Manteca’s Versatile and Athletic Weapon

By VINCENT MARTINEZ 
The Tower 

MANTECA - Mateo Esparza is a two-time Valley Oak League defender who not only plays varsity soccer but also plays varsity football and varsity track. 

 Esparza is also an academic standout with a 3.44 GPA and a course load that includes honors and Advanced Placement classes. Esparza is someone for college recruiters or scouts to look out for due to not only his athletic ability, but his academic ability as well. 

Mateo Esparza sprinting to the line of scrimmage to make a play against Mountain House at Gus Schmiedt Field. 

“I want to keep my good grades for my final year of high school and then go to a junior college then go to a four-year college,” Esparza said. 

With Esparza being a multi-sport athlete, he tends to like some sports more than others. His favorite sport is soccer because he started as a kid and has played ever since. As he aged, however, he began picking up additional sports such as football and track. 

Esparza’s ambitions for the future are to play professional soccer after high school then go to a Junior College for two years for academics then to be looked at by four-year colleges. With Esparza being a multi-sport athlete, he found it hard at the start due to not having time to do his homework. Fortunately, as time went on, his time management improved.  

His lack of early time management caused him to miss out on certain sports he never got to play. A sport he wished he played is golf because he says that “It’s calming and relaxing”. Although Esparza does 3 different sports, the sport he wants to pursue would be soccer because he has played since he was a kid and has the best chance to become a pro. 

Esparza is a two-time VOL first team selection, Team MVP, and varsity captain for two years. He helped guide the team to the playoffs in 2023-24, breaking a 10-year playoff drought. Esparza scored four goals totaling one in his sophomore year and three in his junior year for varsity.  

Varsity teammate Andres Gomez Sanchez says that Esparza is “A very hardworking and motivated teammate.” 

“He is very calming and has faith and trust in every single one of his teammates, Mateo also provides reassurance,” Sanchez says. 

“I’ve grown up playing soccer, I could play soccer forever if I wanted to,” Esparza says. 

Despite being on the varsity soccer team, Esparza also plays football. Esparza has nine solo and 29 total tackles with an average of 5.8 tackles per game.  He also has two interceptions, one being in the Valley Oak League and another in the Division 2 league.  

Esparza also did track, running a 200-meter, 400 meters, and a 4x4 relay. Esparza's best times for his 200 were 5th and 6th place with times of 24.36 and 24.72. For his 400, his best time was 2nd place with 58.12. He’s placed third place five times in 400 meters. His best time for the 400 is 53.70 seconds. Lasty, in his 4x4 relay he has two first places, one at 4:00, and his other at 3:27.  

Esparza is an all-around athlete with good academic grades and is a leader when no one steps up. With Esparza playing 3 sports, he constantly has challenges and setbacks for himself. He doesn’t get frightened he takes the challenges head on like the horns of a buffalo. Esparza is very talented in each of the sports he does, but he mainly wants to focus on soccer as he believes that it will take him to a professional level.