VICTOR ARBELAEZ SR.: 1953-2007

Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007 | 7:22 a.m.

After collapsing on the soccer field during Bishop Gorman's boys soccer practice, Victor Arbelaez Sr. made the sign of the cross.

He told the team's coach - his son - that he loved him, his brother , Victor Jr. , and sister , Jackie.

"Word for word," Gaels coach Nick Arbelaez said. "I think he knew."

Within minutes, the community had lost a man regarded as the father of soccer in Las Vegas, a former NCAA champion and competitor whose play upstaged the famous Pele in a match here 30 years ago that old-timers still talk about.

The senior Arbelaez was pronounced dead at Summerlin Hospital on Thursday afternoon. He was 54.

"I didn't know what to expect, but I felt my Dad knew it was his time by the gestures he made on the way out of the gate," said Nick Arbelaez, 27. "I think he knew exactly what was going on.

"Ultimately, he passed on where he loved the most, on the soccer field."

Funeral services for Victor Arbelaez Sr. will be held at 10 a.m. today at St. Viator Catholic Church, 2461 E. Flamingo Road.

Arbelaez helped the University of San Francisco win an NCAA title in 1975. In 1977, he scored the lone goal for the Las Vegas Quicksilvers in a North American Soccer League match against the New York Cosmos at what is now Sam Boyd Stadium, upstaging world-famous stars Pele of the Cosmos and Eusebio of the Quicksilvers.

In 22 seasons coaching Bishop Gorman, he was 371-31-8 and led the Gaels to 11 state championships.

In 2002, Arbelaez underwent surgery for lung cancer, and he had a benign tumor removed from his jaw in July 2006.

As an interim coach, as his father recovered, Nick Arbelaez led the Gaels to a state title last year. He was named permanent coach before this season, and his father was well enough to help him.

By Monday evening, three banners had been attached to a fence near Field 3 at the Kellogg-Zaher sports complex as a tribute to the popular coach. The field will be renamed in Victor Arbelaez's honor, Nick Arbelaez said.

"He was an inspiration," Nick Arbelaez said. "I just hope to get half that respect. He had such unbelievable character. He's rubbed off on so many people."

Nick Arbelaez said his father's diet consisted of soft foods, such as gelatin, vegetables and smoothies. The elder Arbelaez looked fit, according to Downtown Las Vegas Soccer Club President Roger Tabor.

"It looked like he was making real progress," said Tabor, whose son, Colin, plays on the Gaels junior varsity team. "Man, what he had been going through. But it looked like he could run five miles without warming up."

Victor Arbelaez coached the Las Vegas Strikers, a club team, in 2004 and 2005.

"He had such passion for the game and for people," Strikers co-owner Steve Lazarus said. "Everyone took to Victor so well, and there was nothing that he would ask you to do that he wouldn't do himself."

After Bishop Gorman's recent alumni game, Tabor, a former UNLV player, watched as Arbelaez, as usual, received numerous hugs.

"People came out of the woodwork just to hug Vic," Tabor said. "Everywhere he went, people hugged him. He was so brave. God, he is going to be missed."