Grateful and determined

Angel Nava-Esparza reflects on his time at Central

Angel Nava-Esparza is grateful for many things in life, especially for his 4 years as a Central Spartan.

The multi-sports student athlete has recently graduated from Central Union High School under the most unusual circumstances.

Before he could finish out his final season on the baseball team, the Coronavirus Pandemic abruptly ended everything (athletics and in-person academics alike) for the rest of the Spring.

"It was probably my last time ever playing any type of high school sport in my life. So, I was really down when I heard about it."

But, it didn't take long for Nava-Esparza to look at the big picture.

The time he's had in social isolation these past couple of months has allowed him to begin preparing himself for the dream of playing college football; potentially earning a scholarship at Briar Cliff University in Iowa or walking on at the College of the Desert this coming Fall.

But, as Nava-Esparza prepares for the next stage of his life, he will never forget how much his participation in Spartans athletics has molded his life; especially his time in the football program.

"I'm grateful that I was able to play my last senior year year before this virus had come through. I'm just very grateful that me and my team, we fought and we did what we had to do. And just the fact that we had fun and I was able to experience my last year playing football in high school. It's a blessing. I mean, it's an honor to play for Central. Especially, under the Cal Jones Field. Everything is just traditional. It's just, I'm going to keep that forever and talk about that forever until how old, you know."

Along with other key student athletes such as Deniro Osuna and Michael Sullivan, Nava-Esparza was part of a special senior class of athletes that helped the football program re-establish itself as an area powerhouse.

In the last 3 years, Nava-Esparza helped Spartans football has win 3 consecutive Bell Games, the last 2 Imperial Valley League titles and consecutive deep pushes into the CIF-San Diego Section playoffs; including a championship game appearance in 2018.