When Diego Ayala-Martinez was a 14-year-old at Loyola High, he tried out for the freshman soccer team. He’ll never forget the day he found out he got cut after looking at the roster taped to a window in the locker room.
“I remember going over at lunch with my friends,” he said. “I walk over and don’t see my name. I’m confused and shocked. Afterward, I went to talk to coach [Chris] Walter. He said there were a lot of kids who tried out and I was on the border. Every year coaches have to make some tough decisions.”
So what did Ayala-Martinez do next?
Did he get his parents to make a phone call to complain? Did he go home and throw a soccer ball against his bed? Did he punch a wall? Did he decide to transfer?
“I stayed confident in my ability,” he said. “I knew for sure I was going to work hard and come out better. My mentality was don’t give coach a reason to cut me again.”
What he did was prepare for another opportunity his sophomore year. He made the junior varsity team and became a starter. Then he made the varsity team as a junior and hardly played. He didn’t quit. He came back last summer determined to earn a starting role in his senior year.
“I basically went every day to the field for two or three hours with my friend,” he said. “We’d run and do drills.”
Ayala-Martinez is the starting center back for the unbeaten Cubs (17-0-3), who are seeded No. 7 in the Southern Section Open Division soccer playoffs.
“He’s one of the reasons we’ve had a lot of success defensively,” Walter said.
There are nine senior starters.
“They’re a very close group,” Walter said. “They work extremely hard together.”
At 6 feet 2, Ayala-Martinez became one of the best defenders in the Mission League as Loyola went 10-0. The Cubs start the playoffs Wednesday with a home game against No. 2-seeded Mater Dei, last season’s Division 1 champion.
Looking back, Ayala-Martinez chuckles that he made the football team as a freshman but not the fútbol team. Of course, everyone who goes out for freshman football at Loyola makes the team.
Getting cut from soccer, though, was his early reality check in high school life. It was his bout with adversity and his challenge to see how he would respond.
With a 4.2 grade-point average and having been accepted to USC, Ayala-Martinez already has learned lessons that will help him as an adult. Getting cut from the freshman team and getting back up to try even harder is certainly one.
“Just don’t give up,” he said. “Stay positive and true to yourself. The biggest thing for me is don’t feel sorry for yourself. Keep working and you’ll get there.”
Ayala-Martinez and his family live in Altadena, where the Eaton fire caused destruction. They escaped disaster with only a burned backyard fence, but neighbors’ homes are in ashes and the family was displaced. His mother said soccer and school have helped her son.
“We’re very proud of him — his work ethic, resilience and kind heart,” Adriana Martinez said.
Ayala-Martinez said his soccer experience won’t be forgotten.
“That’s one of my biggest things, the connection with soccer and life on and off field,” he said.
