BY GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
PHARR — When Alexis Garcia enrolled at UT-Austin in the fall, he thought he was putting soccer on hold.
He was still playing intramurals and training every morning from 6 to 8:30, looking ahead to attempts to crack a pro roster after finishing his undergraduate degree.
But, first and foremost, his focus was on his studies in biochemistry. He was thinking of medical school, not of the game he had played since he was four, developing into a first-team All-Valley forward last season as a senior at PSJA North.
Those plans took a sharp turn a few weeks ago. After hearing that MLS scouts would be at a tournament in Austin, he decided to join up with the UT club team to participate. He scored four goals in four games, catching the eye of scouts for Orlando City.
He and five others were given the opportunity to work out with Orlando City’s youth teams as a tryout, and Garcia shined, again scoring four goals in four games.
That was all Orlando City needed to see. Garcia was offered a contract less than two weeks after scouts first laid eyes on him, giving him the chance to jump from intramurals at UT to the reserve team of an MLS club.
“I was excited for myself,” Garcia said. “I didn’t see this coming, but I had worked for it my entire life. Being called in by Orlando City, as a new team, that was pretty neat.”
Now, Garcia faces a difficult decision. He can either leave UT to begin his career with Orlando City, or the team will delay his contract offer for 18 months so Garcia can complete his undergraduate degree. Having entered college with 76 credit hours already completed, he would need just two more semesters to finish.
He has until Saturday to reach a decision. He’s been talking it over with his parents, but he said he remains undecided.
“They’re thinking one thing, and I’m thinking the other,” Garcia said. “For now, we’re just in the middle.”
If Garcia were to make the leap, as he’s leaning towards doing, he could potentially crack the main roster in a matter of months, Orlando City scout and coach Marcos Machado said.
Machado said the biggest thing Garcia needs to improve is his strength.
“By the way he was playing, I would say he has a very good shot,” Machado said. “But it’s up to him. He’s the one who will decide his future. But I believe he can make it in half a year.”
Machado and the rest of the Orlando City staff had no way of knowing Garcia hadn’t been playing organized soccer leading up to the tryout, so it “wasn’t really a factor.”
Instead, Machado and the other coaches were impressed by Garcia’s “desire for the game”, his ability to open up the field and his penchant for creating scoring in difficult situations.
“He was way above the rest of the players,” Machado said. “He had very good touch. He knew what to do with the ball. He’s got much talent, and I’m sure he can make it.”
Machado said taking the year and a half to delay wouldn’t necessarily hurt Garcia’s chances. If he uses that time to train, Machado said, he could come back even stronger.
Delaying would fall more in line with Garcia’s plan coming out of high school, which was to finish his undergrad, then devote two years to trying to break in with a pro team. He had received offers to play collegiately at Wiley College and UC-Irvine, but opted for UT because it offered his degree program.
Whenever he chooses to begin his stint with the reserve team, he will receive a monthly salary for a year and a half. If he isn’t promoted to the first team in that span, his run ends.
He got his first taste of the MLS last weekend, meeting the team for breakfast before its game Friday against the Houston Dynamo. Garcia had the chance to meet Kaka and to exchange phone numbers with former U.S. national team member Brek Shea. “Us Texas boys have to stick together,” Garcia remembers Shea telling him. He watched that night’s game, a 1-0 Orlando City win, from one of the stadium’s luxury suites.
His lifelong goal, should he choose to pursue it, was as close as ever.
“That’s anybody’s dream: to go pro,” Garcia said. “But once I had gone off to UT, I had stopped a little bit because of the studies and because there were no teams. But once I got invited into this tournament, things worked out for me, I guess. And I’m here now.”