Stars Academy 2015 Top Team's captain prepares for soccer overseas

Lorenzo Rodriguez, a 10-year-old on Winter Garden’s Stars Academy 2015 Top Team, distinctly remembers one of the first soccer tournaments of this season. His team was down 2-0, but he and his teammates rallied back to tie the game 2-2. 

They were heading to overtime. 

Lorenzo, team captain, stepped up to the penalty mark. He watched the ball soar past the goalie and fly into the net. His team won 3-2, and he felt incredible. It showed all of his hard work over the years was paying off and the road ahead would be full of greatness. 

Since then, Lorenzo has won back-to-back Most Valuable Player awards in recent competitions. This summer he will tour Europe to compete with his team in the Paris World Games Monday, July 6, to Saturday, July 11, before training with a couple professional clubs in England and then traveling to Ireland to compete with another club in a tournament. 

“It’s huge,” Lorenzo’s dad, Zay Rodriguez said. “It’s one of those things that when the universe aligns certain things, you just go with the flow. We’ve been talking about doing things like this, (but) we didn’t expect for us to be in Europe playing internationally so early.” 

All of the Stars Academy 2015 Top Team will travel to Paris, and Zay Rodriguez said it will be incredible for the elite-level team to see what international soccer is like. But after the Paris tournament, the families will part ways, and Lorenzo will shift focus to playing for Good Lad Soccer, a club based in Jacksonville. 

Zay Rodriguez said the Good Lad Soccer is doing “great” work in the community, too, and Lorenzo has played against them in tournaments before. The coach of the team reached out to the family through Instagram, gushing about Lorenzo’s talents, and asked if they’d be interested. Since the family already would be in Europe, they decided to extend the stay. 

But staying in Europe for a month isn’t a cheap trip, so they’ve reached out for sponsorships and one of their biggest supporters has been the Tasting Room. Zay Rodriguez said it has supported Lorenzo’s journey by donating to sponsor the Ireland tournament, which was incredible to see the Winter Garden community backing youth soccer.  

Ever since Lorenzo and his teammates knew they were traveling to Paris, he said the intensity has skyrocketed. 

“We’ve been doing great in training,” he said. “We used to go up and down, but now, we’re just consistent.” 

His goal for the summer is simple — win both tournaments and have pro scouts see him. 

“You see these athletes come around so many years that set the standard and they kind of run through it,” Zay Rodriguez said. “I’m very happy that we’re able to take advantage of these opportunities. I know the game is different in Europe, so it’ll be a good experience for him to see where his personal game is compared to a place where soccer is the main thing.” 

The Rodriguezes are hoping that traveling to Europe for the first time this summer will help Lorenzo achieve his dreams of playing soccer professionally. He said the youngest players in the pro leagues are 14 or 15 years old so he’s working every day to achieve that for himself. 

“I want to play (pro) for Barcelona, but the national team I want to play for is America,” he said. 

It’s a dream he has been developing ever since he first dribbled a soccer ball at 5 years old. 

EARLY BEGINNING

What inspired Lorenzo to join soccer wasn’t the push of a parent or a family member who played the sport but rather his idol: Cristiano Ronaldo. The professional Portuguese soccer player is one of the greatest in history, holding the record for the most Champions League goals and assists and winning 34 trophies and numerous other accolades. 

Lorenzo loves Ronaldo’s scoring capabilities the most and studies how he does it. 

In his five-year career, Lorenzo credits his family as his main motivation to continue improving. He understands working hard now will help him to excel later in life and achieve his dreams of owning a mansion one day. 

“(Lorenzo) motivates me with his work ethic and how dedicated he is to his craft that it really just bleeds on the rest of the family” Zay Rodriguez said. “I’m really just proud of all the work that he’s put in, and it takes a village.” 

The village surrounding Lorenzo is his parents, his younger brother and the coaches at Stars Academy, who understand how to work with youth. The coaches are on the younger side, Zay Rodriguez said, and that helps them relate to the athletes and make them fall in love with the sport, rather than simply focusing on results and winning. 

Lorenzo’s coaches fully are focused on the development aspect of youth soccer, which has helped him skyrocket in the only club for which he’s ever played. He said he trains every day of the week, three times with his coach one-on-one and twice with his team.

“My coach said I can achieve great things if I just put my mind to it,” Lorenzo said. “It just motivates me whenever I’m down.

“I became the team’s captain because I have the hardest work ethic, I think, and I’m always trying my best,” he said. “I have a lot of responsibilities. I can’t let anybody do anything that they’re not supposed to do like eating candy or something before a game.”