Player: Martin Orona

Martin Orona is a busy man on and off the pitch. An active semi-pro player who has played with Oskar Blues FC and, most recently, Harpo's FC, Martin is also an Assistant Coach with Boulder High and a part of the squad that - led by Head Coach Hardy Kalisher - brought home the Colorado 5A State Championship. Martin has showed off his skills in The18.com’s training videos (which you can find here). Below, he shares his thoughts on creativity and how to achieve your potential as a player.

1. Where are you from? El Paso, Texas

2. When’s your birthday? July 26, 1991

3. What team do you play with today? I played for the semi-pro team Oscar Blues FC and now I play for Harpo's FC.

4. How did you start playing? One of my friends was going from playing baseball to playing soccer, and I thought it was a really interesting sport. So I decided to play soccer. 

5. What’s your signature move? The nutmeg.

6. What’s one skill you think any player needs to cultivate? Field awareness. A lot of players are really two dimensional. Clearly if the ball is going to the right, everyone goes to the right. But then there are players who are creative and, if everyone is going to the right, they'll try to check it to the left side and catch everyone off guard. So field awareness is not doing the same thing that everyone does. It's being creative. If you watch Barcelona play, they do some crazy passes because they are creative and go for it. 

7. Who are your soccer heroes? Zinedine Zidane is definitely one of them. I would also say Andrés Iniesta and Cristiano Ronaldo are in my top three.

8. Who’s your team in the World Cup 2014? Do I have to say USA? If not the U.S., I guess I would say Germany.

9. What’s your greatest moment on the pitch? When I got to play against the Costa Rican National Team. I was 17 and playing for the Region IV Olympic Development Team, and we traveled to Costa Rica and played some professional teams and we got to play the national team as well.

10. What’s your worst moment on the pitch? Giving up a PK at Nationals in the last 30 seconds.

11. How did you get past your worst moment? It was a team thing. It was the first year that my college had a soccer team and no one expected us to make it that far. When we made it to Nationals we were all pretty stoked. So, I was pretty bummed, but my teammates were great. They said, "We made it this far and no one believed in us. We're just happy we made it."

12. What’s the “ultimate soccer experience” you’d like to have? I'd love to play at Old Trafford. In Spanish they call it, "The Theatre Of Dreams." They've won so many titles and, if you ask anyone, that's the best place you can ever go play, at the stadums because of the fans.

13. What music do you listen to before a big game? Reggaeton, upbeat Spanish music and house music.

14. What soccer talent would you most like to have? Passing accuracy.

15. What do you most value in your teammates? Heart and dedication. 

16. What advice would you give to someone new to soccer? Don' be afraid to be your own player. Everyone can try to play like Cristiano Ronaldo, but not everyone will be able to play like him. So, you have to be yourself and be creative. It's amazing how effective creativity can be.

17. What sports and activities do you enjoy off the pitch? Hiking and cycling. 

18. Where will we see you in 5 years? Not a pro player, but a very good semi-pro player. I'd love to be in the top 5 semi-pro players.