Former Akins soccer star Chuy Cruz has been named into the NCAA college division Scholar All-South Region Team. Growing up in East Austin and attending Ortega Elementary, Cruz discovered the game of soccer at the early age of 10.

Since then Cruz has developed a passion for the sport which has given him multiple opportunities for the future ahead in his life, such as the ability to attend High Point University in North Carolina and Francis Marion University in South Carolina. When attending high school as a junior, Cruz played mid fielder for the varsity soccer team in 2008 that made it to the 1st playoff games of the school’s history.

The team qualified for the post season again in 2010, Cruz’s senior year. Cruz’s former high school varsity coach Bob Williams who remains the Akins varsity soccer coach, considers Cruz an intense and emotional player on the field, as well as one of his top players that he has coached in his entire high school coaching career.

“He was an intense and emotional player, and was a team leader and led the team on the field,” Williams said.

Cruz’s soccer stats weren’t his only impressive talents’ considering that he was in the top 10 percent of his high school class which was also looked up in the eyes of his coach. Williams also considers Cruz’s talent of being a good student another one of the traits that define him as a true player.

“He had a high GPA and was a good student. He was in the top 10 percent of his class and stayed out of trouble,” said Coach Williams.

Although Cruz is playing soccer for Francis Marion University he does not plan on pursuing his love of the sport later on in his life. Cruz is currently majoring in accounting at Francis Marion University, and plans on entering the work force after college rather than of playing soccer professionally.

“I don’t really plan on pursuing soccer professionally. Right now I’m going to focus on my degree in accounting and hopefully go to grad school,” Cruz said.

One of Cruz’s biggest inspirations for playing soccer was his tax accounting professor, due to the fact that his professor had also played in numerous sports when in college.

Even though Cruz won’t be pursuing his soccer career, he is thankful for where the sport has gotten him in life.

“My college education wouldn’t be possible today if not for soccer,” Cruz said.