Mahatma Gandhi once said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”
Metea Valley’s Gandhi Cruz only wanted to see his teenage soccer life change for the better.
The sophomore goalkeeper has seen such a change occur as he made the transition from playing solely for a club to joining his high school team for the first time.
“Things were not going well for the academy I was playing for,” Cruz said. “I wasn’t sure what to do, but one of my friends, Abraham Antar, told me that since I wasn’t going to play for the academy, and since I knew a couple of guys already on the team, that maybe I should come to a tryout and give it a shot.”
As an underclassmen and someone who opted to not play high school soccer a year ago, Cruz wasn’t sure how long it would take for his new teammates to accept him. After a couple of days, though, he felt like he was a Mustang.
“The first day or two it felt a little strange being the new guy,” he said. “I think they saw what I could do and they put their confidence in me and I think I put in back in them. Once that started to build up we connected pretty well and they basically gave me their trust.”
If Cruz needed anyone to talk to about being the younger guy playing a big role on varsity, all he needed to do was reach out to older brother Jesus, who played for Waubonsie Valley from 2007-2009.
“My brother was a different player than me, but we’ve both been in this situation,” Gandhi said. “He would play forward or a defensive spot. I’m just blessed with this opportunity and trying to take advantage of it. I like controlling the group and have confidence.”
Since the Cruz name is a common one, when Gandhi decided to get involved in Metea Valley games last summer, he could’ve slipped under the radar as an unknown.
But Metea coach Josh Robinson was the sophomore coach at Waubonsie Valley when Jesus Cruz played there and his current assistant, Craig Tomczak, also knew Jesus as a varsity assistant for the Warriors.
“I’ve usually known every player at the school who was either playing for us or in academy,” Robinson said. “(Gandhi) was a complete unknown to me until I put two and two together with his brother.
“It’s funny and just a small world. I saw what he could do in goal this summer and we were thin there, and he’s pretty special. He’s helped us a ton already.”
Cruz made an impact immediately Sept. 5 when the Mustangs opened DuPage Valley Conference play against Neuqua Valley.
The first two shots from Neuqua standout Billy Heniades were denied thanks to tremendous stops from Cruz, and Metea won 3-0.
“That shutout score is so deceiving because we were a disaster, but Gandhi kept us in it,” Robinson said. “Our guys could’ve walked, but Gandhi made the plays and the guys kept fighting.”
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The Mustangs (8-7-1) have a modest record but could be a tough team to oust in the postseason. They’ve also won five of their last seven games.
“We’re a young team but to go from 4-11-4 to already eight wins now with a lot of young guys shows we’re rebuilding and have the right culture in place,” Robinson said. “It’s exciting to see and (Gandhi) has been a big part of that. He communicates, organizes and takes on that leadership role so we’ve been excited by what he’s been doing.”
C.R. Walker is a freelance writer for The Beacon-News.