By RAY QUIROGA
publisher@sbnewspaper.com
When the San Benito CISD staff and administration returned to work from their winter hiatus, the district was short one familiar face: longtime administrator Ray Saldana.
In his close to 40-year career in public education, Saldana has been a coach, an athletic director, a campus administrator, and a district administrator. However, this past December, Saldana decided it was time to retire from his career – and what a career it has been.
Born and raised in the Resaca City, Saldana bleeds Purple and Gold. The son of San Benito luminaries in their own right, Rey and Mary Lou Saldana, Ray followed in his father’s footsteps through athletic endeavors and his mother’s career path in education. Rey Saldana was a prominent member of the San Benito gridiron team inducted into the Rio Grande Valley Sports Hall of Fame last year while Mary Lou was a career educator. Both have passed, but the lessons and values they held are well instilled in their children.
Rey, for example, never missed witnessing his son perform on the field despite his demanding workload. Ray fondly recalled how his father “almost” missed one of his games due to working late and arrived extremely tardy to see his son on the field. His father’s response was to apologize to his son who was taken aback. In his mind, Ray fully understood his father’s tardiness, and there was no need for an apology.
The uninitiated may also assume that given the elder Saldana’s sports pedigree, that Ray’s parents pushed him into sports. But much to Ray’s chagrin, that was far from the truth – grades came first and Ray especially credits his educator mom for nurturing the importance of excellence in the classroom.
Classroom focus and his athletic prowess landed him a spot with the Javalinas at what was then Texas A&I—Kingsville where he studied finance in hopes of being in the finance or banking industry, but the Savings & Loan crisis, which hit Texas especially hard and ultimately played a role in the looming economic recession of the 1980s, convinced Ray to pursue another career path.
Ray was ambitious and wanted to reach the panicles of the education field. While he was at it, he thought he might as well scratch the itch he had for sports and competition. Upon graduating Texas A&I University – Kingsville, Saldana, having made a reputation for himself on the field and as a pupil in San Benito, was fortunate to land an entry-level position on the San Benito Greyhound coaching staff under luminary Tommy Roberts. “Back then, the Greyhounds were kicking butt and taking names,” Saldana recalled of the late 1980s to mid-1990s era gridiron Greyhounds.
One of the reasons the ’Hounds were so potent on the field was because the coaching staff was stacked with talent, and that was one reason Saldana walked away from San Benito. Saldana explained that one of his flaws is his lack of patience and even at that early point of his career, he sought the “brass ring.”
However, looking at the talent around him, he did not foresee that an opening as head coach or athletic director would be attainable anytime soon. At that point, Saldana lobbied for an opening at Progreso ISD where he was named head football coach and athletic director.
After earning the coveted roles at the 3A district, Saldana and company knew they had their work cut out for them because, unlike the sports-centric and tradition-laden town of San Benito, Progreso had yet to forge a strong high school sports culture. In fact, it’s safe to say that sports was far from a priority in the small border community.
Time, discipline, and winning programs changed all that and by the time Saldana walked away to return to his hometown, the Red Ants and Saldana were showered with praise and accolades from across the state culminating with Saldana being named RGV Coach/AD of the Year by his peers.
Having proven himself as an on-field general, Saldana was ready to return home where his career advanced. Saldana ultimately retired this past December as a valued part of Superintendent Alfredo Perez’s inner circle of top-ranking district administrators.
Saldana said a recent health scare played a large role in reevaluating his priorities as he decided to step away from his career, relax, and enjoy time with his family, which includes his wife of 20 years, Martha, son Trey, daughter and extended family.
Often described as a born leader by his peers and subordinates, when asked about the key attributes of being a good leader, Saldana pointed to several qualities, including being able to forge multiple plans in case plan “A,” “B” or “C” falter, being a good listener, but possibly most important, “Never let them see you sweat,” a lesson passed down to him all those years ago in Progreso by his boss when Saldana asked the superintendent how he remained cool under so much pressure.
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