Family, Team Mourn ‘Young Pele’

About 250 friends, relatives and teammates marched quietly along Alondra Boulevard in Compton on Friday night to mourn the fatal shooting of a young soccer player known to many as the “Young Pele.”

Carrying lighted candles, the mourners paused briefly to say prayers for Jose Manuel Rodriguez at the spot where he died before finishing their mile-long procession from Dominguez High School to his family’s home.

Rodriguez, 17, was shot Jan. 23 as he and three teammates drove home from school to pick up their soccer gear. A car pulled up beside theirs at Alondra and White Avenue, and a single shot was fired. Rodriguez, hit in the head, died the next day.

“I still can’t believe that this happened,” the youth’s father, Isidro Rodriguez, said Friday night. “My son didn’t deserve this. I hope we find the person responsible.”

Investigators don’t know if Rodriguez was the intended target or if the assailant simply meant to hit anyone in his car.

Some people in the community have speculated that the shooting stemmed from rivalries with other schools or sports clubs. Sheriff’s homicide detectives have declined to comment, other than to say that Rodriguez had no known ties to gangs and that the attack did not appear to be gang-related.

Rodriguez was buried Thursday, two hours before his high school team lost a close, hard-fought game against Downey High School. The Dominguez players wore black ribbons on their red jerseys in honor of their teammate.

“It’s tough being here, looking out there and not seeing him,” head coach Jose Rosas said Thursday night as he watched the game. “He would be on the field all the time. He’d play any position I asked him to because he just loved to play.”

The boy’s love of soccer started at an early age, according to his soccer friends. His graceful play reminded them of Pele, the Brazilian hailed by many as the greatest ever to play the game.

“If he could, Jose would play all day,” said George Alvarez, a teammate who sat out the game.

“We’re all there for him,” said Rosas, who has been at Dominguez for 17 years. “We’re family.”

Basil Kimbrew, a Compton school board member, said the tragedy has become a familiar one in that community.

“Probably the hardest thing in the world is to sit there and watch your child die without being able to do anything,” said Kimbrew, who has been with the family since the shooting occurred.

“Every year, we have more kids killed here in Compton than most cities,” Kimbrew said. “These are kids who are snuffed out in the beginning of their lives.”

The day before Rodriguez was shot, he scored a goal in a game against Lynwood. His team said they would remember that play for the rest of their lives.

“It was pure grace,” Rosas said.