Diego, Soro Earn 2009 Nevada South Youth Soccer League Scholarships

Each year our soccer league has two scholarships available for young men who have played in our league for at least the past three years and have successfully gone on to play at the collegiate level. Our two scholarships are named in honor of two men who helped lay the foundation for our league: Don Marshall and Darl Rose.

This year, the Don Marshall Scholarship was awarded to Gary Diego. Gary is attending and playing soccer for the University of Hawaii at Hilo. Gary attended Silverado High School, where he graduated in 2009 with a grade-point average of 3.354.

While at Silverado High School, Gary played varsity soccer for John Cwik, receiving honors that included two-time all-division and all-region selections, first-team all city, and being named as captain for his senior year. Coach Cwik describes Gary as "… my second coach out on the field. In my 23 years of coaching I haven't come across someone so willing to work to make the team better than I did this year with Gary."

Gary played club soccer for Las Vegas Premier for two years under Coach Jason DiOrio, where he helped his team to numerous titles in league, state, and tournaments.

"His hard work on the field is contagious, and his positive attitude is an asset on my team," DiOrio says.

Prior to Premier, he played for Manchester and Inter Las Vegas. While Gary was active in school and soccer, he also managed to participate as a volunteer during the 2008 political elections.

The Darl Rose Scholarship was awarded to Angelo Soro. Angelo is attending and playing soccer for the University of California at Santa Cruz. Angelo attended Clark High School, where he was part of the Academy for Mathematics, Science and Applied Technology. He took many extra courses, including sixteen honors/advanced placement courses, and managed to graduate in 2009 with a GPA of 3.817.

Angelo is described by his honors biology teacher as "one of the brightest students I have ever taught."

He played varsity soccer for Clark High School and received awards that included High Honors, NJROTC Purple Hearts Award, Rookie of the Year, Most Inspirational Player, Most Consistent Player, and Most Valuable Player. Angelo played club soccer for Real Vegas, Premier Soccer Club, Neusport Soccer Club, and others for a total of 13 years in our League.

In addition to playing soccer, Angelo worked as a soccer referee for eight years in Las Vegas. Angelo also found time to work, including summers at Internal Medicine Associates, part-time painting and roofing jobs, and volunteering to help the elderly and handicapped individuals.

Both of these young men are very deserving of our scholarships. They have demonstrated their outstanding abilities on the field of soccer and in the classroom. We congratulate these two young men for their many achievements.