MARVIN’S GARDEN
Not one to make a fuss, Marvin Quijano kept the exciting news to himself until he could remain quiet no longer.
“I’m going to the game,” Quijano told his father, Ricardo. “By the way, I’m starting today.”
With that last-minute, matter-of-fact announcement, Quijano informed his family about the most important day of his short career with the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Because some players were out with injuries or illness,the former All-City midfielder at Reseda High was tabbed to start at forward by Coach Sigi Schmid against the Dallas Burn on Aug. 14 at the Rose Bowl.
Schmid told Quijano two days before the game, which was enough warning, at least for the youngster’s sake.
At 19, and with brief stints in two Major League Soccer games under his belt, Quijano didn’t need to stress over the assignment more than necessary. Or get an earful of tips from his father, a former pro player in El Salvador.
“I didn’t want anyone making me nervous,” Quijano said.
Someone else might have been offended, even hurt, but Ricardo took it in stride. He simply got on the phone and spread the word.
“As soon as he left, I called my friends,” Ricardo said. “We went [to the game] in a caravan, about 40 of us,” he said.
They weren’t disappointed. Quijano played 77 minutes and sparked the Galaxy in a 2-0 victory, missing a goal early in the second half when his 17-yard left-footed blast bounced off the left post.
The Quijano rooters were understandably upbeat but had one request: Next time he starts, how about some advanced notice?
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It’s more than a month later and Quijano walks off the Rose Bowl grass after a Galaxy photo shoot following a morning practice at a nearby field, where he’s getting most of his action lately.
He has played several minutes in the last few games for the Galaxy, which leads the Western Conference with 48 points, five ahead of Chicago and Colorado.
The Galaxy (18-9) has five games to play, including at Colorado (17-9) on Saturday, so Schmid doesn’t figure to start Quijano down the stretch. But he believes Quijano can make it in the league.
“The thing about Marvin is he wants to learn, he wants to improve,” Schmid said. “It’s a very big jump from under-19 and junior college to this level.”
Quijano, 5 feet 8 and 150 pounds, knows it. He needs only to peek at his teammates. There is midfielder Mauricio Cienfuegos, a fellow Salvadoran; forwards Coby Jones and Carlos Hermosillo and defender Paul Caligiuri, all veterans with vast international experience.
Still, it’s not an easy adjustment for Quijano, not after excelling on teams since he began playing in youth leagues.
“It’s difficult to start for every single team and be the go-to guy and come here and be on the bench every single game,” Quijano said. “But when I came here, I didn’t even think I was going to get a chance to play.”
Quijano takes his minutes wherever he can get them, so he’s happy to also play on the Project-40 squad, a developmental team that plays in the Division II A-League sanctioned by U.S. Soccer.
The Project-40 management summons about 20 players from their MSL clubs for weekend matches, depending on their availability and other logistics, giving the players much-needed game time and experience. Like Quijano, their salary is the MSL minimum $24,000 in their first season.
For Quijano, it’s more about a dream than money.
“I’ve always wanted to play pro,” Quijano said.
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That desire first came to Quijano as a child growing up in San Salvador, where he displayed skills that made his father believe the boy had promise.
When Quijano was 11, the family moved to Los Angeles and later to North Hollywood, closer to the parents’ jobs in the Valley. The weekends were filled with soccer, either men’s leagues for Ricardo or youth leagues for Marvin and his older brother, Miguel.
Terry Davila, former Reseda High coach now Cal State Northridge men’s coach, caught an early glimpse of Quijano’s talent during club games.
“I haven’t seen a player with a quick first step like that in my years of coaching,” Davila said. “I knew he was going to be good, but I didn’t know he was going to be this good.”
Quijano attended Reseda through open enrollment. He scored nine goals his senior season in 1997 and led the Regents to a 14-2 record and the second round of the City playoffs. He planned to play at Northridge after graduation, but didn’t qualify academically and ended up at Rio Hondo College.
The Galaxy scouted Quijano several times at Rio Hondo, where he scored 24 goals in 30 games last season, and signed him after a tryout in January.
Schmid, the former UCLA men’s coach, took over in March when Octavio Zambrano was fired midway through the season and has been impressed with Quijano.
“He’s very explosive over the first five or 10 yards,” Schmid said. “He’s as fast with the ball as without the ball. . . . I think his future is very bright.”
Now, there’s a good reason for Quijano to brag.
