Ellan Ortiz '25 Recruiting Profile

My name is Ellan Ortiz, and I’ve been playing soccer ever since I was about 4 years old, and it’s been my passion ever since. The position that I’ve felt like I’ve been called to is goalkeeper, which has been an amazing gift and curse. To be a goalkeeper it takes a certain type of person, unlike the other positions not everyone can play goalkeeper. For example, any good field player should know how to be able to play each of the ten positions on the pitch, but they certainly will have preferences for certain positions. On the other hand, not everyone can be a goalkeeper and that’s why it’s been called the “hardest position” of soccer. As a goalkeeper myself, it’s strange how foreign such a position is to other players, they don’t understand it and therefore they tend to talk down upon the position. Many believe that goalkeeping is supposedly an “easy” position as the goalkeeper isn’t running up and down the pitch for 90 minutes, rather they remain standing for the majority of the game. However, this is so far from the truth as the goalkeeper takes upon the leadership role of the whole team, and most importantly the very last defense of the goal. Many say it takes a “madman” to want to play a position such as a goalkeeper as it takes one mistake for you to go from the hero to the villain of a team. But this risk and adrenaline that comes from being the last defense, always being on edge, keeps me as a goalkeeper.

In addition to my devotion to soccer, I am also heavily devoted to education. I attended the Davidson Academy of Nevada, which is ranked #4 in the National Rankings. The school is dedicated to facilitating the needs required for the profoundly gifted to advance their educational opportunities, where only those who score in the 99.99 percentile on IQ are accepted. Here at the Davidson Academy (DA) I take college equivalent courses and have been allowed to get college credit by taking the Credit by Exam (CBE) for Math 127, Math 128, and Math 181. And next year I’m looking to take Calculus 3 and Linear Algebra, as well as Psychology 101, and a general Biology class at the University of Nevada, Reno to get a jump start on my dream career to become a Medical Doctor. I’m looking forward to taking more of these college-level classes as they aim to challenge me mentally which in turn I believe has transferred over to soccer. Especially, as a goalkeeper it is needed to be very intelligent as you must direct the team, but also make crucial decisions in milliseconds, then complete an action by finding the best possible solution to a problem. In addition, I believe my education has helped train me to think faster and, importantly, react faster, which has had amazing results in being a goalkeeper.

I would like also to highlight my nomination as Nevada’s delegate to The Congress of Future Medical Leaders, and the news report that was made on me by KOLO 8 News ABC as it’s one of my proudest academic achievements.