Alfonso Motagalvan named T-CAL’s most valuable player
GILROY – When midfielder Alfonso Motagalvan’s junior season with the Gilroy High boys soccer team got started, there was something different about it.
Sure, there were some new players joining the returning corps and a new head coaching staff of Brian Hall, a varsity assistant last season, and Armando Padilla, who moved up from the junior varsity ranks.
But that wasn’t it.
When the 17-year-old student-athlete looked to the stands, he knew his parents would not be there. They moved to Vela Cruz, Mexico, in September, while he decided to stay in Gilroy with his aunt and uncle to finish his schooling and continue his blossoming soccer career.
“It was pretty hard because my parents last year were big supporters for me. They’ve been big supporters throughout my career,” said Motagalvan, who enjoyed having his parents on the sidelines during games in Gilroy and Morgan Hill. “This year was hard because I knew they’d be gone. I really owe a lot to my aunt and uncle.”
An undefeated record through the league season and an eventual run into the Central Coast Section Championship game helped matters out. Not to mention, Motagalvan was playing with a team full of friends and other talented players.
However, Motagalvan’s close-knit relationship with Hall, a World Cup soccer official who also coaches Motagalvan’s travel team, is what really kept his spirits high and his mind focused on soccer, especially at times when he missed his parents.
“To me, I look up to him as my big brother and my mentor,” Motagalvan said regarding Hall. “This guy, I owe a lot to him. He kept me going with my parents not here. He and my family have been so great. And he’s not part of my family, but he’s here any time I need him.”
With the comfort of relatives at home and a coach who goes beyond the call of duty, Motagalvan excelled not only on the soccer field, where he was just named the Most Valuable Player of the Tri-County Athletic League, but also in the classroom, where he maintains a 3.9 grade-point average.
“That’s the most important thing – more than soccer,” said Motagalvan, who speaks with his parents by phone almost every weekend. “That’s what makes my parents and my family the happiest.”
But the midfield captain’s soccer skills throughout the season are what caught the eyes of every coach in the league, as Motagalvan was one of four Mustangs named to the T-CAL’s first team to go along with his MVP honor.
“I was really surprised because I think our team had not only myself, but a bunch of players like Javi (Hernandez) and Temo (Arteaga). I give a lot of respect to that guy because he saved us a whole lot of times – not only him, anybody from the defense who could have got it,” Motagalvan said.
“I think it was hard for the coaches to decide,” he added. “We knew all along, whether I got it or anybody else, it would belong to Gilroy, that MVP award.”
The garlic kickers talent ran deep through the starting line-up and even onto the bench. Gilroy enjoyed an undefeated regular season with an 18-0-5 record (21-1-5 overall) as well as a magical playoff run before losing to top-seeded Watsonville in the finals.
“This season, it was a special season because everybody got along with each other. Everybody had a common goal and was willing to do everything to push each other,” Motagalvan said. “Everybody pushed each other and that made you want to be great. Part of the reason I got the MVP was because of Temo and Javi, people like that who pushed me to want to be the best.”
But even the MVP, the school’s second straight with Javier Hernandez sharing the honor last year, and Gilroy’s first league title in two decades were not enough to outweigh a 3-0 loss to the Wildcatz to fall one win shy of the CCS crown.
“Actually, it felt special and it means a lot to me. Of course, I’d rather trade the MVP in for the CCS trophy because that’s what I’d rather have. I would rather trade all my trophies in for one of those,” said Motagalvan, who will return for his senior year. “I think we’ll definitely make it to CCS, but I’m not promising a championship again. I know definitely we should be there.”
It was the unselfish play of Motagalvan in the middle of the field that kept the Mustangs racking up ‘W’s all season. He wasn’t the leading scorer or the flashiest ball-handler on the squad, but Motagalvan was the axle that made the garlic express go.
“I’d rather pass. It makes me more happy to assist somebody than score a goal. For me, it’s like the same joy,” said Motagalvan, who finished the season with a team-high 12 assists and seven goals.
With the high school season now over, Motagalvan is attempting to make the Northern California state team. He made the cut down from 65 to 35 of the best players in the area along with Mustang teammate Everardo Diaz de Leon. The final cut is Sunday. Motagalvan already earned a spot on another elite regional team and will get the chance to test his skills against the best players in the nation.
“Soccer, like a game, you have to take one step at a time,” said Motagalvan, who remains concentrated on his immediate future. “I don’t want to rush things. Right now, I’m hoping to get a scholarship for soccer, but if that fails, I have the grades.”
Motagalvan, a native of Santa Rosa who moved to Gilroy when he was 2 years old, began playing soccer at age 4 in the city parks and recreation league. Before long, he was a 9-year-old on a competitive travel team.
“My uncles were really good soccer players,” Motagalvan said. “When I was little, my mom said when I was out there watching them it was weird because I was always watching the ball and my eyes would be going back and forth, back and forth.”
At Brownell Academy, Motagalvan played both soccer and basketball. His seventh-grade hoops team won the league championship and the next year his eighth-grade soccer team won the league title, losing by penalty kicks in the county finals. When he wasn’t playing for the school team, he was playing for a travel team, and his skills began to improve.
“I didn’t even realize it. I just went out there and played. I just knew what I could do. Every game when I stepped on the field I would do what I could,” Motagalvan said. “When I was little, I was the go-to guy. My team looked to me to score. I was like give me the ball and I’m going to score. Then, something hit me; my maturity level increased. I figured if we’re going to win, I’ve got to make my team better. I can’t just score.”
That’s when Motagalvan began to master the art of teamwork, passing the ball around to get all of his teammates involved and making them better players for it. But in Motagalvan’s freshman year of high school, he decided to play basketball instead of soccer because he wanted to play with a close friend.
“Sometimes on basketball court when I was doing sprints or things were not going right, I would think, ‘What am I doing here? I belong on soccer field,’ ” Motagalvan said. “I was a good basketball player, too, but I knew I was better in soccer and that soccer would take me a step further in life.”
He was right, having taking a leadership role on the varsity team as a sophomore. And just a year later, Motagalvan was named the best player in the league.
