This article is written in both English and Spanish, to read in Spanish, click here.
Este artículo está escrito en Inglés y Español, para leer en Español, haz clic aquí.
As the calendar is about to turn to 2024 and students make their resolutions, one student will potentially start his year off with an incredible achievement of representing El Salvador’s U20 National Team after having been called up to try and train for them the week of December 3rd. Junior Bryan Marenco traveled to El Salvador to compete for a spot after being scouted by coach Juan Carlos Serrano.
“We called him up because of the qualities we saw in him [during the scouting] and we considered that in the first stage, he could be in the Seleccion,” said Juan Carlos Serrano, technical director and coach for ‘La Selección de fútbol de El Salvador’ (El Salvador’s national team).
The team can only take up to 25 players from the group which tried out, and Marenco will receive a call back in January if he makes the cut. “[During tryouts,] we observe their decision-making during games, if they can compete with the other players that have been called up, and in the personal aspect, we observe the behavior of the athlete with the other players and how they integrate,” Serrano said.
In the case that he makes it, he will move to El Salvador for three months for the upcoming tournaments and continue school online. “I’ve always dreamt of this moment and competing in the highest level possible, representing the country where my family is from,” Marenco said.
“Playing professional soccer has always been my goal since I was a kid. I would love to pursue it as a career,” Marenco said. This wouldn’t be his first professional experience, however, after having trained with El Salvador’s U17 team and Club Deportivo Futbolistas Asociados Santanecos (referred to as C.D. FAS) this past summer.
This helped lead to his recent trip to train with the U20 team. “What caught my attention was that he is a very good technical and skillful player,” Serrano said.
His hard work and dedication is best seen by his sophomore brother. “I’m happy for him. It’s an accomplishment for our family because that’s where we’re from. He just works hard, he sometimes trains by himself, sacrifices missing school, missing work, but he catches up on all that,” Eric Marenco, said.
Marenco made the boys’ varsity team his freshman and sophomore year, playing as a midfielder and forward. “His first year was obviously super impressive for all the coaches, he’s a super talented player for his age,” Dominion coach Jhon Rosado said.
In his first year, he played with soccer team captains and seniors Lucas Caldas and Dimas Portillo. “They supported and took care of him very well, and for him it was a year of growth,” Rosado said. The following year, Marenco stepped up and became a captain of sorts for the team. “Everyone on the team was looking for a leader. Bryan was still very young and it was a really big responsibility so at first it was difficult but he improved and everyone saw him more like a leader,” Rosado said.
His teammates are in his corner even though it may mean missing part of the season. “I want him to achieve big things, it’s exciting to see him finally achieve what he’s been trying to do, be himself, play with confidence, he’ll get really far. He’s up next, he’s up next,” said junior Anthony Lara-Ramirez, who plays with Marenco at the Elite Clubs National League and on the Dominion team.
Marenco’s teammates agree that his skill set and personality makes him stand out. “He’s unique in his own style, he definitely has his own spark. He’s very outgoing, so it’s easy to talk to him. He’s just a good friend overall,” teammate Andrew Santos said. Teammate Andy Sanchez concurs that “Whenever he’s playing he has fun with the game. He’s not someone that stresses or something like that. He’s always like laughing and having fun with the game. It makes us have even more fun, gets everybody laughing.”
In his 13 years playing soccer, Marenco has looked up to Leo Messi and Neymar as inspirations. “I started playing soccer at four [years old] just kicking the ball around for fun. Soccer taught me how to stay consistent and determined,” Marenco said.
