By EDWARD SEVERN
Staff Writer
BROWNSVILLE — Another day, another Rio Grande Valley soccer player agrees to join Wiley College.
This time, it is Brownsville Veterans Memorial’s Tommy Green.
The forward spent the past year and a half as a Charger. He played for Brownsville Hanna before moving to Brownsville Veterans his junior year.
“I have been working for this my entire life,” Green said. “Growing up and playing on the field, I felt that was my home.”
Green said the Wiley coaches liked the way he played, specifically his ability and vision with the ball at his feet, for his size. One of Green’s best positions is playing as a target man in the center forward position.
“He is definitely a person that is very passionate about soccer,” Brownsville Veterans coach Alberto Vasquez said. “He accepted his role right away, as a starter or off the bench. Whatever it was, he was willing to do whatever it took to help the team.”
Green’s biggest strength, his coach said, was his willingness to do what it took for the team to grab a positive result.
“He came through in big moments for the team, game-winning goals, he was the guy in the right place at the right time to put the ball in the net,” Vasquez said. “It looks easy from the outside, but inside there is a lot of pressure.”
Green is ready to embrace that role in college and team with other area players. Some of the players recruited from the Brownsville area are planning to meet up and practice before they depart to Wiley, Green said.
“Not a lot of other Valley kids can afford to go to camps and get seen by colleges,” he said. “So, the fact that Wiley is coming down and giving players a chance, that is really good for the Valley and gives us an opportunity to show that we are good at sports.”
Recently, Wiley has signed multiple Valley soccer players, boys and girls.Rafael Gonzalez will coach both teams. In 2018, the last time Wiley fielded a men’s soccer program, it had six Valley athletes on its roster and now is accumulating them again.
In the classroom, Green plans to major in communication systems, but he could make a switch to criminal justice.
“It is exciting,” he said. “I am thankful for this opportunity. None of this is possible without God. Without Him, I would not be here.”
