PENDLETON — The senior has had to run sprints after showing up for soccer practice eight minutes late. It’s a standard team rule, and Thomas Quiroga understands that. Even though he wasn’t late because he doesn’t care or was slacking or lazy.
He was late for practice because he was coming from practice.
Confused yet? Don’t’ be. Quiroga is used to this. He has been juggling quite the after-school schedule, attending both football and soccer varsity practices, for three years now.
As the football team’s kicker, he starts his afternoon at special teams practice before heading over for the full two-hour soccer practice. He thanks the cooperation of his coaches for the opportunity.
“They embrace the fact that I play two sports, and they encourage it,” Quiroga said. “As long as there is communication, it is fine. Coaches and players are on line for it, everyone understands what’s going on — they’re the ones who make this happen.”
Quiroga began playing soccer at age 6 and tried many sports growing up. Soccer was the last game he tried, and if not for wardrobe requirements, may have chosen a different sport to play.
“I tried baseball, but I didn’t like that you had to wear pants,” he said.
He started kicking for football in middle school and, after getting opportunities to kick extra points in eighth grade, he came out as a freshman and has been the Arabians’ kicker ever since. And he has plenty of range.
“In a game 39 yards, but in practice, with the wind at my back, 60 yards,” he said. “I’m comfortable from 50 yards in.”
Quiroga also plays a third sport in the spring, running track and field where he specializes in the 4×400 race. He said as much as he loves soccer and football, running track builds special relationships.
“I believe in track — we’re the definition of ‘family’,” he said. “Track is not easy to do. You go out there and do the punishments for every other sport — we run an hour, hour and half every day. When you go out there and do the worst with those people, you think those are your brothers out there.”
Although he is athletic and talented enough to play college sports, Quiroga said he feels he has missed the boat on that. He said he did not put his name out for recruiters early on in the process.
“I could probably go play D-3 anywhere, but that’s not really what I want to do,” he said. “I really want to go and get the whole college experience with the four-year degree and the big campus life.”
He intends to apply at Indiana University, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and Butler with eyes on a career in nursing or as a physician’s assistant.
And he plans on staying local.
“I love Pendleton,” he said. “I love everything about Pendleton. The size, the people, what we have in town — it has everything you could want. I would love to stay in Pendleton.”
