Royal City's Adam Martinez, Michael Rojas opening doors for other Hispanic players to follow

ROYAL CITY — Michael Rojas has the opportunity to do something special, as well as be something special by becoming the first Royal High School athlete to receive a NCAA Division I scholarship to a Power 5 conference.

Over the years, NCAA Division-I recruiters have been reluctant to recruit Hispanic players from rural areas because they have a tendency not to finish what they started. Sometimes it’s because they have a hard time overcoming the cultural challenges.

Maybe they’re not disciplined enough to make the college commitment in the classroom. Or maybe they can’t deal with being too far from friends and family. Whatever the reason, recruiters have tended not to stray too far from the norm of recruiting heavily from national club talent around the country.

But Rojas’ success on the field and in the classroom can open the door, introducing the collegiate soccer world to another talent pool. But this story traces back to when 2011 Royal graduate Adam Martinez made his push to become the first from Royal to make the jump from 1A to D-I soccer.

“I told coach (Jens Jensen) that I wanted to go to Washington or I didn’t want to play college soccer,” Martinez said.

Jensen made the contact with Washington head coach Jamie Clark, telling him he had a special player he’d like him to consider. Jensen sent video, represented his player, established dialogue.

“I didn’t actually have any discussions with UW until after I had graduated,” Martinez said. “I didn’t have any club ball background. They already had their roster filled, so it didn’t work out.”

What did work out, is that Martinez earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Washington and is now the eighth grade science teacher at Royal Intermediate School, where he’s coaching soccer.

“Adam really opened the door and made it possible. By (Washington’s) willingness to take a look at video, show an interest, it cracked the door open,” Jensen said. “What is so cool, Mike’s skills have thrown the door wide open. Here’s a kid that comes from the Columbia Basin, the son of immigrant parents. He’s not like the rest of their recruiting pool.

“But Mike’s proven to (the Washington staff) that not only are (Hispanic) kids good. They’re also good students, totally committed to the classroom and that they can be successful in the campus environment. Hopefully, the other kids (from the Columbia Basin) will look to Mike and see how he did it. By not only being good on the field, but being fantastic in the classroom. By being a good person.”

Rojas has been active with Northwest soccer clubs in both Seattle and Spokane for years with the idea of gaining collegiate soccer exposure.

“There was times when I’d sleep all the way over to Spokane, then study all the way back because that’s the only way I could stay caught up and get things done for school,” Rojas said. Doing homework on the road, focusing in the classroom, playing for traveling soccer teams that played in tournaments as far away as California is actually a tribute to his parents Jose and Reyma.

“My dad’s the one that trained me all these years, without him I wouldn’t be where I am. My mom worked in the orchards, but then went back and got her GED and now she has her own beauty shop,” Rojas said. “I owe them everything. The sacrifices they’ve made with time and money running me back and forth to soccer (around the country).”

Rojas will be living on his own and making his own decisions soon enough, but the lessons he learned from humble beginnings will take him far on the journey to come. Where other kids are taking spring break off, he’s working double shifts for Gilbert Orchards picking apples.

“I’ve been working in the orchards for awhile. It helps make me stronger, but it also helps me to be more humble,” he said. “My dad wanted me to learn how to work hard. It’s a tough job working in the orchard. It got me to thinking I don’t want to be here my whole life. I needed to go hard in school. Dad taught me that and how to work hard.”

Rojas made his name playing elite club ball. He’s nigh unstoppable in the Washington high school ranks. He was the SCAC Most Valuable Player and a Washington State Soccer Coaches Association all-state selection in 2017. But he knows he has to get better at UW.

“You can’t play scared. But I know that once I get in there, I’m not going to be the fastest or best guy. I’ll need to build up to be one of the people coach can depend on,” Rojas said. “It’s going to be tough. But I wouldn’t be getting up every day at 5 a.m. to go to the orchards to work if I wasn’t dedicated to being the best I can be,” he said.

His Huskies teammates might come from the Sandwell Academy in Oxford, England; Rockridge Secondary Academy in Vancouver, B.C.; or Montgomery Bell Academy in Brentwood, Tenn.

But they don’t come from the Columbia Basin were hands are blistered with long hours in the orchards. Where a man is judged by how hard he works, not who his family is.

Michael Rojas is showing other Hispanic kids from the Columbia Basin you can get there from here with the right amount of work, both on the field and in the classroom.

Here is video of his second-half goal against Wahluke: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSZXQGVGQH0

Rodney Harwood is a sports writer for the Columbia Basin Herald and can be reached at rharwood@columbiabasinherald.com