BY GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — Marco Alanis started his soccer career four years ago as a “chunky” freshman who was always last in Sharyland High’s conditioning drills.
Now, Alanis is the Rattlers’ leader on the field, in the huddle and even during conditioning. The anchor of a defense that allowed a Valley-best six goals en route to a district title, Alanis is RGVSports.com’s Defensive Player of the Year.
“I wasn’t really expecting it,” Alanis said. “I was a goalie, so we don’t really get that many accolades. I wasn’t expecting it at all. I’m really grateful.”
The achievement is the latest accomplishment in a long journey for Alanis, who said he “wasn’t always good at sports.”
In middle school, he viewed himself as fat at about 185 pounds, so he thought he would fit in as a defensive lineman on the football team. But Alanis stands just 5-foot-8 as a senior, and he was told he didn’t have the size to make much of himself as a football player.
“I had no future in football, and I love soccer. So I just went to soccer even though I had never played it,” Alanis said. “I always had the impression that because I was big, fat, that I had to be goalie.”
After a strong season on JV White, the lesser of Sharyland High’s two JV teams, Alanis thought he was in line for a spot on varsity. When he was instead relegated to JV White again, he said it “put a chip on my shoulder.”
As the captain of the JV squad, Alanis emphasized being at the head of the pack in conditioning. He got faster and became a better jumper, so shots toward the top of the net were no longer automatic goals. He said he made great advancement, but still had a ways to go.
“Junior year, nobody thought I was going to start,” Alanis said. “They didn’t even think I was going to be third goalie. There was a goalie from JV Red that was better than me, and I passed him when we went to varsity. So it was just a lot of determination on my part.”
He thought he had a strong junior season, but he remembers not receiving any awards or recognition aside from being Sharyland High’s Newcomer of the Year. The chip on his shoulder grew, and he continued to work on his game, ironing out some of the “little details” that could make him more consistent.
At the end of last season, he was one of three players chosen to start building up the new varsity team, and he said he took the leadership responsibilities to heart. The team would practice Tuesdays and Thursdays, and he made sure everyone had plenty of cold water.
He carried that role onto the field, staying attentive and directing traffic from his position at the back end of the formation.
“He’s a coach inside the field, always telling the defense where to move, where to go and who to mark,” Rattlers coach Rev Hernandez said. “Everybody looks up to him. He’s in the perfect spot in the back, talking to everybody.”
Alanis also took charge of the team’s pregame and postgame speeches, delivering a farewell address with tears in his eyes after Sharyland’s bi-district loss to Donna High.
For his contributions as a keeper and leader, Alanis was selected as the MVP of District 31-5A. In 20 years coaching, Hernandez said he’s never seen the award given to a goalie.
While the postseason upset got him down, Alanis said the individual accolades have inspired him to try to play in college. He’s still searching for a destination.
“As soon as I get that spot, I know I can show what I have,” Alanis said. “I’m that person, he doesn’t like to be second or third, he likes to be first. It doesn’t always happen one year, it doesn’t always happen the next year, but it’s going to happen sooner or later.”