Adan Martinez-Ponce '22 Recruiting Profile

My name is Adan Martinez-Ponce, and I would like to introduce myself. One of my goals is to continue my soccer career in college, to earn a degree while competing at the highest level.  I enjoy soccer and hope to have a long athletic career.

I am 17 years old and a Senior at Horlick High School (Racine, WI). I was rostered on the Varsity team for every season.  During this time, I started every game at goalie on the JV squad for the first two years.  Our varsity team had an accomplished starting upper classman goalie for those two seasons. However, I would frequently be brought up during the season to practice with varsity and gain valuable experience and sometimes play the field if JV wasn't overlapping times.  During the playoffs I was permanently brought-up to fill-in if needed at the goalie position. 

During my Jr/Sr seasons, I was the starter in goal.  I can also play other positions; midfielder or striker. During my Sophomore season, I accumulated enough playing time during the season in the field to earn a varsity letter. 

During my Jr. season, our team reached the alternative fall season state tournament.  What a great experience and exciting playoff games!  In my last season, we won our first playoff games but lost the third.  It was a fun and enjoyable career in high school and I look forward to playing more competitive soccer in college.  

Our school is one of eight teams in the Southeast Conference of Wisconsin. Racine Horlick soccer plays in Division 1 and has a history of success. Our non-conference games include city rivals, and top ranked state opponents.

Soccer for me is year-round.  I have been playing club soccer since I was 8 years old and have been a full-time goalies since I was 11.  I have attended all of our extra club goalie trainings as well as various local and regional goalie camps and seminars.  I truly enjoy the challenge of playing goalie and will do anything possible to continually improve and learn more.  I want to be the best I can at my position, technically and mentally. 

As soon as the fall high school season concludes, futsal and indoor soccer kicks off right away. These two sports are a great way to keep your touches up and provide plenty of fast-paced action. Futsal and indoor are usually played during the winter. 

In addition to high school and indoor soccer, I play all year on one of our local Soccer Clubs, AFC Union.  This season, I will play on the U19 Premier Team as the starting goalkeeper.  Our club plays a Spring season which extends from May to early July. We play a regular league season of 8-10 games and at least three tournaments, mostly of higher-level competition.  For example, we normally play a college showcase in St. Louis.  During our club 2019 season, we won the President’s cup and played in Kansas City, MO in the regional tournament.  We went 2-1 but didn’t score enough goals to advance to the next level.

Due to Covid our 2020 Fall High School season was postponed until early Spring.  In the meantime I played on a fall tournament team.

School for me is also very important. I currently have a 3.5 gpa and am taking as many advanced classes that can be taken. I am currently on the Superintendent Student Advisory Council.  We meet every school quarter to discuss problems and share ideas about the different schools in our district. I have won multiple student of the month awards and I am part of Student Government this year.  I was selected as a member of the National Honor Society (NHS) in 2021. I love interacting with other students and making new friends. I have two sisters and live with both of my parents. My older sister is a Freshman at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee and was part of the NHS. I plan to follow in her footsteps academically.

Not only do I love sports, I also love spending time with my family. My family takes yearly vacations to Mexico City, where my Mom’s side of the family lives. I love the beach and warm weather, but I am also used to Wisconsin's blizzards. I have a pretty big group of friends and many of us have maintained our friendships since grade and middle school.  In eighth grade I won the Peacemaker award which was a big honor for my school and the district. During middle school I was also a student ambassador at St. Rita’s Racine. After school I am not sure what I want to do as a career yet, but I am very interested in areas such as Engineering (both of my parents are engineers) and Business/Finance. Both of my parents went to college and my dad earned his masters at Marquette University. I would love to follow in their footsteps. I chose the Engineering pathway at Horlick.

A fun fact about me would be that I love playing video games in my spare time with my friends; games such as Madden, Fifa, Fortnite, UFC, and many more.

Thank you for getting to know about me and please contact me with any questions opportunities to continue playing at the college level.