Juan Alberto Wong Borunda (born 6 May 1981) is a Mexican

gridiron football Gridiron football ( ),"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' ...

coach and former

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

who is the current head coach of the Borregos Salvajes Laguna juvenile (under-18) team. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

with the Borregos Salvajes Laguna before signing with the

Dallas Desperados The Dallas Desperados were a professional arena football team based in Dallas, Texas. They played in the Eastern Division of the Arena Football League from to . The franchise began as an expansion team and posted a winning record in all but o ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

in 2004. Wong played in

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

for two seasons, appearing for the

Rhein Fire Rhein Fire may refer to either of two American football franchises: * Rhein Fire (NFL Europe) The Rhein Fire were a professional football team in the NFL Europe, formerly the World League of American Football. Established in Düsseldorf, Germany ...

, the Frankfurt Galaxy, and the Hamburg Sea Devils, before participating in

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

training camp in 2007. Wong represented the Mexico national team at the 2003 IFAF World Championship, winning a silver medal.

Early life and youth career

Wong was born on 6 May 1981 in

Torreón Torreón () is a city and seat of Torreón Municipality in the Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Coahuila. The city's population is 720,848 inhabitants, making it the second largest city in the state of Coahuila. Also Torreón is par ...

Coahuila Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza, is one of the 31 states of Mexico. The largest city and State Capital is the city of Saltillo; the second largest is Torreón and the thi ...

, to Juan Alberto Wong Cobian and Rosadelia Borunda García. His paternal great-grandfather was Chinese. Wong began playing

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

at a young age, joining the infant categories of the Jaguares del Campestre La Rosita, because his father was the head coach of the Gatos Negros del Tec Laguna, the football team at the . Wong later joined the Borregos Salvajes Laguna, leading the juvenile (18 and under) team to an appearance in the championship game as their

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. The following season, Wong was moved up to the intermediate (20 and under) team, which competed in the , and was converted to a

, which he played from thereon out. After the Borregos Laguna joined ONEFA, Wong led the intermediate category in catches and receiving yards in two consecutive seasons.

College career

Wong attended the

Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM; ), also known as Technological Institute of Monterrey () or just Tec, is aresearch university based in Monterrey, Mexico, which has grown to include 35 campuses located across 25 cit ...

(ITESM), Laguna Campus and played with the Borregos Laguna

team in the Liga Mayor, the highest-tier category in ONEFA, from 2001 to 2003. He led the league in receiving yards and touchdowns among wide receivers in his first season, earning Rookie of the Year honors. In 2002, Wong again led all receivers in touchdowns and was named the Offensive Player of the Year. Wong was also a three-time selection to the Aztec Bowl, where he represented the Mexican All-Stars against a team of

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

All-Stars. He scored his team's only touchdown in the 2002 game, which was held in his hometown of Torreón. The following year, Wong was a part of the team that defeated the NCAA Division III All-Stars for the first time in Aztec Bowl history. Additionally, he was chosen to play in the 2002 Friendship Bowl against a team from Japan, catching a touchdown pass from Ignacio Valdéz in the 27–24 loss. Wong studied international trade at ITESM Laguna.

Professional career

Wong was signed by the

of the

(AFL) in December 2003 after a tryout in Mexico. However, he was waived in February 2004 as part of the final round of cuts, days before their season opener. Wong was signed by the

(NFLE) ahead of the 2006 season. He was one of seven Mexican players signed by NFLE teams after participating in a training camp in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, with other international prospects. In the season opener, Wong caught a 45-yard touchdown pass from fellow receiver Chris Samp as part of a

trick play A trick play, also known as a gadget play, gimmick play or trickeration, is a play in gridiron football that uses deception and unorthodox tactics to fool the opposing team. A trick play is often risky, offering the potential for a large gain or a ...

on the Fire's first play from scrimmage, helping them defeat the Frankfurt Galaxy 10–6. He appeared in five games for the Fire, catching three passes for 77 yards and one touchdown, before he was traded to the Frankfurt Galaxy midseason while recovering from a quad injury. Wong helped the Galaxy reach the league championship game,

World Bowl XIV World Bowl XIV, officially known as Yello Strom World Bowl XIV, was the 2006 championship game of the NFL Europe League. It was held at the LTU arena in Düsseldorf, Germany on Saturday, May 27, 2006. The game was between the defending World B ...

, where they defeated the

Amsterdam Admirals The Amsterdam Admirals were a professional American football team based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, playing in the NFL Europe. History The Admirals were formed in 1995 as part of the NFL's plan to restart the World League of American Football, t ...

22–7 to win their fourth title in franchise history. At the conclusion of a 2007 international minicamp, Wong was assigned to the Hamburg Sea Devils, returning to NFL Europe for a second season. He recorded one catch for 11 yards in the regular season, as well as one catch for 26 yards in

World Bowl XV World Bowl XV, officially known as Yello Strom World Bowl XV, was NFL Europa's 2007 championship game, and the final game in the league's history. It was played at Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt, Germany on Saturday, June 23, 2007. The defendin ...

as the Sea Devils defeated the Frankfurt Galaxy 37–28 for the title. Wong joined the

training camp in July 2007 via an NFL Europe roster exemption, signing a free agent deal upon his arrival. After seeing limited playing time in the preseason, Wong was waived by the Jets on August 27 to reach the 75-man roster limit. In 2014, Wong played with Olmecas Premier in the semi-professional Futbol Americano Asociacion (FAMA) league in Mexico. He aided the team to an appearance in the championship game, where they lost to Tigres Oro SSP, led by former

Águilas Blancas IPN Águilas () is a municipality and seaport of southeastern Spain, in the province of Murcia. It is situated at the southern end of Murcia's Mediterranean coastline, otherwise known as the Costa Cálida, near the border with the Province of Almerí ...

quarterback Raúl Mateos.

National team career

Wong was called up to the Mexico national team ahead of the 2003 IFAF World Championship held in Germany. He helped Mexico reach the championship game against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, where he caught a touchdown pass from Juan Zamora, but Mexico lost 34–14 and settled for the silver medal.

Coaching career

Wong began coaching in 2009, serving as the wide receivers coach for UVM Torreón juvenile (18 and under) team. He was promoted to offensive coordinator the following year before another promotion to head coach the year after that. Wong served as the team's head coach for three seasons and guided them to two championships. Wong took his first job in ONEFA when he was hired as the wide receivers coach for the

Borregos Salvajes The ''Borregos Salvajes ITESM'' (in English: Wild Rams) is the name of all the cultural, artistic and sports teams that represent the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) in various disciplines, such as sports, theatre, ...

by head coach Carlos Altamirano in 2017, who he knew personally. In February 2021, Wong was hired as the head coach of the ITESM Laguna juvenile team.

References

External links

Juan Wong
at ProFootballArchives
Juan Wong
at ArenaFan.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Wong, Juan Living people 1981 births Mexican players of American football Mexican coaches of American football American football wide receivers Dallas Desperados players Rhein Fire players Frankfurt Galaxy players Hamburg Sea Devils players New York Jets players Expatriate players of American football Mexican expatriate sportspeople in the United States Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Germany Mexican sportspeople of Chinese descent Sportspeople from Torreón