By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
The 2015 season was the perfect culmination of Isidro “Chelin” Martinez’s high school soccer career.
What meant the most to him was seeing his team go 28-0 and win the inaugural Class 6A championship in boys soccer last month at the UIL state tournament in Georgetown.
The standout senior attacking midfielder is now reaping the rewards that come with leading a team to that level of success.
Named the tournament MVP of the 6A boys division at state, plus the unanimous choice as MVP in District 32-6A, “Chelin” can add yet another MVP honor to his resume as The Brownsville Herald’s 2015 All-Metro Boys Soccer Most Valuable Player.
He’ll undoubtedly be a strong candidate for All-Valley MVP honors as well when that award is announced in a few weeks.
“‘Chelin’ is one of those players that everyone would like to have,” Rivera coach Salvador Garcia said. “Everybody would love to have 11 ‘Chelins.’ He probably played six or seven positions for us and never once complained. Besides being so skilled as a soccer player, he’s a humble person and he doesn’t let success go to his head. He’s always ‘Yes sir, no sir.’
“‘Chelin’ is basically one of those talented players who is irreplaceable,” Garcia added. “Yes, we’re going to find someone with abilities (to take over his position next season), but to have a complete player like him, no, because he’s the type of player that comes along once in a long, long time. It’s going to take years and years and years (to find a player like him).”
Martinez, 5-foot-8 and 135 pounds, considers his past four years as a starter for the Raiders as a journey that included some disappointing losses at the regional tournament level his sophomore and junior seasons, which prevented the team from advancing to state. He believes those setbacks served to motivate the Raiders to take the next step in reaching the ultimate prize in Georgetown this season.
“Chelin” continues to view what has happened this season for the Raiders from the perspective of the team and not what it has brought him in terms of individual accolades. For the record, he scored 23 goals this season and constantly pressured opposing defenses as an attacking midfielder either by scoring himself or getting the ball to an open teammate.
“(When we lost at the regional tournament in 2013 and 2014) it was definitely a way for us to look back and say, ‘Let me work even harder this season,’” said Martinez, who will continue his soccer career playing for the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros. “As soon as you lose, you can’t do anything about it (to change the result). You just have to wait for the next season to do better. That’s what I did, plus that’s what my teammates did, too.
“Those things made an impact as to what happened for us my senior year,” he added. “It was something to look back upon and refer to, just making you want to work harder. It definitely made it a whole lot better (when we won state) because the way I’ve spent most of my time (in high school) is here with Rivera soccer, which has become like my second family. It’s just amazing how I’m ending my senior year as a state champ with this team. It’ll be something to look back on and be proud of what we did.
“It’s like I’ve been saying for the past two years or so that we had unfinished business, and now it’s finally done the way I wanted and the way my teammates wanted it to finish. It’s over, and we made it happen the way we wanted, so it’s been a pretty good experience.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.
The BrownsvilleHerald’s 2015 All-Metro Boys Soccer Team
Superlatives
Most Valuable Player
Isidro “Chelin” Martinez, Rivera
Defensive Player of the Year
IsraelAcero, Rivera
Newcomer of the Year
Jose Echevarria, Lopez
Coach of the Year
Salvador Garcia, Rivera
First Team
Forwards — Eliseo Ortiz, Rivera; Alexis Herrera, Rivera
Midfielders — Reyes Saldivar, Porter; Adrian Delgado, Hanna; Jose Kauachi, St. Joseph Academy; Humberto Trevino, Brownsville Veterans Memorial
Defenders — Jorge Serna, Hanna; Julio “J.C.” De La Garza, Lopez; Jesus Torres, Rivera; Roberto Briseno, Porter
Goalkeeper — Daniel Alanis, Brownsville Veterans Memorial
Second Team
Forwards — Leo Martinez, Lopez; Osvaldo Canales, Pace
Midfielders — Martin Ornelas, Los Fresnos; Eliezer “Chaii” Acero, Rivera; David Alexander, Rivera; Hernan Cruz, Rivera
Defenders — Rodrigo Salinas, St. Joseph Academy; Arturo Salazar, Lopez; Diego Acevedo, Hanna; David Pacheco, Porter
Goalkeeper — Eduardo Gamboa, Pace