Elvis Cifuentes, who describes himself as “hardworking, driven, and at times shy,” is a first-year student athlete on the soccer team at EMU. He is majoring in civil engineering and minoring in international business. Originally from Fairfax, Va., Cifuentes grew up watching his dad playing soccer with family and friends, and quickly fell in love with the sport. He moved to Manassas at age seven, and played for a travel club called the Falcons for five years before joining Manassas United. He also played soccer at Osbourn High School in Manassas. During his pre-college career, Manassas United once helped him get the opportunity to train with D.C. United for two weeks, as well as to play on an international level this past fall.
Last November and December, Cifuentes played for the U20 National Team of Guatemala. “Playing for the National Team was a great experience,” he said. “Very honored to be able to play with them, especially to represent them and represent the country my parents come from.” Growing up, he spent every summer vacation in Guatemala with family, and considers the country his “second home.” The team traveled to Panama and played four games, against Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, and Puerto Rico.
Initially, Cifuentes was nervous. He said, “I had a lot of fear. But once I got there, started playing, I was talking to the teammates, I just eased up,” he said. “The coach would tell me, ‘you need to talk, you need to move around more.’ So obviously, I had to do it or else I wouldn’t be able to play. I wanted to get minutes, I wanted to start. So, I learned to be more vocal in the field and move around more and just play the simple ball.” He also had insights about learning the importance of taking risks: “They [the coaches] will always tell me, the higher the risk, the higher the reward.”
At EMU, Cifuentes enjoys going to the gym, spending time with friends and family, and the small campus atmosphere. He said the energy on the soccer team is “contagious,” specifically mentioning Derek Torres, an upperclassman whose words “really hit the heart,” and whose positive energy carries around to the whole team. For this year, Cifuentes said his goal is to stay on top of his grades. He also said, “I hope, soccer wise, that we make it into the playoffs, and we just do really good, and obviously win the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.”
