The UTRGV Men’s Soccer Club has started recruiting new members for its 2019-2020 soccer season.
Last season, the team had the opportunity to compete against other schools in the South Conference of the Texas Collegiate Soccer League.
Because of last season’s performance, this year, the team elevated to the Premier Conference, which is considered the highest league in the nation under the Texas Collegiate Soccer League.
Center midfielder Roberto Vasquez said he felt accepted by the team his first year.
“This past season was my first year,” Vasquez said. “I didn’t know anybody but my first day, they all welcomed me as part of the team, which was really helpful for me. We have our coaches with professional experiences, we have goalkeeper coaches and mentors and we are like a big family. We help each other in school and on the field, and I feel like if you want to join a family, this is the team to join.”
Goalkeeper and captain Alexis Ovalle said the club allows players to continue playing in college.
“This is pretty much, like, for people that didn’t have that opportunity or did have that opportunity to play at the collegiate level but unfortunately didn’t make it,” Ovalle said in Spanish. “But this is almost similar, the same level is right there. This is an opportunity for students and former athletes to get that experience at a college-level competitive environment.”
Within three years, the club has not only advanced to the South Conference after winning the developmental league, but also obtained the regional championship title in Oklahoma against Tulane University before losing nationals to U.C. Davis and Michigan State in Alabama.
Soccer club president Alejandro Garcia is proud of how far this club has come in comparison to other well-established institutions.
“We won the conference, we went to regionals, we won regionals and then we were able to go to nationals,” Garcia said. “This year, we got promoted to the Premier [Conference], where our rivals are UT [Austin], Baylor, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, you know, big universities who have been around or at least their soccer clubs were created around 30 to 40 years ago. So, we are competing against programs that were established a long time ago and that are well established.”
Garcia, who is pursuing a master’s in accounting, said the idea behind the club was to give students an opportunity to play soccer within the university at a competitive level.
“More importantly, [it’s] for them to feel part of a team, which is essential since there is a lot of talent here in the Valley going to waste since many students don’t have that chance to join a club to keep on practicing the sport that they love,” he said in Spanish.
Assistant Coach Gabriel Camarena invites the students to come and use this opportunity as a learning experience, not only as players, but as athletes as well.
“We are still a developing team,” Camarena said. “We had an amazing season last year, which has allowed for us to keep on growing, not only as a team but as people, too. We hope to attract the attention of some of the students interested since now we are competing with higher-level entities.”
Garcia said anyone wanting to join the club must be a student and maintain a 2.5 GPA.
“Without taking classes a student cannot participate,” he said in Spanish. “So it motivates students to get good grades, keep coming to school, and make new friends, especially if it’s with soccer.”
