Fernando Olivero '23 Recruiting Profile

Hello my name is Fernando Olivero and I am currently a senior at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory in Houston Texas.  Since I first felt the presence of the ball in my feet, I have always had a love and passion for soccer.  I have been playing organized soccer from a very early age and I am now looking forward to becoming a college student athlete.  I embrace the challenges I will face academically and athletically in the college setting and feel I have been prepared well in my high school and playing both club soccer and high school soccer.  My club team, Houston FC has provided me an opportunity to work on improving my technical, athletic and mental skills in addition to allowing me to play alongside similarly motivated players whom I respect and provide me motivation to play better. 

 I first started playing the 9 (striker) position and I wanted to be the greatest striker on the team.  One day however, that all changed.  Our goalkeeper could not make it to one of our games and I was asked to play his position.  Since this was a totally new experience for me, I gave it my best effort and what ensued was one of my greatest matches of all time.  My teammates and my coach noticed my potential as goalkeeper and I was later offered a spot as goalkeeper on the highest team in our club at Rise in Houston.   This began the new direction of my soccer career.  Determined to succeed and perform well for my team, I trained hard, went to goalkeeper camps all over Texas and in Colorado.  I went to extra training sessions and worked on developing new skills.   I moved to Houston FC in 2020 which has a unique approach in that we train, and play with older players in the UPSL, USLA and USL League 2 coached by Bruce Talbot.  Houston FC and coach Talbot’s philosophy, have provided me an opportunity to succeed in a setting that promotes respect, discipline and commitment.  The culture of this program has taught me to respect the game, my coach, my teammates, my opponents and the officials.  Not only are we taught to perform well on the pitch, we are also shaped into being good young men off the pitch as well.  Community service is also a requirement for our players and I enjoy that very much.  

I currently play on the USLA team but also get the chance to play on the UPSL team as well.  My teammates and I are constantly challenging ourselves to meet our full potential while enjoying our shared passion for the game.  Through this sport and culture, I have built great bonds with my teammates to which we still encourage each other to be the best version of ourselves as young men.  In addition, the sport itself has also taught me various important lessons in my everyday life.  My favorite word to describe my approach to academics and soccer is discipline, because discipline is how a student athlete succeeds on and off the pitch and in and out of the classroom.