Digging into the local talent pool was a first order of business for Texas Southmost College’s newly formed men’s and women’s soccer team.
The NJCAA program held true to its word with its first signings coming from Brownsville IDEA Riverview.
The Scorpions continued the trend last week, adding a pair of Brownsville natives to the men’s soccer team and another to the women’s team.
The week began with Brownsville IDEA Sport Park’s Ricardo Davila joining the team officially during a signing ceremony March 8. The senior serves as the captain of the Stingrays, leading the team to third place in District 32-4A with a 9-3-2 record.
Davila leads the team in scoring during district play, notching 23 goals and adding 27 assists. He is a part of the school’s first graduating class and the first athlete to sign to play collegiately from the campus.
“We’re very proud of Ricardo and the work he’s done,” IDEA Sports Park athletic coordinator Jerry De La Garza said in a press release. “He set the bar very high of what hard work is, what dedication is, and what the desire to achieve your goals looks like. It’s a huge step for our school, but this day is all about him and his moment.”
Davila’s signing was followed by a pair of signings from Brownsville Pace, the former home of TSC men’s head coach Mario Zamora.
Zamora reunited with one of his former players with the signing, with Emilio Cahuiche joining the men’s team Friday.
The senior forward spent four years on the Vikings’ varsity team, helping get Pace to the playoffs last season. The Vikings delivered the upset of the postseason once there, taking down Valley View during the bi-district round.
This season, Brownsville Pace just missed out on the playoffs, finishing sixth in a tightly contested District 32-5A. Despite the season ending early, Cahuiche shone on the pitch, scoring a team-high nine goals, tied for seventh in the district.
“It’s a really big moment,” Cahuiche said in a press release from the college. “As kids, every athlete aspires to go to the next level, but it is baffling once you get there.
“As a kid, (soccer is) something that you attach yourself to. It’s something that completely changed my life. Soccer took me out of some really tough spots.”
Cahuiche was joined by classmate Jacquelynn Palomino in signing with the Scorpions, joining the women’s soccer team.
Like Cahuiche, Palomino starred for four years with the Vikings. Palomino managed to overcome playing through the COVID-19 pandemic, while also dealing with torn ACL ligaments in both of her legs en route to earning a college scholarship.
“I didn’t think I was going to overcome it, and I was so close to giving up,” Palomino said in a press release by TSC. “But I always thought, ‘If you want something, you have to work for it.’ I wanted it, so I worked for it.”
Davila and Cahuiche mark the second and third local signings to the men’s soccer team, joining Brownsville IDEA Riverview’s Haziel Mejia, who signed March 4.
Palomino joins IDEA Riverview’s Mia Ramos on the roster, becoming the second signing to the women’s team.
