitch as head coaches — Tivy versus New Braunfels Canyon. Those are memories Rush will always cherish.
“I actually probably enjoyed it more than coaching him, because we got to compete. And before the games, of course, we would talk and catch up. I got to meet his family a couple of times in Kerrville when we went over there, and it was a lot of fun, especially competing against a kid that you’d already coached.”
Zunker played both soccer and football at Canyon High School, and Rush remembers him as a good kid and leader.
“He had a group of great kids that he grew up around,” Rush said. “His parents were some of the original founders of youth soccer in New Braunfels. So they were a complete soccer family. All three of the kids played. Mom and Dad were heavily involved. Reece, when he got to high school, was tenacious. He played football and he played soccer. He was a leader. Kids followed him. He did the right things.”
The loss has hit the community hard, highlighting the close bonds formed through soccer in the region.
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Great Job Larry Ramirez & the Team @ KSAT San Antonio Source link for sharing this story.
