Marco Carrillo '24 Recruiting Profile

While growing up I remember hearing " you're a natural  playing soccer" I was not sure what that meant and still don't really know the full meaning of it. the only thing I know is that I have always felt the passion to kick the ball.  While doing so,  I can disconnect from the world and feel free and be myself. 

Soccer is a huge component in most of the Latinx households. Either a family member plays or they love watching it whenever possible. However, in our home, the interest for soccer was minimal or nonexistent. This later changed after the last member of the Carrillo clan joined in.

 The excessive and premature use of Marco legs was there even before coming out of the womb. While learning how to walk, his favorite activity was to go after the sphere objects and try to kick them while grabbing his little hands from someone’s fingers to make sure to not fall. As the nuclear family, we found ourselves quite confused by this peculiar interest for soccer. A child with zero exposure to soccer, with a brother whose rejection towards soccer started after  being forced to play soccer due to the P.E. system back in their home country, and a mother who barely had time to watch some soap operas after long days of hard work. 

Even under these circumstances, Marco was always after a soccer ball. We decided to look for a team where he could join and explore this sport a bit more.

 Ever since, Marco has been one of the main players in every team that he has joined. He has been the captain of multiple teams, in one of the occasions, taking his middle school team to the finals with no games lost during the whole season. The potential in this kid has been present and noticed from the beginning. 

The potential that Marco has is quite unique, even with the limited support that he has gotten from his nuclear family. While living in an area where soccer is not a sport common to play, the access to extra support has been limited and not well explored. However, Marco’s natural gift in soccer motives to send the word out there and to hope that he gets the chance needed to continue with expansion of a skill that came as a combo with him.

Why is somebody else writing this letter and not him? During our lives, there are times when we don’t see our full potential. We doubt ourselves a lot and we are afraid to not be as good as other people think we are. However, the people close to us are able to see our potential and I have been able to see the amazing potential Marco has. For this same reason, I decided to write on his behalf and to express what I have witnessed since he was in our mother’s womb.

There is zero doubt that Marco has the potential to change the future of any team that could provide the support needed to exploit the soccer skills that God has given him.