As an outside midfielder for the Righetti High School soccer team, Taylor Frias’ forte was assisting on goals. Now he’s one step closer to reaching his own.
In March, Frias signed a letter of intent to play for Division-II Colorado State-Pueblo after helping the Warriors to an unbeaten season in Pac-7 league play in 2008-09. One of nine seniors to start on the team, Frias was an All-League selection.
“Being undefeated league champions at the end of the year felt great. It was almost surreal,” Frias said. “I’m just happy to go on and play soccer in college and keep that alive.”
Frias, who also ran cross-country for Righetti, started his sophomore year, when the team won the league title before losing in the quarterfinals. This season, Righetti went 12-0 in the league and 26-2-1 overall. They lost to eventual division champion Salesian High School of Richmond in the CIF Southern Sectional playoffs 1-0.
Depending on how his freshman year of college turns out, Frias said he’ll decide later on whether to major in business or physical therapy.
He’ll play club soccer during the summer before heading off to soccer camp in Colorado. His club coach and part-time assistant coach at Righetti, Anthony Grillo, praised him for his work ethic and ability to play well on both sides of the ball.
“He established himself as a leader,” Grillo said. “He’s definitely a player that guys can look up to, and it’s through his hard work in the classroom as well as on the field that has led to his success in moving to the next level.”
Grillo said he’s proud to have worked with Frias for the last two years, and to see him move on to play the sport at the college level is nothing short of amazing.
“It’s a good feeling for me to be a part of it. To see him move on to something I know is going to be great is awesome,” Grillo said. “He’s going to do well there, and the coach is going to be happy to have him out there on the wing.”
—Jeremy Thomas
This article appears in Jun 18-25, 2009.