UTEP faces off the field: Rifle coach Andrea Palafox

The last time UTEP was a national factor in rifle, a decade ago, Amanda Palafox was the engine.

She earned five All-American honors from 2009-2012 on the way to her degree in psychology, then went on to a number of different jobs, including teaching yoga, in New York and her native Mexico.

In August she was picked to resuscitate the program at her alma mater. She comes here from her hometown of Guanajuato, Mexico where she was competing professionally and coaching.

UTEP's first rifle match under Palafox was scheduled for last week at Nebraska, but the Miners were stranded at the airport in Phoenix and had to reschedule. They are now slated to open Saturday at Air Force as they look to snap a 16-match losing streak dating back to 2020.

Palafox is still actively competing with a goal to represent Mexico in the 2024 Olympics.

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What made you want to come back to UTEP?

Whenever I was a student athlete here, I really enjoyed being with the team, being here in El Paso. It was the first time I had moved somewhere different than home. It was a really good experience for me. Everything that I wanted to do when I was teenager and in my 20s was to shoot. It was really great to be here at the range all those years and represent UTEP. ...

After different experiences in life I realized this was what I wanted to do. I love shooting, I love teaching, I realized that I loved teaching when I became a yoga teacher. Then I was like, I love yoga, but I don't love it as much as shooting.

At some point, I don't know when, I realized my dream job was to be a coach at a university in the States. I thought, whenever I have the opportunity, it's something I want to do, this is the dream. I applied to different jobs, eventually I found out about UTEP. This was my main goal. I loved it here when I was a student. I didn't know if I could make it or not, but destiny brought me back here.

Is there pressure coming back to your alma mater?

I feel really comfortable because I know a lot of people already here from when I was a student. This is the right place for me. I feel happy, I feel the support of the department. Many things have changed since I was a student here, in a positive way. Some of the things I didn't have when I was a student, we have now. There's more support from the trainers. Back then we didn't do weight training. Now I know we have access to that.

You're still competing professionally. How difficult is it to juggle coaching and competing?

It's a challenge. I want to be here for them and I want to be at all their competitions, but there are certain dates that conflict. I need to plan ahead so I can combine everything so it works. Next year I have to qualify to make the team in Mexico, then go to international competitions. It's difficult, it's a challenge but I have the support of the athletic department.

That's a relief, because this has been my dream since I was a child. I find inspiration in two coaches who have done the same. The West Virginia coach (Jon Hammond) went to the Olympics when he started his job as a coach, and also the TCU coach (Karen Monez) was competing, at some point competing against her own students. That's an inspiration that tells me it's possible, I just have to find a way to make it work.

How does UTEP get better?

Recruiting the right people, people who are committed to the sport and have knowledge in the sport. I don't expect to have international level shooters right away, but I have the knowledge that will help any athlete get to a high level and make them better. We have everything we need here. The range is amazing, we have the ammunition. Once I find the talent and people with the right disposition to learn and change if they need to will make a difference.

Where will recruiting focus?

Most of the schools that have won nationals or are at the top have international students. I think that makes a big difference. Part of that is because international students bring a different commitment and have a different vision of what they want to do.

Coming from Mexico to here was a very different experience and I think that's true with most international athletes. In Mexico, we don't have a range like this, we don't have access to the equipment we have here. That desire, to really want to take advantage of what we have and improve the skills based on all the equipment and the competition, is important.

Competing almost every weekend is what made me feel like I was making progress. In my country, we'd compete maybe three times a year. Here, every weekend you have a competition and the chance to get better every time.

What are the prospects for this year's team?

They have a lot of potential. Unfortunately their experience with the previous coach wasn't great. There was a lot of resistance because they had trauma coming out of that experience. I don't know the details. They were not accepting my input at first, it was hard the first couple of weeks. Once they realized I was different from the previous coach, I've started to see more commitment, willingness to learn and do new things. I see a lot of potential.

The problem here is most of them are graduating, we only have one junior who is coming back next year. That's a challenge. Their mind tends to go to graduation. But after two or three weeks of working with me, they have changed. They are open to trying new things.

Bret Bloomquist can be reached at 915-546-6359; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Faces off the field: UTEP rifle coach Andrea Palafox