By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Wins are always nice, but seeing his senior players sign an athletic scholarship to play soccer in college is an even better feeling for Porter coach Jose Espitia.
On Tuesday, three Porter boys signed with Coastal Bend College of Beeville and two Porter girls signed with Jarvis Christian College located in Hawkins in North Texas with friends, family and school personnel looking on during an on-campus ceremony.
“This is 38 (boys soccer signings over eight years as Porter’s coach),” Espitiasaid. “But who’s counting?
“It’s awesome, and it’s always a pleasure to send our student-athletes on to college,” he added. “This is a great opportunity for these soccer players.”
Signees for the Porter boys were forward Julio Perez, central defender Gabriel Trejo and goalkeeper Miguel De La Cruz. For the Cowgirls, the signees were goalkeeper Elaine Salazar and midfielder Angie Escandon.
Perez and Trejo were first-team 32-5A All-District performers for a 21-3-2 Porter squad that advanced to the fourth round of the playoffs before losing 1-0 to eventual Class 5A state finalist Georgetown East View on April 10 in Corpus Christi.
“This is a very good experience of taking the next step from high school to college,” said Perez, who plans to study kinesiology or something in the medical field. “I feel grateful for my coaches, the teachers who have helped me here at school and for my family that has helped me also.”
Added Trejo, who is undecided on his major at this time, “It feels good (to get to play soccer in college).I don’t know how to play with those guys at that level (yet), but if somebody wants to reach their dream, it can be done with hard work, and that’s what I hope to do.”
Espitiasaid De La Cruz is quite a success story, having made a rapid rise through Porter’s sub-varsity ranks to become the starting goalkeeper on the varsity squad this season. Having posted 14 shutouts this season and having stopped several penalty kicks in crucial situations, the Porter coaching staff convinced De La Cruz that he has the skills to make it at the college level.
“This is an opportunity to do more for the Valley and represent it by getting the name of my school and Brownsvilleout there,” said De La Cruz, who plans to study kinesiology and education. “I just want to do my best and hopefully get on the top team (as a starter).”
Salazar and Escandon said they were pretty excited as well to get a chance to play soccer in college. Escandon, a three-year starter and the niece of Lopez soccer coach Amadeo Escandon, was a first-team all-district selection, and hile Salazar was an all-district second-teamerwho started all four years.
“I feel very fortunate to have been given this opportunity to play at the next level,” said Salazar, who plans to study mass communication. “I’m going to give it my all, and let’s see how it goes in the future. I’m just really excited. I knew I wanted to play in college, but I was never sure that I would get signed, so I’m very thankful.”
Added Escandon, who plans to study sociology, “I’m very excited because I finally accomplished my goal and my dream that I’ve been wanting to accomplish since I was a little kid. I’m proud of myself. I just want to thank my coaches for always being there for me and the girls from my team. They’re like my family, and I love them.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.