HARLINGEN — An emotional Harlingen South head girls soccer coach Omar Pedroza stood in front of a large contingency of students and fought back tears of joy as senior Alexa Garza signed her letter of intent to play soccer at Paris Junior College.
In front of her family and friends, Garza put pen to paper and secured the next two years of her athletic and academic future.
“Today means a lot because it’s a marking as to how far I’m going to be going in the future and it’s the next step to getting closer to my college career,” said Garza. “For everyone to come out here and see how much today means to me means a lot to me.”
Over the course of the 2017 season, the senior defender helped the Lady Hawks navigate through a difficult District 32-6A campaign before heading in the postseason where the Lady Hawks defeated Edinburg Vela 6-1 and San Antonio Southwest 1-0 (4-3 in penalties) before finally bowing out in the regional quarterfinals to a tough McAllen High club.
“Just like every player I’ve had, I’m just very proud of them,” said Pedroza. “We had an excellent year again and the reason we do as well every year is because of kids like Alexa. They show up and they practice, and they have a lot of talent. They’re good kids and they work hard, and they play hard and that’s why we do so well every year because of kids like her.
“She started out in the midfield then we had some people hurt and she started playing defense, but once she was there she was probably one of the few kids that never came out of a game.”
Garza will be joining a Paris Junior College team that plays in the NationalJunior College Athletic Association. Last season, the Lady Dragons were 2-15-1.
