Frankie Diaz never had to look far for motivation.
One of his biggest soccer influences lived in the same house.
Diaz picked up the sport as a high-energy toddler and quickly fell in love. His passion grew watching his older sister Ariel play the game.
Ariel set a high bar as one of Monterey’s top players in the late 2010s. The two would train together under the direction of their dad as Frankie waited his turn in high school. Ariel went on to play at North Texas, before finishing her collegiate career at Southern Miss.
Big sis earned the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s player of the year her senior year. Frankie Diaz can now share in that accomplishment after earning the 2025 boys soccer honor.
“She was fast, so she would score,” Frankie said. “I’m like, man, I can do that. I want to do that, and I can do that. We started playing soccer when we were little. I’m like, if she can do it, I can do it. That’s when I just had the love of the sport. She helps me. She’s my biggest supporter.”
Frankie Diaz amassed 27 goals and 11 assists to earn first-team all-state honors by the Texas Association of Soccer Coaches and District 3-5A MVP. It wasn’t quite the 58 goals and 38 assists Ariel posted her senior season in 2017, but Frankie still thinks he has the edge.
“I tried doing better than her. She still thinks that she’s better, but she’s not,” Frankie quipped. “She’s not.”
Their friends would often urge the two to face off in pickup games growing up.
“She would be on one team and I would be on the other team,” Frankie said. “And when she would have the ball, they would always want me to go against her, like always. When I have the ball, she would always come to me.”
Frankie admits he doesn’t have the speed his sister did. He said he relied on his dribbling and fancy footwork to become one of the biggest offensive threats in the region.
“Frankie’s skillset is very, very unique to him,” Monterey coach Simon Hernandez said. “He’s one of these players that’s very rangy, lengthy. He has just a real gift of hanging on and keeping the ball. When you think he’s gonna lose it, he still finds a way to come up with it.”
Hernandez added that Diaz’s work ethic is second to none. The coach said he knew two years ago Diaz would leave as one of the Plainsmen’s all-time scorers. Diaz finished second in career goals at Monterey.
As opponents learned the weapon Diaz was, he added to his game as well. Hernandez said over the course of his high school career, Diaz became “a guy that would fit on any team.”
“Frankie improved drastically, just in the fact of being a team player and learning how to communicate and encourage teammates,” Hernandez said. “At first I think he was used to (thinking) he had to do everything. Once he kind of fit in and found his role, he realized it’s coming. The guys are looking for me; I don’t have to go do everything. He really just fell into a leadership role and let other guys take the reins when they needed to.”
Diaz hopes to continue pursuing his passion. He said he’s deciding on his immediate future, which could include playing overseas. He said he’s got an opportunity in Spain that could lead to either a spot on a professional club or a college back in the U.S.
“I think he’s capable of a lot of great things, especially on the soccer pitch,” Hernandez said, “and off the pitch as well. I think whatever he sets his mind to, if it’s playing at the next level or going overseas and trying that, as long as he keeps the same motivation and intensity that he’s gonna be successful wherever he goes.”
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Monterey’s Frankie Diaz follows sister’s footsteps as soccer player of the year
Reporting by Stephen Garcia, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
