Delgado Keeps Herself, Capistrano Valley on the Move

MISSION VIEJO — Liz Delgado sits on a bench at Capistrano Valley High and eyes a reporter’s notebook suspiciously.

“Do we have to talk about that?” she asks.

Her objection is not over an intrusive question. Rather, she is balking at a mundane one.

If this is going to be her story, it’s going to be interesting.

Delgado soon steers the reporter down a rushing river of her dreams, her goals and, mostly, her opinions on life. When Delgado is not playing soccer for Capistrano Valley or her club team, the San Diego Spirit, she’s not sitting idle.

You can either find her playing on the Cougar girls’ basketball team or plotting a career that will take her around the world--maybe photojournalism or international relations or, her latest idea, “international relief aid.”

“I know a good question you could ask me,” she says.

Oh yeah, what?

“ ‘How do you keep your grades up?’ ” she offers.

O.K., Liz, How do you keep your grades up?

“I don’t know,” she says. “I just thought that would be a good question.”

Delgado (who maintains about a 4.0 grade-point average) may not have all the answers, yet. But she knows one thing: who’s in control.

“I feel like there’s a deeper cause in life, more than just: go to work and make money,” she says.

Delgado’s zeal shows on the soccer field, where she is a tactical and creative midfielder. Last season, she led Capistrano Valley to the Southern Section Division I semifinals, where the Cougars lost to rival Mission Viejo, 2-1, in an exciting overtime match.

Delgado was selected first-team All-South Coast League and All-Southern Section. Capistrano Valley finished second in league last season behind Mater Dei. This season, the Cougars are expected to contend for the league title and the Division I championship.

Delgado is the kind of player who will draw an opponent in close, then beat them with a fake or a pass so quick that there’s no time to recover.

And as far as fame goes in local girls’ soccer, Delgado has it. But she would like it known that her life does not entirely revolve around the sport.

“I play because I enjoy playing,” she says.

There have been moments in soccer that Delgado hasn’t enjoyed, especially in the club environment.

“It’s really competitive. I think, almost overly competitive,” she says. “Some people are just way die-hard.”

This is her first year with the Spirit, but she thinks she has found a place she’ll enjoy.

“I’ve finally found a team where we’re all friends,” she says.

Some, however, might accuse Delgado of being too competitive.

As a freshman and a sophomore, when other girls her age were trying out for the 16-and-under Olympic Development team, she worked her way to high levels on the 18-and-under squad.

“You have to pay money to play for these things, so why not get something out of it?” she asks.

Anyway, she’s not interested in anything the “die-hards” might be whispering.

“I’m not in that world. There’s that soccer world and then there’s me,” she says. “I don’t wear one of those shirts that say, ‘Soccer is Life’ because I don’t think it is.”

Delgado competed in the shotput and discus for the Cougar track and field team her freshman year. During her sophomore year, basketball Coach Pete Belanto discovered her playing on the school’s outdoor courts with some boys and dragged her into the gym.

Ever since, Delgado’s winter schedule involves about four hours of practice, split between basketball and soccer, every afternoon.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, she plays a soccer game at 3 p.m., then a basketball game at 7 p.m.

Soccer is Delgado’s primary sport and she says basketball helps her soccer game, giving her better speed and reminding her how to keep focused.

“[In soccer], you seem to relax a little bit. When I go to basketball, I’m not as good as some of the girls on my team. From that perspective, I work a lot harder in basketball,” she says.

Most would find Delgado’s schedule not only physically overwhelming, but also mentally exhausting.

“I think what keeps me doing it is because I don’t think about it 24-7,” she says.

There’s too much else to do.