Gonzalez had little experience with welding when he started but in four years of learning the trade as part of his graduation plan at Falfurrias High School, Gonzalez has won awards for it and now knows he has something to fall back on in his life.
“From the first time I picked up a stinger and ran a bead I kind of fell in love with it,” Gonzalez said. “It was something I knew I could do with my hands.”
Gonzalez said he does see some parallels to welding and playing baseball. Gonzalez is an outfielder who earned second-team all-district honors in 2017, and said the comparison hits home because in baseball a player becomes better with repetition and so does a welder.
“There comes times when your welds don’t look as pretty or as strong as you’d like them too,” Gonzalez said. “It’s the repetition you have and you start getting the hang of things and it perfectly aligns with baseball. Repetition is what really matters.”
Gonzalez’s teammate Royce Carrera is the Jerseys top pitcher but he also plays the trumpet and when not on the baseball field as he is part of the school’s mariachi program. He started in the program as a seventh grader but quit and returned his junior year and the team went to the state competition.
They are going again this season and like Gonzalez he said it’s the repetition that makes the difference.
“It was exciting, it’s not baseball but it’s still very exciting,” Carrera said. “When our mariachi director told us we were going to state, everybody started screaming.”
Gonzalez and Carrera are examples of how busy athletes can be at the small-school level.
Athletes will not only participate in other spring athletic activities in the spring such as track, tennis or golf but their time is also occupied by academic and trade pursuits. That ultimately could have a greater impact on their future than playing baseball, and chances to focus on one sport are tough in a school with limited enrollment.
“It’s very rewarding because we want to shape well-rounded student athletes,” said longtime Falfurrias baseball coach David Salinas. “When those guys go beyond what’s normal and in today’s society, it’s so rewarding. It just makes your day, maybe your career sometimes.”
Gonzalez said he does his welding with his twin brother, Carlos, and knows how valuable it is for him. He said the goal for him and his brother is to become border patrol agents but said he wants to continue welding whether he is making money or not because “it’s so fun and enjoyable.”
“To me it’s an important trade skill to have and it just means that if none of my other plans work out that I have a little fall back,” Gonzalez said. “Whether it be a hobby or a little fall back.”
Salinas said one of the important aspects in pursuing multiple endeavors is that the athletes compete outside of their sport. Skills are important but that ability to compete at different levels and at different pursuits helps on the field.
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