Duron is achieving the field of her dreams

SPORTS Duron is achieving the field of her dreams

By Ryan Stuart Signal Staff Writer D estinney Duron’s childhood dream was finally realized in December. Duron recently signed with Club America in Mexico City to play professional soccer. Her dream officially became reality on Dec. 30 when she inked her name into Club America history.

“It was always soccer, soccer, soccer throughout my whole life — since I was like 4-and-a-half,” she said.

She comes from a soccer family. Her father, Rolando, coached her growing up; and her sister Priscilla, also played through junior college. If no one had a match on any given day, then the Women’s National Team was on the television.

She got her in with Club America through a friend in Paramount, Liz Lyons. She trained with Lyons for months before Lyons left for Mexico City. During that time, Duron had mentioned she wanted to go pro, too. Lyons told her to keep training and her chance would come. Duron began training with her own trainer, Erick Zarate.

“He took me under his wing. He helped me get to where I needed to be for my first tryout,” Duron said. “My first tryout ended up coming really fast.”

Duron traveled to Mexico City to train with the team for a week as it prepared for the Liga MX final. At the end of the week, the club’s manager approached Duron to tell her the team was interested in signing her. Despite achieving her dream, Duron wasn’t always sure she was going to make it to the professional level. She tore her ACL during her sophomore year at Hart and sat out her junior year in order to recover. She returned to the Hart soccer team for her senior season better than ever. Fighting through the doubt of her injury, she secured herself a scholarship to play at California State University, Northridge, taking her another step closer to her dream.

Duron tore her ACL a second time in her sophomore year. She received a medical redshirt and sat out for her junior year.

“I was a little bit nervous if I was going to come back the same the second time,” she said. “I was starting to get doubts, but I still knew that soccer was the only thing I ever wanted to do.”

She spent her junior year recovering and getting stronger. She became more conscious about how she moved her body and changed her game in order to avoid another injury. She was ready to play again in the fall.

“She’s a warrior,” said Hart head coach Guilherme Mitrovitch. “You just don’t see people having two ACLs and coming back and playing at that level. It’s very impressive.”

For the full story, visit www.signal scv.com. \

Destinney Duron was a standout for Hart High, CSUN and now Club America, where she recently made her professional debut. PHOTO COURTESY PAUL TRAFECANTY

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