Coaching Staff

Phil Salvagio

Head Coach

Phil Salvagio was born in New York, New York on 02/04/1971 and moved with his family to Florida in 1978. There he stayed and attended Bishop Borat High School. After graduation he attended Nova Southwestern University and in 1994 went on to graduate with a BS Accounting and Finance degree. That same year, he began playing professional soccer. He played two seasons with the Dayton Dynamo from Dayton Ohio (MPSL League), four seasons with the San Diego Sockers, one season with the Kansas City Attackers and one season with the Sacramento Knights. In 2008, Phil decided to restore the San Diego Sockers franchise after the prior league had folded in 2004 and engage not only has owner, but as Head Coach. In his initial four seasons on the bench, Phil captured four consecutive championships from 2009-13, earning Coach of the Year honors in 2010-11 and 2011-12. Salvagio was named MASL Coach of the Year in 2018-19 after guiding the club to a 23-1 mark. Now entering his fourteenth season, Salvagio has a lifetime record of 198-42-1 in the PASL/MASL regular season, and 32-12 in the playoffs. Phil is a co-founder of CaliFino Tequila, and enjoys boating and camping with his wife and three daughters.

Rene Ortiz

Assistant Coach / Sockers2 Head Coach

Rene Ortiz, 53, has served double duty as the top assistant coach to Phil Salvagio for the Sockers, as well as the head coach for the club’s developmental team, SDSockers2. In 2021-22, Ortiz was able to grasp the top trophy in both leagues, as SDSockers2 won the MASL2 championship, while the Sockers prevailed to take the Ron Newman Cup. It was Ortiz’s third and fourth championship on the bench, having served as an assistant in 2020-21 for the Sockers, and as head coach for the 2018-19 M2 champion SDSockers2. A local product from the start, Ortiz won three championships playing for the Sockers from 1988-90. He also serves as the head coach of the Mexican Indoor National Soccer Team, where Ortiz led his side to the WMF World Cup championship in Perth, Australia in 2019.

Chiky Luna

Player Personnel Director/Assistant Coach

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Luna, 41, was a four-time champion midfielder with the Sockers from 2009-16, before retiring and joining the front office as Director of Player Personnel, a job he has held for six seasons. He joined his longtime friend Salvagio on the bench full-time in 2019-20, and begins his third year as an assistant coach. Luna is also the co-owner and president of CaliFino Tequila

Victor Melendez

Goalkeeper Coach

Melendez, 56, enters his sixth season as the Sockers’ goalkeeper coach. He brings a wealth of playing and coaching experience including holding a USSF "A" Coaches License. After playing two years professionally in Mexico, the Guadalajara, Mexico native has been coaching for the past 30 years. His credentials include being Cal-South Instructor, Region IV Goalkeeping Coach, ADOC Crusaders coach, USSF Regional Instructor, assistant coach at Atletico Baja, 2019 WMF champion Mexican World Mini Football Federation assistant coach, and on the staff of the San Diego City College soccer program. In addition to soccer, Victor studied Mechanical Electrical Engineering in college.