HOST: All right, so let's get started. So, starting off—by the way, good morning, guys. How are you? Thank you for video chatting with us. There's a reason for this because we're actually pretty excited about these types of podcast things. So it's nice to get some views from different people who were here down in the Valley. So, before we get started, how are you doing today?
Marco Peralta: I'm doing good. It's 9:00 here in Tempe, Arizona, where I'm at right now for training. Supposedly, it was going to rain today, but it's sunny as heck. So, I don't know. There’s supposed to be a cloud of rain, but so far, we're doing good.
HOST: That's good. That's good. All right, so let's talk about a bit of your background. You lived down here in EC—oh, tell us, how was high school life down here in EC? You went to El Centro, the Spartans, right? So tell us about what that was like.
Marco Peralta: Yeah. So I was born and raised in El Centro, grew up right next to the freeway—111 and Ross. Everyone knows the 111 and Ross back home, and the KOA. That’s where my parents still live. And yes, I went to Central—class of 2017.
High school for me was a very unique experience in the sense that I came to the reality very, very fast that those were the last four years of living for free, basically. Because after high school, you're basically on your own. You’ve got to plan—are you going to go to college or not? Are you going to start working? So I tried to embrace it the way I could.
The only bad thing for me was I was going through a lot of family stuff when I was in high school—like, with my father—and I didn’t have the best grades. So going to a college was not in my future. But I think overall, it was good.
When I was in junior high, I went to Meadows. Yeah, I went to Meadows.
HOST: That's awesome. That’s great.
Marco Peralta: Yeah, I went to Meadows—class of 2013. So that's where I went. But when I was in Meadows, I told myself I really wanted to get into the soccer program because I grew up playing soccer all my life. And right off the bat, I started playing varsity soccer with Coach Garcia. That’s the coach now again. But the same thing—grades just held me back. Unfortunately, I didn’t finish my freshman season with varsity, and I didn’t finish my senior season with varsity either. So, a bit of a bummer. But I think it was a growing experience. And I got to enjoy a couple of years with my friends. Because there’s people I graduated with in 2017 that I haven’t seen ever since we graduated. So it’s crazy, but I think overall, it was an interesting experience.
HOST: Yeah, it was an experience, I think. So a bit more about your upbringing—we heard that you also had a podcast. You started a podcast in high school, and we’d like to hear about that.
Marco Peralta: Yeah. So—oh, sorry.
HOST: Oh, you're good.
Marco Peralta: So when I was in school, when I was a junior, I interned at a station in El Centro called 95.3 The Edge. They had a Sports Talk Show there. My biggest dream was to be a pro soccer player—that was the dream. But my backup dream was to be a sports broadcaster. That’s what I wanted to do.
And I basically saw this opportunity because one of the substitute teachers at Central—his name was Frankie Thomas. I don’t know if you know him—maybe he subbed sometimes. Big guy, gringo, American, has a beard, long hair. Maybe he's not doing it now, or maybe he is.
But anyways—hopefully no one from the administration sees this—don’t worry about it, but I would ditch class to go talk to him about soccer, because soccer is one of my favorite sports. And then when I was a senior, I ran into him at a church event. And at the church event, he said, “Hey, I have a Sports Talk Show. Do you want to, you know, potentially intern for me?” I was like, “Absolutely. Who do I talk to?”
So the name he told me was Victor Nuno, and he was my yard duty teacher when I was at Meadows in kindergarten. So it was like a full-circle moment. It was my first opportunity really doing sports radio. And when I got my first time on the air, I know I sucked—because it was my first time—but I really loved it.
And then once I realized I wasn't going to a good college after high school, and I had to find a way to get repetitions or just practice, I told myself, “You know what? I gotta make my own opportunity to get better at what I want to do in my career.”
So I basically started a podcast called the Alto Sports Podcast. I did it with a friend of mine called Gila, who is now a varsity football coach at Imperial. He gave me a shot from the very beginning. He would let me do it in his garage, we’d have local guests. And I saw it as something beneficial—for me and for the Valley—because I was helping highlight some of the local athletes and programs the best way I could with the limited resources I had.
But at the same time, I got to also polish my capabilities as a broadcaster, as a host. And I think it helped in the long run because I was able to create those opportunities. You know, what you guys are doing right now—I wish I had that when I was in high school. It would’ve been nice because right from high school, I could’ve been practicing to be a host, to be a broadcaster or whatever. But I didn’t have that back then—you guys do now. So I know you guys are asking about my podcast, but at the same time, just take advantage of it. Because you never know where this could lead—during high school, after high school—you just never know.
So that’s basically how my podcast got started, if you want to call it that.
HOST: So would you say that all your other activities and extracurriculars—would you say that growing up here contributed to your job now?
Marco Peralta: I think so, for sure. Because the fact is—we all know the Valley. You either have a lot of money or you don’t have money at all. You're struggling, paycheck to paycheck. And that was my story. My parents were really low income. Like I said, I lived in KOA, which is a low-income community. So it really taught me how to be humble about what I have. And I think it just helped me in my career so far because every little step that I would take, I would always tell myself, “Don’t forget to be humble. Don’t forget to be humble.”
Something I’ve been living off of recently that I came across is: “Don’t forget that you prayed for the moments or the dream that you’re living now, but also be humble enough to remember that you’re living someone else’s dream too.”
HOST: Okay, so I have a question. Could you tell us what it is exactly that you're doing now? Like, could you fill us in a bit about that?
Marco Peralta: Yeah. So what I currently do—I am a Communications Representative for the Los Angeles Angels. So I’m the Spanish play-by-play broadcaster.
HOST: Oh wow.
Marco Peralta: So I’ve worked in the major leagues for about three years now. Prior to that, I got to work the World Cup in Qatar. I used to do the Phoenix Suns for two years. And then I was able to work for the Diamondbacks as well. So thankfully, I’ve been very blessed in my career.
HOST: Wow. So your play-by-play is, you know, all year long, right?
Marco Peralta: Yeah, all year long. Obviously, right now during spring training, I take a bit of a break because my broadcasting schedule doesn’t start until the season starts. So it’s a bit of a break. And then during the offseason—there’s no baseball—so I get to rest a bit. But overall, it's basically year-round. And it's fun. I love it. It doesn’t feel like a job, to be honest.
Marco Peralta (continued): The transition from IVC to ASU—I think it was very beneficial for me because, like I said earlier, I couldn’t afford to go to a four-year school right off the bat. I didn’t have the grades in place. But I think that IVC is a great place to start. I think in today’s world, you’re just consumed by the idea of going to a four-year college right away. But if you go four years and you don’t have a full-ride scholarship, you’re going to end up in debt, you know?
So in my opinion, community college is always a good start. I’ve known some really good people that started on the JUCO route and went on to do big things. And I took the same route. I did my two years at IVC and then decided to see where I was going to go. And then, all of a sudden, ASU came around through a mentor of mine. And I said, “You know what? This school accepts me. Let’s see if it works out.” And it did.
It was a very beneficial time because I got to learn from my mistakes. I made mistakes at IVC—because we know it’s SoCal, right? You know what I mean. So people do that a lot. And at IVC—not saying anything bad about them—but I’ve had some friends who were just in that lifestyle. You know?
And I said, “You know what? I’m going to go to college because I know what I want to do. I’m not going to mess around. I’m going to finish this as fast as I can, because I know what I want to do. I have a dream I want to accomplish, and I’ve got to stick to it.”
So, obviously, it was a very revealing time for me—a time of maturity. I was still young, 18 or 19, but I’m happy that I had some type of maturity to really hone in on what I wanted to do in my career.
It’s hard. You know, it’s hard because when you’re in the Imperial Valley, that’s all you know. If you’re lucky, you get to go to San Diego or L.A. Like, when I was a kid, I didn’t have the chance to go do all that. I remember going to my first Dodgers game when I was six or seven—I grew up a Dodgers fan, I’ll put that out there—but then I didn’t see another game until I was in high school.
Some kids have the opportunity to go every year, let’s say, but I didn’t. So, obviously, the Valley is all I knew—growing up in the trailer park, going to Meadows, just playing soccer all the time, and then going to Central, growing up, just going to the donut shop there on Imperial Avenue and all that kind of stuff. It’s all you know.
So it was difficult for me at first. But the one thing my mom told me—she said, “Look, mijo, as much as I want you home, I know that you want to do this, and I’m going to support you no matter what.” And it goes back to what I said—you’ve got to have a good community. Whether it’s your mom, your dad, or if you don’t have that, some good friends, good uncles, whatever it is—it takes that one person to believe in you. And my parents—my mom—really believed in me. She said, “Mijo, you’ve got to leave the Valley if you need to, to get to where you want to go. And I’m going to support you no matter what.”
So I left in 2019, and I haven’t gone back ever since—living-wise—but I go back to visit family and friends. A good amount of them are still there.
So yeah, it was hard, but it was something I had to do. And once you’re out of the Valley, you try to find something that connects you to home. Like here in Phoenix, you try to find a taco spot that reminds you of Mi Cachanilla, or you go to a donut shop that reminds you of Donut Avenue on Imperial. Whatever it is, you try to find those small things.
Or if you run into a person that knows the Valley, you feel that connection right away because it reminds you of home. That’s something that whoever leaves the Valley—if you’re missing home and you’re homesick—try to find those little things that help you remember where you’re from. Because not only does it connect you to home, but it also helps you stay humble and remember where you came from.
HOST: Yeah. All right. So, you previously mentioned the community and how it’s important to stay close to people in the community. Because out here in the Valley, it’s all we’ve got. It’s all you see. So, can you tell us how the community in the Imperial Valley is different from all the other places you’ve been around the nation?
Marco Peralta: I think in the Valley, it’s a more laid-back, community-feeling place. People are tight with each other. People know that they’re all going through certain struggles. Like, if I’m missing money for something, there are some people willing to help you. And the cool thing about the Valley is that everyone knows each other in a way.
You know, like, yeah, there’s that friendly rivalry—“Oh, you’re from Brawley,” “Oh, you’re from Imperial,” “Oh, you’re from El Centro”—but now as an adult, and just seeing it from the outside, yes, I’m from El Centro, but I say I’m from the Imperial Valley too. Because it’s a whole Valley of people that are part of the same kind of community.
And yeah, like I said, it’s very laid-back, very supportive of each other, in my opinion. Compared to L.A. or San Diego—it’s a lot more fast-paced. Even here in Tempe, while I’m doing spring training, it’s very fast-paced. You’ve got to do this, you’ve got to do that—everything is scheduled. That’s what I do miss about El Centro. Like, the only traffic is on Imperial Avenue in the morning. But when it comes to L.A., you’re in traffic everywhere.
HOST: Did you ever feel discouraged coming from such a small place, relative to all these other big places? Were you ever discouraged by that? Did people ever treat you differently—like, “Oh, he’s not from around here”?
Marco Peralta: I don’t think I felt discouraged. I felt motivated more than anything. Because I told myself, “I’m from a small town that maybe no one’s ever heard of wherever I’m going—but I’m going to make an impact. I’m going to set my mark.” I use it to my advantage. You know, if they say, “Oh shoot, I’ve never heard of El Centro”—well, now you’re about to know about El Centro, because I’m coming.
I’m not saying I’m a cocky or arrogant guy, but I try to use my upbringing as motivation to strive for my dreams. And when people ask me, “Hey, where are you from?” I say, “I’m from El Centro.” And they say, “What the heck is that?” I’m like, “It’s a little town off the 8, when you go to San Diego or Phoenix.” That’s all people know.
But little by little, people are recognizing it. Obviously, Ruben Bolaños—he works for the Padres—he’s another one from the Valley. Sarah Romo, Andrew Ruiz—also in the sports world. I don’t think we should be ashamed of where we come from. Because that’s our beginning, and we should never be ashamed of where we’re from.
So I didn’t see it as discouragement. I saw it more as motivation. I would hang it like a flag behind me. Like, in my room when I lived here in Phoenix and worked for the Suns, I had a sign that said: Small town kid, big city dreams.
HOST: Yeah, I’ve been to San Diego a lot, but every time I go, I still feel like people are like, “Oh…” It’s different because it’s not the culture you grew up in.
Marco Peralta: Yeah, because you’ve just seen so many different faces. It’s kind of strange, because here, you go to Subway, and you know the workers. You go to Taco Bell—you know the workers. Everywhere you go, you recognize the community. You just know.
HOST: Yeah, it’s just scary going to these big places, you know? Like you said, we have this opportunity of doing podcasts in high school. Like I said, I wish I had that when I was in high school. So it’s a big opportunity for us. But I think one piece of advice I’d ask for is—what would you tell us?
Marco Peralta: Yeah, I think if you want to do big things—don’t just do great things in high school with this or anything in general. I’ll give you this one piece of advice. It goes back to the community aspect and people motivating you:
“How do you expect to be great if you’re not willing to accept the greatness of those around you?”
We’re here for each other. Like I said—we’re here for each other. And how do you become great? You have to embrace how other people have done it. What great attributes does someone have that you can learn from, to help you get where you want to be?
That’s how it should be. Iron sharpening iron. That’s how I see it.
