In 2005, 18-year-old Ruy Vaz had a life-altering decision to make.  

He had the opportunity to go to Italy and pursue his dream of becoming a professional soccer player. 

However, he’d have to leave his family behind in Sao Paulo to do so. 

“I just needed to give it a shot, to go there and try,” Vaz said. “I wanted to stay at home. I didn’t really want to leave.” 

Vaz decided to take the risk and move to Italy to play in the fifth division of Italian soccer. While not at a professional club, Vaz played with and against players in their late 20s and 30s as a teenager. 

During his time in Italy, he was also doing trials around Europe in countries like Belgium and Germany. 

But his pursuit of a career in professional soccer came at a cost. He had to learn to adapt to life on his own in Italy. 

“It’s not like when you are in college here [in the U.S.], and you have the comfort of a dorm and your teammates and you’re just studying,” Vaz said. “There, you’re just trying to play and survive literally, and you’re on your own.” 

It was especially difficult because Vaz had issues connecting with his family back in Brazil. Cell phones didn’t allow for a visual connection, and apps like FaceTime weren’t an option. 

“If you wanted to see your parents, you needed to have a webcam or go to a place with a computer,” Vaz said. “I just communicated to my parents with a pay phone. It was tough, but it was helping me develop a thick skin.” 

After three years in Italy, Vaz made a move to Portugal and played there for two years. It was a more positive experience, he said, partly because it was easier to communicate with his family back home, but also because he played in the third tier of Portuguese soccer. 

Vaz recalls practicing and playing with players that would eventually go on to make a name for themselves. One player that Vaz briefly trained with was Pizzi, a player who has gone on to have a very lengthy career spanning nearly two decades. 

Playing with and against professionals was a challenge for Vaz, and that thick skin he developed kept him going when training and games got tough. 

It was easier for Vaz to get by in Portugal, but in 2010, he got burnt out from the daily grind of the pursuit of being a professional. 

Vaz was in contact with Federico Cino, one of the eight players he went to Italy with from Brazil. 

Cino had left Italy to play college soccer in the US, first at California Baptist University and then at California State University Los Angeles. 

When Cino left for America in 2007, Vaz rejected the idea of joining him and was focused on pursuing a career in Europe. 

In 2010 though, Vaz decided his professional career wasn’t going to pan out, and that it was time to try college soccer. 

“A lot of people [play soccer in college] to try to become a professional soccer player,” Vaz said. “I came here because I gave up on becoming a professional soccer player. I just wanted to have an education and eventually get into coaching.” 

He faced a challenge though: Vaz had to find a program that would take on a 23-year-old freshman. 

Many think of America’s biggest cities when they think of America from an outsider’s perspective. 

However, Vaz’s first stop in America was in Arkansas City, Kansas. 

He played at Cowley College for two years at the junior college level. Then, he went to Oklahoma City University of the NAIA. 

He recalled how noticeably easier it was for him to play at the college level. While still intense, he said the game moved a lot slower for him, and that the transition from Europe was smooth. 

After graduation, Vaz went back to Cowley and volunteered his time as an assistant coach. 

It was there that Vaz ended his career as a player and began his career as a coach. 

After serving as a volunteer for a year, Vaz was brought on as a full-time assistant coach. Two years later, Cowley’s men’s soccer head coach, Roberto Dos Santos, took over as head coach of the women’s team, leaving Vaz to fill the role as head coach of the men’s team. 

He led Cowley for seven seasons, taking the team to the National Junior College Athletic Association tournament in six of those seasons. The only year Cowley didn’t go to the tournament was in 2020 when it was cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Cowley went to the final four in 2022 and to the junior college national championship game in 2024. 

Vaz said he was in a great situation at Cowley. After all, following that 2024 season, he won 110 games, met his wife and started a family. 

However, Vaz felt like it was time for him to take a step in his career. 

“It was way too comfortable,” he said. “I don’t like the comfort zone so much.” 

Vaz was ready for the challenge, just like he was when it all began at 18 years old in Brazil. He sought a coaching job at the Division I or professional level, but he would only take the job if he was a head coach. 

“It’s not so much because of the position name,” he said. “But I’m a guy who likes to create. I like to have autonomy. I like to build things.” 

He was drawn to the Eastern men’s soccer job and signed the contract in February to become the next head coach. 

He had a lot of work to do following the departure of Josh Oakley and had to work fast to put a team together after most of the 2024 team had transferred out. 

Vaz brought on 25 new players, mixing players of different backgrounds together all in an attempt to change the program’s culture, something he said needed to happen. 

Changing the culture, though, is nothing new to him. Vaz said he did the same at Cowley. 

Vaz continues his first season with Eastern, as the Panthers attempt to make it back to the Ohio Valley Conference tournament after missing out on last season’s postseason with a last-place finish. 

Gabe Newman can be reached at 581-2812 or at ghnewman@eiu.edu.