FRISCO, Texas - From El Paso to Frisco, 16-year-old midfielder Diego García was always poised to make an impact. After making his debut as a professional in the USL Championship for El Paso Locomotive in 2021 at just 15 years old, two years later he made the move over to North Texas.
“I think I have more opportunities here to achieve my dream,” said García. “At El Paso, it was more about getting my start in the league. I wanted something different and knew I needed to sacrifice. I came here alone, and I’m far from my family, but life without sacrifice is nothing.”
Though he’s a player with a lot of potential, early in the season García, still only 16 years old, experienced some setbacks. After going to the Generation Adidas Cup with the FC Dallas Academy, García would miss valuable training time at the start of the season.
“It was a hard time coming off the bench,” the Denver, CO native said. “The first game I played well but then I went to the GA Cup tournament and we lost three or four games. After I came back, I had the mindset that I needed to go hard every practice to get back in the starting 11 and now it’s paying off.”
Since then, García has taken off, amassing five starts in the past seven games, which included his first goal as a professional. The goal was influential, as it gave North Texas the lead and they went on to draw 3-3 against Colorado Rapids 2.
“Scoring my first goal means a lot to me, honestly. It’s always been a dream of mine to score my first professional goal. The goal itself was crazy, though it was for my family,” he said.
García’s performances for the team this season haven’t gone unnoticed. North Texas SC head coach Javier Cano has trusted García to serve as an impact player both in the starting lineup and off the bench.
“Coaching Diego is so easy, he’s a young kid that wants to improve every single day,” Cano said. “He’s listening and asking questions, and he always tries to execute the plans that we create for him. The good thing is that he never protests what he has to do. Having a kid like him makes it so easy to coach.”
The midfielder’s impact on the team this season has been immense, with García ranking 10th in total minutes played despite missing out on five games. García’s admirable performances and high work rate for North Texas have earned him training with FC Dallas first team. But Coach Cano knows there is still work to be done before Garcia’s ready to be first team full time.
“Diego loves to cover a lot of ground,” said the first-year North Texas head coach. “He’s running an average of 7.8 miles each game, which is more than MLS players in his position. I think he could have a better understanding of his positioning, learning how to run less and more efficiently. I think that would be a good area for him to improve but I’m very happy with his performances because you can play him anywhere, which is incredible for a player of his age.”
As we approach the halfway point of the season, García has a clear vision of how he wants to finish out the campaign strong: “My goals this season are first to make sure that I play well with North Texas and stay in the starting 11. Hopefully, by the end of the season, I can reach my objective, which is to sign a professional contract with the first team.”
North Texas SC will be back in action on Friday, June 16th, at Choctaw Stadium, where it will take on San Jose Earthquakes II. Friday’s game will kick off at 7:33PM on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
