Though they took different paths to get there, Danielle Hernandez and Angel Rodriguez ended up at the same destination.
On Monday, the pair of San Marcos seniors signed letters of intent to join Oklahoma Panhandle State University. They’ll be a part of the founding team for the program.
“It’s a happy day,” Hernandez said. “It really makes me feel good about myself. It shows that I did pretty good on the team.”
“It means a lot to me, having all the people I love here support me,” Rodriguez said. “It took a lot to get here.”
Hernandez had grown up around the sport. Her father was a fan of Mexico’s national team and joined her middle school squad, where Jason Carnley was the head coach. She made an impression on him in the last match of her eighth grade season by scoring a goal in the final minute.
Carnley moved up the next year as head coach of San Marcos High School. He made sure to bring Hernandez back on his team again.
“Dani is a very ferocious player,” Carnley said. “She might be 5-foot-2, 100 pounds, but she carries it very well. She’s mean, she’s feisty.”
Rodriguez, however, did not make the team. Carnley could tell she had skills, but didn’t think she was quite ready to see the field. Instead, Rodriguez became part of the practice squad, a group of players who worked with the team but did not play in any games.
She took it seriously, honing in her talent to show that she belonged. Her chance eventually came. A few freshmen became ineligible during the season. Carnley brought Hernandez and the rest of the practice squad up to replace them. She remained on the Lady Rattlers’ roster for the next four years.
“She got in, she made some mistakes, but she started learning from it and picking it up,” Carnley said. “And before you know it, by the end of the year, she becomes the Newcomer of the Year for the freshman team.”
Both players were a major part of helping San Marcos take fourth place in district and earn a playoff spot last season and have both become leaders on this year’s team. The senior duo is excited to join a brand new team and hope to become starters for the Aggies in their first season.
“We’re going to be able to click with new people we’ve never played with, a bigger team that we’ve never played with,” Rodriguez said.
“It’s a brand new soccer program and they gave us an opportunity to be the first class to go and see how it goes,” Hernandez said. “(I like that we’re) going to show how it’s going to start.”
Carnley said he was proud of how far the girls have come.
“That’s a huge honor, showing that we’re doing the right things here in San Marcos,” the head coach said. “I’m hoping they’ll continue the success that they’ve always been doing.”
