LA JOLLA, Calif. – When Itzel Gonzalez took off her cleats after her final match as the goalkeeper for the University of California San Diego women's soccer team in 2016, it seemed like the end of her soccer career. The structural engineering major took her last finals, lined up her first full-time job, and entered the working world, expecting to leave soccer behind.
Just a couple of weeks later, everything changed.
"The Mexican Federation came out with the news that they were going to start a professional league," Gonzalez recalled. "It was perfect timing for me, and that was the first time I thought I could play professional soccer."
The news came as a surprise to Gonzalez, as there was no professional women's soccer league when she was growing up in Tijuana, Mexico. When the announcement was made, Gonzalez knew she had a choice to make.
"The hardest part was making the decision," Gonzalez recounted. "I was already working a full-time job. I knew that I could make it happen, but it was more of, 'How sure am I?' It's a big deal to leave your full-time job to play professional soccer."
Gonzalez was already known by some of the people involved in the new league, Liga MX Femenil, as she had competed on the Under-20 Mexico Women's National Team. She was invited to try out for the league.
Following her try out, Gonzalez was offered a spot in the Liga MX Femenil. After much thought, she made her decision; it was time to pursue professional soccer.
"Once I decided and I got the official news that I was on the team, my mentality was that I was ready to make the best of it," Gonzalez shared. "I made a decision and there was no going back from it."
Since joining the league, Gonzalez has served as a goalkeeper for Club Tijuana, commonly known as the Xolos. Then, at the start of 2019, Gonzalez received the call to represent her country at the highest level. She earned a spot on the Mexico Women's National Team.
"My first callup with the full National Team was about a year ago," Gonzalez remembered. "I dreamed of being where I am today, but I didn't think it'd happen this fast. Even though I was on the U-20 National Team back when I was in college, being on the full team is a completely different experience. I'm so proud of it."
The Mexico Women's National Team competed in the 2020 Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship earlier this month, vying for a spot in the upcoming Olympics. In the group stage, Mexico topped Jamaica, 1-0, and defeated Saint Kitts and Nevis, 6-0, but fell to Canada, 2-0, to set up a matchup with the United States. Mexico ultimately fell to the U.S. in the semifinals, 4-0.
The semifinal match was Gonzalez's first facing the U.S., and she knew it would be a different experience facing the country that she had called home for part of her life.
"There are a lot of girls on the National Team that grew up in the U.S. as well, so I think it's special," Gonzalez reflected. "There's a culture to the U.S.-Mexico rivalry and it's a cool thing to experience. Living in a border city, I feel like I grew up between two worlds, so it's special to represent my country with my friends and family supporting me."
Gonzalez not only felt the support of her loved ones, but of Mexico as a whole.
"Just in the past few years that Mexico has had a league, it has completely transformed the sport in the whole country," Gonzalez noticed. "It's such a big moment for women's soccer and you can see the changes continue year after year."
For Gonzalez, it is particularly special to impact young fans who could be in her shoes one day.
"A coach was telling me about a little goalie on his team and how she gets super excited about every little thing that comes out in the newspapers about me," Gonzalez shared. "She cuts them out and puts them in her room. That is something that I never imagined in my wildest dreams, that a little girl would be thinking about me when she goes to soccer practice."
With the popularity increase of women's soccer in Mexico over the past few years, Gonzalez is confident that the sport will continue to grow. She is proud to help lay the groundwork for what lies ahead.
"I'm really excited to see how women's soccer keeps evolving," Gonzalez said. "I always say that the next generation is going to be twice as good as we are now on the National Team, and I think they're going to have way more opportunities than we had as it keeps growing. That's really exciting for me to see how it turns out in the future and to be able to say that I could be a part of it."
While Gonzalez is looking forward to seeing what the future holds, she also recognizes the critical role her past has played in getting her to where she is today. Gonzalez feels grateful that her time at UC San Diego challenged her on and off the pitch.
"Being at UC San Diego and being a student-athlete prepared me for a lot of what I've gone through," Gonzalez reflected. "To this day, I still say when people ask me about whether I recommend that girls stay in school or pursue professional soccer that they can do both and it's even better. It makes you grow so much as a person. It challenges you in a way that you don't think you can be challenged coming out of high school.
"Now when I have hard things going on, I think, 'Well, I did a lot of this when I was in college. I can handle it,'" Gonzalez shared. "Nothing is as hard as having five engineering classes and waking up early in the morning for practice and still passing all your classes and doing well in soccer. It makes you think about things differently and raises your confidence."
For Gonzalez, it was not just learning to balance a demanding class schedule that she feels has benefitted her soccer career; she also believes that the content she learned has impacted her play.
"Having a degree makes you think a little differently," Gonzalez said. "I try to explain how being an engineer weirdly makes me a better goalie because I look at every play from a physics point of view and I analyze everything. I study the other teams in a way that I wouldn't if I didn't have my engineering degree. [Soccer and engineering] are different topics, but it all makes me who I am."
As an alumna of the UC San Diego women's soccer program, Gonzalez still feels connected to her Triton roots.
"I'm still in contact with a lot of my teammates and [Coach Kristin Jones]," Gonzalez said. "It's a culture that I'm so proud to be a part of because it's way bigger than the time you're there as a student-athlete. I'm excited that they're going Division I because it's going to be huge for the school."
As UC San Diego Athletics prepares for the next step in its move to Division I, Gonzalez is not quite sure what the next step will be in her journey.
"I haven't decided anything yet, but I like that I have options right now. That's the best part about it," Gonzalez explained. "I really enjoyed the job I had before I played professional soccer, so I could see myself going back to that and bringing everything I've learned over the past few years. I also love everything that has to do with soccer, obviously. That's my passion. I'm happy with where I'm at and I like that I have options for the future."
One thing is for sure though as Gonzalez lives out her dreams.
"Whenever I'm in town, I'll always be there rooting for UC San Diego."
About UC San Diego Athletics
With 30 national team championships, nearly 150 individual titles and the top student-athlete graduation rate among Division II institutions in the United States, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program annually ranks as one of the most successful in the country. The Tritons sponsor 23 intercollegiate sport programs that compete on the NCAA Division I and II levels and, in summer 2020, will transition into full Division I status as a member of the Big West Conference. UC San Diego student-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent. A total of 82 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 37 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. In competition, more than 1,300 UC San Diego student-athletes have earned All-America honors.
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