Spring resident and Houston attorney Benny Agosto Jr. came to study in the United States on an athletic scholarship in the early 1980s. One thing that struck him once he started law school was how similar sports competition is to being a trial lawyer.
Today, Agosto is a partner at the law firm of Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner, but he grew up playing soccer in his native land of Puerto Rico where his contributions to the sport have left a lasting legacy.
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Agosto is now part of the country’s soccer history after being inducted into the Puerto Rico Soccer Hall of Fame, Dec. 3, 2020, at the Class of 2020 Soccer Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
“I’m proud and honored to be part of the history but I’m thrilled that that recognition allows me the opportunity to tell a little bit of my story,” Agosto said.
Growing up, Agosto said soccer was not as big as other sports like boxing and baseball, but it allowed a group of four players, including himself, to be at the ground level of building the soccer program in Puerto Rico. The group would eventually become a part of the national team and ultimately ended up in Houston on full scholarships to play college soccer.
“That was the first time that had happened, and it allowed soccer to continue to develop,” he said. “It also gave me the opportunity to be educated and to come to Texas and to do the great things God has allowed me to do here.”
There was a full virtual ceremony to honor and celebrate the inductees, according to Agosto, with past members, speeches, and video clips but then the Class of 2020 was honored in person as well. Agosto went to Puerto Rico in December where the ceremony was held and got together with past honorees, teammates from 40 years ago and other inductees.
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He said two other inductees that were with him are his contemporaries, playing high school, national team, and college soccer together.
“It was a really great feeling to be with my friends and celebrate that together,” he said.
Overall, the class of 2020 features just over 10 inductees who helped shape the history of Puerto Rican soccer — players, coaches, and trainers. Agosto said the Hall of Fame represents a compilation of the country’s historical events.
The possibility of being inducted never crossed Agosto’s mind, he said, but he understood at the time of his playing days that he was a pioneer.
He said of the initial group that was brought to Houston on scholarships, four were from Puerto Rico.
“All the Puerto Ricans are in the Hall of Fame because we were groundbreakers,” he said. “We were club soccer, high school soccer, national team soccer, eventually played college soccer. …I never expected it but when I saw that the Hall of Fame was actually doing that historical analysis and celebration then I thought I have a shot at it.”
Tenacious and determined
Agosto was a part of academy and youth club soccer growing up and was a member of a high school team that clinched four consecutive championship game appearances. He also played for the junior and under-19 national teams and made the list of top players at the national level his last year of high school.
He played goalie at Houston Baptist on a full scholarship from 1981-1984, obtaining several honors through his career and was a part of a nationally ranked team as a senior. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science and attained a Juris Doctor from South Texas College of Law Houston.
Randy Sorrels is one of Agosto’s law partners at the firm. They also played soccer together at HBU. He said Agosto was a tenacious, hardworking and determined player who brought all the grit and effort he could bring.
Agosto was also a teacher and soccer coach at both the middle and high school level and the head coach at Houston Baptist for two years. In 2016, he was accepted to HBU’s Athletic Hall of Honor and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award.
“It’s a well-deserved honor that recognizes a new generation of Puerto Rico soccer,” Sorrels said of the Hall of Fame induction, “to bring it to the U.S., play in college and of course he’s been an all-star off the field too.”
Agosto had heard through the years that the Hall of Fame organization started recognizing historical figures of Puerto Rico’s soccer history, but it wasn’t until the spring of 2020 that the president reached out and informed Agosto of his nomination. He then received his letter of acceptance in October 2020.
‘Active leader’
Agosto has over 22 years of experience at the law firm of Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner.
When Agosto decided to return to school, he chose to attend law school. Agosto saw the attitude and idea of preparing to be a successful athlete or coach similar to what a trial lawyer does. He said preparing, training and going to battle in a trial is the same as in any sport, like competing in a soccer game on the pitch.
Sorrels said being goalie is a position that doesn’t see a lot of action, but when they do, they have to be at the top of their game for the team. He said Agosto understood his obligation and his duties, prepared and when the time arose, would execute.
“As a goalie, you often have to direct one half of the field on what’s going on and he was always a leader on the field, and he’s become a leader off the field,” Sorrels said. “He does a lot of charitable work actually for everybody, not just the Hispanic community. …He was tenacious on the field and he’s determined and that’s how he is practicing law.”
Once Agosto got used to being a trial lawyer in Texas, Latino, and realizing that many workers that are injured or who need lawyers like him are Spanish speaking or Hispanic in general, he saw that opportunity as a godsend.
“I took that opportunity and with God’s help made it a blessing,” Agosto said. “For the last 25 years, I’ve been representing injured workers and family members of folks that have been injured or killed and it’s because most of them, 85 percent of my clients are all Hispanic, because I speak Spanish — that’s my first language — and because I feel that has been the mission that God had for me. So, it worked out great. …I just love doing it every day. Going to work for me is not really working, it’s just coming to do something that I really love to do.”
Agosto is the immediate past president of the Houston Bar Association, the first Spanish speaking president of the HBA, and former president of the Hispanic National Bar Association. He is the current president of the Hope Disaster Recovery Board of Directors and a member of the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors.
In addition, Agosto was recently chosen to the 2020 Top Latino Lawyers list by national publication Latino Leaders Magazine for the fifth straight year.
“I’ve been an active leader,” he said. “Again, it translates from sports to leadership. Being a captain of my team to being the coach, to being a leader in the law firm, a leader in the community, leader at the lawyer’s level. So, it’s an easy translation because it’s an attitude, and so…I’ve been blessed. Been doing this a long time here in town.”
alvaro.montano@chron.com
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