SOCCER
BEGINNINGS
At seven years old I remember telling my parents and other family members that I wanted to be a soccer player. Soon after turning eight years old, I got my first pair of soccer cleats, a new kit, and my mother took me to sign me up for my first soccer practice at “Sol De America” – a local club in the city where I lived in Paraguay. I was stoked and at the same time a bit nervous. I was introduced to the coach of the 1992 team, who asked me what position I played, and I replied, “Midfielder.” I joined the group of players to warm up and shortly after the coach split us into two teams. I was placed as a midfielder on one of the teams and started playing. That was the beginning of a formative and invaluable journey in the sport.
The “Sol De America” team of ’92 turned out to be one the most competitive teams in youth soccer during my time there. Our team was made up of quite talented players and won numerous tournaments. As I kept growing, developing my skills, and getting more serious about the sport, my aspiration of becoming a professional one day kept growing. Although it wasn’t going to be easy, I knew that I was on the right path. I just needed to work hard and persevere to make my dream come true. However, in 2006, at the age of 13, when I thought I could indeed have a chance to compete at a high level in Paraguay, my parents, my brothers and I moved to the U.S. I was clueless as to where I would even start playing soccer again.
TRAVEL & HIGH SCHOOL
Upon arriving to the state of New Jersey in the United States - where I moved permanently with my family - one of the things I wanted the most was to start playing on a soccer team again. Since I was in 8th grade at the time, I joined the Central middle school soccer team on my first week of school. Weeks later I also joined the Watchung Hills Soccer Association (WHSA) travel team, which competed in tournaments year-round except in the summer. I ended up playing with this travel team for five years, all through middle school and high school.
When I went to Watchung Hills high school in 9th grade, I tried out for the soccer team, and I was selected to join the varsity team. I then began playing with, and competing against, players that were older, stronger, and faster than I was. It was an intimidating challenge, but one through which I was able to develop adaptation and become a better player. I went on to play for four years with the varsity soccer team at Watchung Hills.
COLLEGE
While searching for colleges in senior year of high school my major goal was to play soccer. This meant the quality of the academic program was secondary to me. I applied to several colleges in and out of state and contacted their respective soccer coaching staff expressing my interest in being part of their team. I sent video highlights of my games; I attended soccer clinics at a few of the colleges and got to meet the coaches in person. I had some success with getting responses and attention from coaches. However, I wasn’t fully educated on the college sports recruiting system and the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) eligibility requirements. Two of the coaches who expressed the most interest in having me on their team were from division 1 colleges in New Jersey; but little did I know I did not meet the NCAA academic standards to play at this division. I had to either attend a college in division 2 or 3, try to play there for a season and transfer to a division 1 college after a year; or still attend a division 1 college, not competing for a year and try to get on the team as a walk-on my second year. I chose the latter and went to Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.
Not playing at a competitive level during my freshman year at Rider was challenging, but I managed to get on the team after trying out as a walk-on at the beginning of my sophomore year. I was part of the Rider soccer team for three years. It was an amazing experience, yet one that was probably not the best for me in terms of athletic development, and if I had known better, I would have most likely chosen a different path.
With my college soccer days behind me I didn’t have any intention of trying to play at a professional level. For two and a half years I was content with playing for a team in a Sunday adult league, as well as pickup games with friends, family, and former teammates. In the summer of 2017, inspired by challenging life circumstances I had experienced, I went to an open professional soccer combine for three days. I had signed up for it six months prior and had intentionally and persistently trained for it. I wanted to change my life for the better and pursuing a professional soccer career was how I thought I could do it. I was aware that I had almost zero chance of signing a professional soccer contract, especially at 25 years of age and having no previous professional experience. However, I knew that no matter how slim my chances of making it were, the journey itself would have facilitated immense personal growth and transformation, and this is exactly what happened.
Between 2017 and 2021, with a virus pandemic in between, I trained consistently by myself on the field and at the gym, I joined a more competitive Sunday adult league, went to professional showcases in Europe, and traveled around the U.S. to open tryouts held by teams on lower tiers of professional soccer. In 2022 I was invited to join the Chicago City SC team after getting noticed at their open tryouts. This team is part of the USL League Two – considered a pre-professional league in the U.S. – and I was fortunate to be part of the organization for 6 months. Not having gotten to compete with the first team, but grateful for having played with the reserves team for the entire season, I finally felt it was time to let go of pursuing a career in soccer.