Jose Medina/THE RIDER
Several UTRGV athletes explain what being Hispanic means to them in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, which is observed between Sept. 15 and Oct. 15.
Alexis Gonzalez, a sophomore goalkeeper for the UTRGV Men’s Soccer Team, said it feels amazing to be a Hispanic Division 1 athlete.
“Being a D1 athlete here, and close to home and around the Hispanic people, is probably the dream that any Hispanic wants,” Gonzalez said.
He said it feels like an honor to be Hispanic because of the culture.
“Not a lot of people can have, like, the amazing food we have,” the goalkeeper said. “And everything that we have, the culture, just makes everything more special for us.”
Asked what the culture is to him, he replied it was the food and having a good time with the people around.
“Especially when we have parties,” Gonzalez said. “Having a good dance, having quinceañeras, having a lot of that culture, that means a lot to us. Dia de los Muertos, everything like this.”
Gonzalez looks up to other Hispanic athletes, one of them being Guillermo “Memo” Ochoa.
“He’s been to a lot of world cups,” he said. “He’s been playing in Europe and Mexico… He’s one of the Hispanics I look up to.”
Alexis thinks his culture fits in great with the other cultures on the team.
“We have a little bit of South Africans here,” he said. “Their culture is really kind of similar. We’re always dancing. We’re always having a good time together. So, I feel like we blend in really, really well.”
UTRGV Women’s Soccer Team freshman midfielder Ayloni Garcia said she looked up to Javier “Chicharito” Hernández Balcázar and Hirving “Chucky” Lozano since she grew up watching them.
Garcia said with some holidays coming up, she wants to show some of her teammates how she and her family celebrate those holidays.
“We’re trying to, like, convince them to come over … to see … how we, like, celebrate,” Garcia said.
Ryan Lugo/THE RIDER
Emilia Compian, a freshman goalkeeper for the UTRGV Women’s Soccer Team, said soccer in the U.S. is a white-dominated sport.
“But then you have a really strong community that loves the sport,” Compian said. “Like my family and all my friends love the sport, so it’s just more of a push.”
She said it was nice to be an athlete in Division 1, especially at UTRGV where there is a large population of Hispanics.
Similarly to Gonzalez, Compian also looked up to Guillermo “Memo” Ochoa because he is a Hispanic goalkeeper.
She said pride is a big part of being Hispanic.
“My family is from Mexico,” Compian said. “Being able to represent them and make them proud, my family that is here and still in mexico.”
She said pride is a big part of being Hispanic.
“My family is from Mexico,” Compian said. “Being able to represent them and make them proud, my family that is here and still in mexico.”
Compian has family in the U.S. and Mexico and wants to make them proud and represent them both.
Compian also said work ethic is a big part of Hispanic culture.
“Growing up, my dad had to work in construction,” she said. “A bunch of my friends’ dads worked construction. That’s a really hard working job. It’s very taxing on the body and mind.”
Compian said that work ethic was passed on to her and it has pushed her to work harder.
“Just seeing him go everyday made me want to go everyday,” she said.
Freshman goalkeeper Emilia Compian throws a ball on media day Aug. 24 at the Soccer and Track & Field Complex on the Edinburg campus. Photo Courtesy UTRGV Athletics
