High school sports reigns supreme in the Imperial Valley. Each season has its own athletes, challenges, and rivalries. Each team prepares for the opportunity of a championship that will drive the athletes, excite the fans, and build that school spirit of who is the best.
Here in El Centro, California, the air is thick with that very energy. We're diving headfirst into the heart-pounding world of high school soccer and the dazzling spectacle of cheerleading championships. Forget the pros for a moment; this is where raw passion meets youthful talent, where local heroes are made, and where the stakes couldn't be higher.
During the next 30 minutes, we'll be taking you on a journey through the highs and lows, the nail-biting finishes, and the unforgettable moments that define the fiercely contested competitions our student athletes were engaged in this last season. We'll hear from the players who left it all on the field, the cheerleaders who soared to new heights, and the coaches who guided their teams through grueling seasons, all with one ultimate goal in mind: victory.
But what is it about winning that captivates us? Is it the reward, the trophy, the medal, the bragging rights? Or is it something deeper? The validation of countless hours of practice, the unbreakable bond forged with teammates, the sheer exhilaration of achieving something extraordinary together? We'll explore these questions and more as we dive into the psychology of competition and the relentless pursuit of that coveted championship title.
In the world of high school soccer, every pass, every tackle, every shot on goal carries the weight of expectations from the athletes, the coaches, and for us, the pride of soccer in the Imperial Valley. We'll dissect the tactical brilliance, the individual effort, and the sheer grit that separates the contenders from the champions. We'll relive the dramatic goals, the stunning saves, and the moments where a single play can affect the entire season.
Meanwhile, on the sidelines and center stage, the cheerleading championships are a breathtaking display of athleticism, precision, and unwavering team spirit. These aren't just sideline supporters; they are powerful athletes in their own right, executing routines that demand incredible strength, flexibility, and synchronization. We'll hear about the gravity-defying stunts, the perfectly timed pyramids, and the infectious energy that can amaze a crowd and lift a team to victory.
Our story isn't just about recounting scores and routines; it's about the stories behind the triumphs. It's about the underdogs who defied the odds, the star players who rose to the occasion, and the collective spirit that propelled our teams to greatness.
Get ready to experience the passion, the drama, and the unwavering focus on winning that defines our high school championship seasons.
Spartans will. Spartans pride.
The 2024–25 school year brought two championships to Central Union High School: a CIF San Diego and CIF State Championship for the cheer squad, and a CIF San Diego and CIF Southern Section CIF State runner-up title for the boys’ soccer team. Both teams brought honor and pride to the Valley. Both were focused on these championships all year.
The Spartan cheer squad had already won the CIF San Diego and CIF State titles the year before. The ability for any team to repeat is very difficult. But our team did it.
ISABELLA: Hi, I'm Isabella, and I believe one of the reasons—many of the reasons—why I love this team was because of how we all worked well together. I feel like everybody wanted that win. Everybody wanted to win. Everybody was motivated to succeed, to be better. So I believe just overall, having a good team where everybody wanted to work together and be able to achieve something great was huge.
COACH GABBY: I’m Coach Gabby.
COACH ROB: I’m Coach Rob. I think this year, going in, yes—we had a lot of returners coming into this team. So that definitely helped. We didn't have to start from ground zero with skills, even though we did go back to the beginning, the basics, and relearn things with the new stunt groups. But I feel like, as coaches, we tried to instill that it’s a new season. I remember at times having to say, like, “We're not going to ride on the coattails of last year's team. We have to work hard—if not even harder than the team prior—to push ourselves. And if we want that two-time win, we have to go in harder.”
Sometimes the reality sets in that all those years of being part of cheer and dance programs—sometimes from before you were even in school—sets in. It’s hard not to become emotional at that moment.
STUDENT SPEAKER: For me, I feel like it was definitely the thrill of going through the competition season and just being with these people that you’re around every day for hours. I know we all complain, like, “Oh, I don't want to go to practice,” but as a senior, now that it's over, I definitely regret saying that. Definitely—being with these people…
Definitely, um…
Okay, like, after over 12 years of being in cheer, it's really hard having to give it up.
Over 12 years, I've been at different gyms with different dynamics. It's definitely completely different than high school. And being in school, having this competition team and competing with all these people, it’s definitely the thrill for me—always being with these people, spending time with them, working hard, going through ups and downs with them. It really builds a bond. That bond really made me want to stay for so long.
STUDENT SPEAKER: The drive of the team to prepare for competitions is more than just practicing the routines. It's building trust and friendships. It’s developing a winning mindset that helps you lock in before the routine starts. It's so many things.
I feel like we all really wanted to win, so we just kept pushing each other. We had good times, made sure we were laughing and having fun, but we also made sure we were really locked in and ready for the next competition that was coming up. I feel like that motivation really pushed us the whole season.
COACH GABBY: I will say that this year's team was super competitive. I’ve coached for over 10 years, and I haven’t seen a group like this—you guys pushed each other and hyped each other up at competitions. You wanted to win. That hunger—I truly saw it in you. You had that fight in you.
STUDENT SPEAKER: Yeah, I also believe one of the reasons we were so competitive and wanted to win so badly was wanting to keep the back-to-back title. That was our motivation, especially during practices when maybe the energy was low, or people weren’t there physically or mentally. Just keeping that goal in the back of our heads—wanting the back-to-back title—really motivated us.
What motivated me was being on the team last year and seeing all those wins. I couldn’t let anyone down—not the returners, not the new teammates. We all wanted it just as much. I think that really showed how determined and committed we were to winning and keeping that streak alive—especially at Nationals.
That really opened my eyes to how hungry we were to win. And in Florida and Anaheim, when we placed second in the nation, that was the biggest achievement we could ask for—top three. But just seeing everyone’s expressions and how bummed we were to get second place—that showed how badly we wanted it.
COACH GABBY: It was inspirational, honestly, as a coach. After Anaheim Nationals, seeing you guys bummed about getting second at a national competition—I was like, wow. It was insane. And it lit a fire under the underclassmen going into next year’s team.
As the stakes rise, so does the mental pressure. Cheer can be a very mentally challenging sport with little room for error. If you expect to win, the team needs to learn to keep their nerves in check.
STUDENT SPEAKER: I like to say that the pressure of when a competition comes up—it’s really all in your head. I know for a lot of members of the team, the nerves sometimes get the best of you. Having a good mindset—knowing you're going into this competition for your team, just for you guys—not thinking about any other team, just performing your best—that’s something that means more than just a win. It’s about everyone working together.
What also kept that drive for us to keep on winning was the coaches telling us, “You’re not competing against anyone. You’re competing against yourself and Squishy.” And that really clicked in my head.
We would sometimes start saying, “We’re going up against this team, and that team…” But then we’d get in our heads, and we’d mess up on the mat. So the coaches reminded us: “It’s you and Squishy. It’s just you against you.”
It was always about us. And we did it for ourselves—not to prove anything to anyone else. We did it because we wanted it so badly, because we knew we were the best. And we were.
I think, yeah, definitely having the bond with everyone helped. Especially backstage—yes, we were locked in, but that doesn’t mean you push people away. You stay focused, but as a team.
And praying before… I know not all of us are religious, but praying really means a lot to many people. For me, it really made me feel safe. At every single competition, we prayed right before going on, and it made me feel better every single time. Once we were done praying, I felt better about performing.
The day of competition—everyone’s just silent. No one says anything. No one wants to jinx it. Everyone’s checked in, and it hits hard when we’re lined up and ready to go backstage. That’s when we just have to give it our all. We do get nervous, but right before we hit the mat, coaches give us that talk: “You got this. We’re here. Just give the judges your all.” And then we run out on that mat, check in, and blank out. And those two minutes and 30 seconds just fly by.
And then—winning. That’s the biggest feeling. I wish everyone could experience that. It’s heartwarming. Just knowing that after all the tough practices, the mental and physical exhaustion—it was all worth it.
STUDENT SPEAKER: Okay, so the announcement comes in and—
You hear “Central Union…” and it’s just the greatest feeling ever. It’s like everything goes quiet for a second. You hear “First place…” and then you literally just close your eyes, and you stop breathing. You hold your breath—there’s nothing—and then suddenly you hear your teammates screaming louder than anyone. It’s a rush of excitement that’s been building up.
When they start announcing third place, then second place, and then your place… and when you know it’s your name being called, it’s like everything around you just fades away. You block out everything. You don’t notice all the people around you. You’re just jumping up and down with all your friends. It’s one of the best experiences anyone could ever have.
BREAK
Spartan soccer has always had a long tradition of winning in the Valley, but wins outside the Valley—against teams from San Diego and other bigger cities—haven’t always come easy. That has changed. In the last couple of years, and especially during the 2024–25 season, the Spartans proved they were not only the best in the Valley but also in all of Southern California.
During the season, the Spartans scored 89 goals in their playoff run. They denied all opponents any goals until the 2–1 victory in the Southern California championship game. They built an overall record of 26 wins, 3 losses, and 4 ties. This was no ordinary Valley team. It was focused, well-coached, and the players were hungry to win.
How did they achieve all this? Through hard work, dedication, trust, and creating a family.
PLAYER: It was just the team that we had, honestly. I think everything started from the inside out—with the family that we built. We didn’t even call ourselves a team. We called ourselves a family, because that’s what was formed with this group.
Big shoutout to the coaches and my teammates. Without our coaches’ effort—who all have jobs outside of soccer—they always made time to come to practices, to create strategies, and they always sent us film to watch of players we had to mark up on, or just to learn how they played.
This whole thing started with us, the team. And it grew outward—to our friends, who always came out and supported us. Then to the staff, the principal, the athletic director. And then to the community—not just El Centro, but the whole Imperial Valley. We had kids from Imperial, Holtville—everywhere—showing up to our games to support us on this unbelievable journey.
And this whole thing started because we put God as our foundation. We played for Him and for all the glory He’s brought to our team. That was the foundation of this incredible season.
PLAYER: Yeah, we had a lot of support. I appreciate the coaches a lot, because without them spending that time thinking about what to do next or what to show us—we wouldn’t have been ready. Most of the teams we played had certain habits. Our coaches would find them, show them to us, and we’d act on that.
I also appreciate the community and all the support we had.
And our teachers too—for giving us more time on assignments and everything that got pushed aside while we were away from school.
PLAYER 2: Yeah, our teachers were a huge support. Every time we’d walk into class, they’d clap for us or cheer us on.
PLAYER 3: I remember my teachers would always say, “Just go do what you’ve got to do—win this for us. When you come back, you can finish your assignments.” They were always supportive.
PLAYER 2: That’s why I always invited them to our games. Made sure they were there too. I’d take photos with them after. I really appreciate them.
COACH GARCIA: And I just want to add—Michelle is absolutely right. He’s an extremely talented player, and it’s been a process for him to play the way he did this season. He scored the most goals in the San Diego section—30 goals. That didn’t happen by chance. He’s been working hard, even back when he made varsity as a sophomore.
Everyone has to go through a process. And I’ve said this to our leaders—like Josh—you have to go through the fire. Michelle did. He learned from his mistakes. He grew, both as a player and as a person.
And that’s what Michelle represents to us on the coaching staff—a beautiful story of redemption and maturity. And when a player improves personally, it shows on the field.
We’re so proud of him. Stats are stats: 38 goals by himself. Add in the other three players, and we nearly hit 100 goals in a single season. I don’t know if we’ll ever see that again. But what I really want is to see that kind of personal and athletic growth season after season.
PLAYER – JOSH: Like any team that builds a foundation for championships, the mental aspect of the game is huge.
For me, my struggles this season were mostly mental—more than physical. I felt like I was underperforming the whole season, like I wasn’t playing to my potential. And there were a lot of things going on at home that got in my head.
I’m a very emotional person. That’s how I play, and that’s how I live life. Everything’s personal to me.
So during the season, when I felt like I was underperforming and getting benched, I took it to heart. I remember one time I went to Coach Garcia and just talked to him. He showed me that not everything is personal. Sometimes you just have to go through the fire.
That’s not just about soccer—it’s about life. When I get older, when I go through trials, I’ll have to go through fire to get to where I need to be. My life has shown me that. The plan I have for my life isn’t always the plan God has for me.
That goes all the way back to my freshman and sophomore years, when I transferred to Central to play because of some drama at my old school. And at home, with my mom leaving me—that showed me I can persevere through anything.
With the help of family, friends, and staying strong in my faith, I can get through anything. This season, I told myself: this is my last season. I have nothing to lose. I’m going to be the best player I can be.
And I think that mindset helped me become not just a better player, but a better person too.
COACH GARCIA: Thanks for sharing that again, Josh. Like we said earlier in the year—and I believe Coach Chris and Coach Diaz said it too—you don’t need an armband to be a leader.
We can all be good followers and good leaders. And you were the perfect example of that—giving encouragement before games, helping the team perform at the level we needed. You gave us composure. You gave me composure as a coach in those huddles. And that’s always appreciated.
And I appreciate you getting personal right now, because even though the coaching staff isn’t oblivious to the struggles you guys go through, hearing it like this brings it home. We all have personal struggles—like your coach getting hit in the head this season and having to deal with that. (Shoutout to Miguel here, by the way!)
It’s all about perseverance. I call it stubbornness, because I’m very stubborn too. But really, it’s just the desire to keep pushing and performing at your best.
Several Voices del Valle episodes have spoken about how people outside the Imperial Valley have little to no idea where we are.
PLAYER: I know some teams we play are like, “Where are you guys from?” And we’re like, “El Centro.” And they’re like, “Where’s that?” Nobody even knows what El Centro is. They might know Calexico, though, because it’s right by the border and their football team gets some attention.
But yeah, they don’t know the level of soccer talent we’ve got here.
So this season, we’d pull up to games blasting Mexican music on the JBL speaker. They probably thought we were a joke—like, “These guys suck.” And then we’d go score six goals on them. They couldn’t compete.
We’ve got class players in the Valley. A lot of talent—underground talent—that people don’t know about. And it showed this year when we were giving San Diego teams real competition and smoking most of them.
It’s likely that the teams we played in the CIF San Diego Section championship series know where we’re from now.
PLAYER 2: How many goals did we score again?
PLAYER 1: Thirty-eight goals in the playoffs. That just shows how much of a powerhouse we were—and how those San Diego teams couldn’t keep up.
They called us the McFarland team.
PLAYER 3: You’ve seen the movie McFarland, USA, right? The cross-country runners from a nobody town who beat all the rich schools?
Yeah, that’s us.
PLAYER 2: Like the McFarland team, we come from a different place, a different culture. It can be intimidating—but it doesn’t have to be. For some of us, it was a culture shock. We’re Mexican, we’re brown, and we’re playing against mostly white kids. Privileged kids.
PLAYER 4: I’m white too, but I don’t come from that. They come in different varieties, bro.
PLAYER 3: And then we won that game in freezing weather. I remember my hands were numb. Everyone was freezing. I was just happy to be on the bench and moving around. Those last five minutes when they subbed me out—I just ran to someone and hugged them. I don’t even remember who, I was just excited.
PLAYER 1: Honestly, the support of the team was huge. Our parents and fans traveled and cheered us on to victory.
Looking back at the beach game—it was like a three-and-a-half-hour drive—and we still had more fans in the stands than the home team. That just shows the kind of support we had all season. The whole Valley was showing up for us.
PLAYER 2: My parents have always supported me through my four years, always showing up to my games. But I noticed that this year, even more parents were coming—not just mine. The other parents were showing up too.
PLAYER 3: And it wasn’t just family—it was friends, teachers, and people in town who heard about it. People who just knew who we were.
PLAYER 4: Yeah, the stands were packed. It looked like football games, but it was soccer.
PLAYER 5: I wouldn’t have anyone show up for me, though. I got so nervous when my dad was there. The only two games he ever came to were the only two games we lost.
PLAYER 2: Seriously?
PLAYER 5: Yeah. After that, I told him, “This isn’t working.” He was like, “I’m bad luck.” And I agreed. He’d say, “I’ll come again,” and I’d say, “Please don’t.” I don’t know why, but it just made me play worse.
PLAYER 4: That’s real. I liked the support, but I didn’t always want people watching me. Still, shoutout to my dad—he came every game, all four years, always on time, always supporting me no matter what—bad game or good game.
One of the unique strengths of the Spartan team was the mind games that Pedro Guzman played. His ability to get into opponents’ heads was something to behold.
PEDRO: The only other thing I remember from that game was—I never knew surfers actually talked like they do in movies. Like, “Rad, dude.” I was saying stuff to one of them and he goes, “What’s wrong with you, dude?” And I was like, “Is this real?”
PLAYER 1: Yeah, they really talk like that.
PEDRO: Then one of them said something while I was marking him—he just crashed out. But he said it in a little baby voice, and I couldn’t stop laughing.
PEDRO: It was funny—he just totally crashed out. And in that situation, the crash-out was number 22. Number 11 was up there too, but he was chill. It was 22 that couldn’t handle it.
I’d say random stuff to throw him off—just to get in his head. And 22? He didn’t like it at all. That was the point. I had to annoy him.
PLAYER: Yeah, you told us exactly what he said back to you.
PEDRO: He was like, “Bro, get off me. You’re so annoying.”
I started touching his back and he goes, “Stop! Stop touching me right now!”
And I was like, “Yeah? I know you like it.”
He looked at me with this expression—like pure disbelief. But 22 kept shoving me the whole time. I just kept going, getting close to him, whispering in his ear.
PLAYER: What would you say to him?
PEDRO: It was the dumbest stuff. After every play, when we jogged back into position, I’d say something ridiculous. Like, “Guess who’s back… back again. Pedro’s back… tell a friend…”
He got so mad. At one point he started putting his fingers in his mouth like he was gagging just to show me how annoyed he was.
PLAYER: Man, his whole face said, “I hate this guy.”
PEDRO: But I liked it. I was having fun.
This whole playoff run revealed the depth of heart and fight that this Spartan team had.
PLAYER: The entire CIF State run—we had one goal in mind: putting on for the Valley. Putting the Valley’s name on the map.
I think what helped us was that we had time to separate soccer from everything else. When we were at practice, we focused on soccer. But outside of that, we hung out together, chilled, and didn’t let the pressure eat us up.
PLAYER 2: Yeah, during the whole season we’d be hanging out at Pedro’s house every weekend—Fridays, mostly. That really helped take the pressure off.
PLAYER: Yeah, honestly, we’ve never seen this much support for soccer before. The stands were full at every game.
I remember when we played the semifinal against Mission Bay, one of their kids asked Pedro, “Are the stands always this full?” And we were like, “Just this year, man.” He was shocked. He said, “Only like three parents show up to our games.”
That’s when we realized—this was something special.
Honestly, it was a blessed season. The best season Central soccer has ever had. We were the first team in the Valley to ever do something like this and really put the Valley on the map.
Will these incredible seasons be repeated next year? It’s hard to say. But the core is still there—and so is the desire.
The hunger to do what it takes to become champions again.
Spartans Will. Spartans Pride.
