Manny Pacquiao. JuJu Smith-Schuster. Olympic medalists Will Simpson and Sabine Schut-Kery. These are just some of the athletes Mario Soto has helped. A longtime member of the Screen Actors Guild, Soto now splits his time between the high-stakes world of elite performance and the classroom—he’s a Graduate Professor of Sport Psychology and Performance at California Baptist University.
But in San Juan Capistrano, where he’s lived for over a decade, Soto has made his most lasting impact. “This is the best place to live,” he says. “I’m thankful every day I found it.” He’s raised two sons here. He volunteers at San Juan Hills High. He works with athletes, parents, and coaches across the town’s equestrian barns, courts, and fields—not for glory, but for something more grounded: “to tell the truth, even when it’s hard.”
One of those truths was delivered to Justina Kozan, a standout swimmer at Santa Margarita Catholic HS. She had Olympic dreams and an elite motor in the pool, but mentally, the pressure weighed heavily. Soto remembers prepping Kozan before the biggest swim of her life. “She was 16, youngest in the field, and the only thing I wanted her to think about was this: You belong here. Don’t let the moment get bigger than you. Just stay in your lane—mentally and physically—and prove you earned the right to be there.” Kozan won her heat, qualified for the Olympic Trials finals, and soon landed a full-ride scholarship to USC.
Stories like that are why parents and coaches in San Juan Capistrano call Soto—not for hype, but for clarity. “We’re in a rat race,” Soto says. “Most of us are running on low tires—mentally, emotionally. My job is to help people recognize that, so they can properly inflate those ‘tires’ back to where they need to be.”
“I know what it’s like to have talent but no roadmap,” he says. “What I try to do—here in San Juan, in the classroom, on the field—is give people the tools to believe when doubt creeps in. Because when you learn how to rise from that, that’s when everything changes.”
Whether he’s coaching Division I hopefuls, equestrian riders recovering from injury, or resetting locker-room cultures, Soto’s mission remains the same: to help people meet the moment with clarity, not noise. His message is steady: simplify, stabilize, believe.
