For 17-year-old Juan Moreno, motivation comes in many forms.
Parents Jose Sr. and Consuelo Moreno have worked hard to raise Juan and 12-year-old brother Jose Jr. and have helped steer their sons away from crime in their Compton neighborhood. Middle school coach and teacher Peter Alvarez remains a strong influence in Moreno's life and the teenager is trying hard to give back to youngsters even at such a young age.
Still, with all the people in his life, it's one person's memory that could drive Juan Moreno more than any other. Teammate and friend Victor Lopez was gunned down a year ago, by all accounts an innocent victim of gang violence.
"It gives me more motivation to play my best because you never know what will happen so you've got to give it everything you've got every time you step on the field," Moreno said.
A defensive midfielder by trade, Moreno is one of the Final 18 remaining in the second year of Sueño MLS L.A. A student at Dominguez High School in Compton, Moreno's only vice is the beautiful game.
On his high school team, he's a standout. At the club level, Moreno is on the lookout for a new team. Having played with Slammers, Necaxa and Monarcas of the Coast Soccer League, Moreno said he's looking for another club to play with.
But whether it's with his high school or club team, Moreno is constantly trying to learn as much as he can about soccer, much of it for the benefit of others.
Despite his busy schedule, Moreno takes time to give back to his community. Moreno spends most of his free time during the week at Roosevelt Middle School in Compton, where he helps Alvarez run a soccer team. Moreno helps the squad, which consists of sixth- to eighth-graders, and tries to do so in a mentoring role.
"I love soccer and spending time with people," Moreno said.
Though the youngsters benefit the most from his visits, Moreno said he learns a lot from his visits to Roosevelt, a trip he said he makes almost daily. After all, he spends time with someone whom he said he looks up to.
"He's a great person because he does stuff I wouldn't think anybody would do," Moreno said. "He buys the kids food and takes them to different places. During the summer I went to help him out at summer school and he'd take them to ... the beach, the pool.
"He's a great coach and has a great attitude towards everything and is always happy."
Alvarez encouraged Moreno to sign up for Sueño MLS, but it hardly took any convincing to get the teenager to throw his hat in the ring. A year ago, Moreno happened to be at the Bell Gardens Sports Center during one of the latter rounds and the then-16-year-old was not overly impressed by the players he saw that day.
The competition stuck in his mind afterward and when he had the opportunity to enlist in the 2008 trial, he jumped at the chance.
After progressing through the first two rounds, Moreno said the level has grown increasingly difficult. He said he has an idea of what the scouts are looking for.
"What I see from all these rounds that have gone by is that they almost always look for the person that plays with team and not an individual," Moreno said. "It's better for me to ... pass the ball more often than trying to do tricks and all that. They told us they want to see more passing. They don't want any moves or anything; they're not looking for that at this level."
Now that he's progressed to within reach of the final round, Moreno said he is a winner either way.
"I wanted this for a long time already. I've wanted it before but I was not given the chance," he said. "Even if I come out losing I'll still learn something from it and that would help me out in the future if I ever needed it."
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
