MAYFIELD’S MAYA PICKS UP CAREER WIN #500
Saturday night was a milestone win for Mayfield High School girls basketball coach George Maya. The Trojans beat Espanola Valley 49-48 giving Maya his 500th career victory. Maya is 5th on New Mexico’s all-time list of winningest coaches in girls basketball. Maya is currently in his 37th year of coaching. He spent two years at Gadsden as an assistant with the girls basketball program, 10 years at Mayfield as an assistant with the boys and 25 years with the Lady Trojans at Mayfield. He amassed a record of 500-169 with the Lady Trojans as a Head Coach.
Q&A with George Maya:
How does it feel to win #500?
It feels great. Having my wife, Anna, at the game was very special. She’s been by my side the past 33 years during all this. I could not have done this without her support. She has never taken my passion for coaching away from me. Also, my kids Jake (who played at Mayfield and Las Cruces) & Jeneca have always been supportive as I spent time away from them to coach other kids. There are times I miss my grandkids’ basketball games (Ashlyn and Zayden) and they even understand as young as they are that this is what I love to do. I have always had support from my parents, the late George Maya & Nicolasa Maya. My dad would attend my games and my mom, to this day, continues to light a candle every time we play. I had the opportunity of coaching against my brother Roger when he was the head coach at Onate. Our parents sat in the middle and switched sides at halftime, one wearing green and gold and the other black and silver! Also, my entire extended family and in-laws have always supported me. This for me is something I am forever grateful. So as you can see, basketball is a huge part of the Maya family!
Did you ever think you would win that many games?
No, I never thought about it. It was never a goal of mine. My goal was to coach and make an impact on lives just like my high school coach (the late Zac Valles) did and the two amazing coaches I worked for before I became a head coach (Coach Jimmy Oliver and Coach Manny Trevizo).
Is there a particular win that stands out the most from your 500?
I would have to say that I have 3 that stand out for me and those are the 3 State Championship wins that our program has acquired.
1. Our first State Championship in 2004 was the first ever in girls basketball for Mayfield High School, the Las Cruces Public Schools and the City of Las Cruces. And to this day we are still the only girls Basketball program to achieve that honor.
2. The 2007 State Championship is very special to me because my daughter, Jeneca Maya Montoya, was part of that team and it was always her dream growing up around the game to be a State Champion! (And today she is still part of my program as the Freshmen Coach).
What do you remember about your first career win?
It was an away game at Cobre and the team was 1-22 when we took over, so winning this game was like winning a state championship for us. The excitement and look on their faces was priceless.
How long do you see yourself coaching?
As long as the good Lord gives me my health. I still enjoy what I’m doing, I love going to work every day, enjoy teaching the game of basketball and I still have a lot of energy. My family tells me I need to wait for my granddaughters to go thru the program and one is 10 (Ashlyn) and the other is 22 months old (Aulani), so you figure how much longer I will be there.
