Freedom boys soccer gets financial boost

By Jeff Weisinger Staff Writer

OAKLEY The Freedom High boys’ soccer program received a huge boost to the program off the field during their 5-0 Senior Night win over Antioch on Feb. 8.

During halftime, the Falcons were awarded the annual Hazyl Diaz Scholarship for the Arts from The We Get It Foundation for $8,200.

“We found out that they flyer in the special education department and ensure that special education kids are able to have the same opportunities as the general education kids, and we like that,” We Get It Foundation CEO Elizabeth LaVasse said.

“And then speaking a little bit with a couple of the players and families that happen to be friends of We Get It, we found out that every single player on that team is an A and B student. They’re just working incredibly hard to stay on this team and do something with their lives, so we thought that was really important to us.”

The Falcons’ boys soccer team will wear a small patch on their sleeve bearing Hazyl Diaz’s name for the rest of the season to commemorate receiving the scholarship.

“It was such an amazing surprise,” head coach Sal Acevedo said. “It was one of those things that was a little surreal. It feels like we won the lottery.”

Hazyl Diaz was a soccer fan and player throughout his childhood and high school. He was also a DJ and a mixed martial artist focused on jujitsu who was diagnosed with ADHD as a child. He died in October of 2021 at the age of 31. He would play on the field at Freedom from time to time.

The scholarship bearing his name awards grants to institutions that help students learn how to play musical instruments or disc jockey training, along with helping the students purchase either instruments or DJ equipment, along with grants towards martial arts training and soccer teams.

Last year, the foundation awarded a $500 scholarship to Antioch’s Andre White for martial arts lessons and a $700 award to Riley Purcell for an electronic drum set along with eight weeks of lessons. However, last year they didn’t give an award to a soccer team, which led to Freedom getting the scholarship to start the year.

“(Diaz) believed that everyone should have opportunities everywhere,” LaVasse said.

For a soccer team specifically, the scholarship is used toward purchasing equipment or uniforms. The foundation provides the sleeve patches for the team to wear for the rest of the season, according to a press release.

“From time to time, we get a $50 donation, $100 here and there,” Acevedo explained. “Most of the funds that we have is because we have to do fundraisers, or our athletic department would allocate a little bit of money here and there.”

According to Acevedo, the Freedom High School athletic department donated $60 to the boys soccer program last year.

“In high school, the football teams bring in the most money because their games are full of fans and they bring in a lot of money. So fairly enough, they get a lot of money allocated to their program,” Acevedo said. “We get fans out to our games, but it doesn’t compare, so the athletic department will allocate a little money to the other programs, but it’s really a small amount.”

The We Get It Foundation has more awards planned to give out this year after Freedom’s big award.

Hunter Cross of Discovery Bay advanced to 13th place, but didn’t qualify for the main event at the recent Supercross race in Oakland.

Submitted photo