Paul Cuadros has been coaching the soccer team at Jordan-Matthews High School in Siler City for so long that some former players have kids on the current team.

“I feel like I’m sort of their grandfather coach,” said Cuadros, who is also an associate professor in the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media.

When Cuadros first arrived in Siler City in 1999 to report on immigration, there was no soccer program at the school. After coaching in the local soccer league for a couple of years, he launched the high school's program in 2002 and won a state championship in 2004.

Cuadros has used the lessons from creating that program and leading it to a championship in many ways. He wrote a book, “A Home on the Field,” which led to a documentary series produced by Jennifer Lopez.

He’s also been able to see the impact that visibility, leadership and development can have on a community — lessons he’s brought back to campus by creating various organizations for Latinx faculty, staff and students. Those endeavors include the Carolina Latinx Center, which will be opened this year and will hold its official ribbon-cutting on Oct. 4.

“I’m going to feel elated,” Cuadros said of the upcoming ceremony. “We need to have these sorts of institutions to establish ourselves, to have a presence and to develop leadership.”

On this week’s episode, Cuadros explains why he got involved in Siler City and how his involvement there has had an impact on campus.