Hispanic athletes can compete at highest levels if given chance
January 7, 2009
By David Flores
Southern California quarterback Mark Sanchez starred in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day, only a few hours after Western Kentucky basketball player Orlando Mendez-Valdez recorded the first triple-double in school history.
That Sanchez and Mendez-Valdez, a 2004 Lanier High School graduate, are Mexican-American makes their success on the sports landscape even more remarkable. And, in San Antonio, more noteworthy for all the obvious reasons.
Although Hispanics are the fastest growing minority in the country — and a majority are of Mexican ancestry — the ethnic group is woefully underrepresented in major college football and basketball.
Only 2.3 percent of football players at NCAA Division I schools were Hispanic during the 2005-06 school year, according to the NCAA's most recent statistics. The number drops to 1.8 percent in basketball. Compare those stats to these: Hispanics comprise 14.7 percent of the U.S. population and 9.4 percent are of Mexican descent.
Sanchez and Mendez-Valdez share a bond as Mexican-Americans who have defied tough odds in the athletic arena and overcome social stereotypes.
They also have something in common with veteran Philadelphia Eagles offensive-line coach Juan Castillo, a Mexican-American who is one of only four Hispanic coaches in the NFL.
A first-generation American who was born and raised in Port Isabel, Castillo learned early in his career never to make excuses or use his ethnicity as a crutch.
“You have to set your goals and then make a plan,” Castillo said Tuesday. “Then you have to follow that plan and work hard.”
Sanchez earned a spot in USC lore by passing for 413 yards and four touchdowns, and rushing for another, in the Trojans' 38-24 victory over Penn State.
A native of Long Beach, Calif., Sanchez played in the 2005 U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio.
Mendez-Valdez, a senior guard, dished out a career-high 12 assists, pulled down 10 rebounds and scored 18 points in Western Kentucky's 99-76 rout of Troy in a New Year's Day game for the Hilltoppers.
Mendez-Valdez, 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds, helped Western Kentucky win the Sun Belt Conference title last season and advance to the NCAA tournament's Sweet 16.
“I look up to Orlando,” Lanier senior guard Nathan Roel said. “He's Mexican-American and there's not a lot of people who think Mexicans can play. But he's playing Division I basketball and he's doing well.”
A first-generation American, Mendez-Valdez never knew his biological father. Driven to play Division I basketball, Mendez-Valdez clung to his dream and overcame the hurdles that befall so many other Hispanic kids.
“His success is very important to us because you don't ever see anybody from Lanier playing D-I ball,” Lanier senior wing Joseph Perez said. “And for him to do what he did, that's pretty rare. You look at Orlando and you think, ‘If he can do it, I can do it. Any of us can do it.'”
Therein lies the importance of Mendez-Valdez's example in the barrio.
“I think it gives these kids a little hope that maybe someday they'll get the opportunity Orlando did,” Lanier boys basketball coach Rudy Bernal said. “Hopefully, with Orlando doing what he's doing, he'll open some college coaches' eyes and they'll recruit more of these kids.”
Because as diligent and talented as Mendez-Valdez and Sanchez are, they are not alone.
Source: San Antonio Express News
By David Flores
Southern California quarterback Mark Sanchez starred in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day, only a few hours after Western Kentucky basketball player Orlando Mendez-Valdez recorded the first triple-double in school history.
That Sanchez and Mendez-Valdez, a 2004 Lanier High School graduate, are Mexican-American makes their success on the sports landscape even more remarkable. And, in San Antonio, more noteworthy for all the obvious reasons.
Although Hispanics are the fastest growing minority in the country — and a majority are of Mexican ancestry — the ethnic group is woefully underrepresented in major college football and basketball.
Only 2.3 percent of football players at NCAA Division I schools were Hispanic during the 2005-06 school year, according to the NCAA's most recent statistics. The number drops to 1.8 percent in basketball. Compare those stats to these: Hispanics comprise 14.7 percent of the U.S. population and 9.4 percent are of Mexican descent.
Sanchez and Mendez-Valdez share a bond as Mexican-Americans who have defied tough odds in the athletic arena and overcome social stereotypes.
They also have something in common with veteran Philadelphia Eagles offensive-line coach Juan Castillo, a Mexican-American who is one of only four Hispanic coaches in the NFL.
A first-generation American who was born and raised in Port Isabel, Castillo learned early in his career never to make excuses or use his ethnicity as a crutch.
“You have to set your goals and then make a plan,” Castillo said Tuesday. “Then you have to follow that plan and work hard.”
Sanchez earned a spot in USC lore by passing for 413 yards and four touchdowns, and rushing for another, in the Trojans' 38-24 victory over Penn State.
A native of Long Beach, Calif., Sanchez played in the 2005 U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio.
Mendez-Valdez, a senior guard, dished out a career-high 12 assists, pulled down 10 rebounds and scored 18 points in Western Kentucky's 99-76 rout of Troy in a New Year's Day game for the Hilltoppers.
Mendez-Valdez, 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds, helped Western Kentucky win the Sun Belt Conference title last season and advance to the NCAA tournament's Sweet 16.
“I look up to Orlando,” Lanier senior guard Nathan Roel said. “He's Mexican-American and there's not a lot of people who think Mexicans can play. But he's playing Division I basketball and he's doing well.”
A first-generation American, Mendez-Valdez never knew his biological father. Driven to play Division I basketball, Mendez-Valdez clung to his dream and overcame the hurdles that befall so many other Hispanic kids.
“His success is very important to us because you don't ever see anybody from Lanier playing D-I ball,” Lanier senior wing Joseph Perez said. “And for him to do what he did, that's pretty rare. You look at Orlando and you think, ‘If he can do it, I can do it. Any of us can do it.'”
Therein lies the importance of Mendez-Valdez's example in the barrio.
“I think it gives these kids a little hope that maybe someday they'll get the opportunity Orlando did,” Lanier boys basketball coach Rudy Bernal said. “Hopefully, with Orlando doing what he's doing, he'll open some college coaches' eyes and they'll recruit more of these kids.”
Because as diligent and talented as Mendez-Valdez and Sanchez are, they are not alone.
Source: San Antonio Express News
Comments