The College Beat: Article XVI
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“I do that through Christ who strengthens me”
In a soccer career full of adversity, injuries, and four distinct surgeries that kept him off the field for several years, Clemson forward Marco Garcia believes that each milestone led him to where he is now: deeply Catholic and closer to God than ever before.
Garcia, a senior soccer player at Clemson University, grew up Catholic. Born in Las Vegas, he was six years old when his mom decided she wanted to raise their family in a more Catholic community.
The Garcias found such a community when they moved to Cullman, Alabama. However, shortly thereafter, they had to move to Italy to take care of Marco’s sick grandmother.
Upon his arrival in Italy, Garcia joined a high-level soccer team. With parents busy at work and a team travel schedule that swallowed up Sundays, Garcia stopped going to Mass consistently and fell away from his faith. He wasn’t alone. In Italy, Garcia said, he encountered many people who had lost their Catholic faith.
Eventually, Garcia and his mom returned to their Catholic community in Alabama, where his faith began to flourish again.
Marco Garcia believes God led him to Clemson.
Garcia had always planned on playing soccer in college upon his return from Italy but didn’t initially receive much interest from coaches. His dad continued signing him up for soccer camps at various schools, including Clemson, but Marco was losing hope.
“I knew Clemson was a really good soccer school, but I didn’t have belief in myself that I could go to the camp,” Garcia said. He told his dad that the three-day camp, led by head coach Mike Noonan, would be a waste of money. Plus, the Clemson camp was on the same day as a similar camp at High Point University.
Looking back, Garcia believes his journey to Clemson shows how much it was God’s plan for him to end up where he is now.
When his dad tried to cancel the Clemson camp, he was unable to get a refund. As a result, Garcia and his father decided that Garcia would just go. Driving himself to Clemson, Garcia talked to the Lord the entire way.
“If it’s meant to be, just help me during those three days,” he said to God.
Lo and behold, Garcia performed very well at the camp. Toward the end, the coaches pulled him aside, asking, “Why don’t we know who you are?” Subsequently, he was offered an official visit.
But life intervened. Just before the scheduled visit, Garcia tore the medial patellofemoral ligament in his knee during a soccer tournament. The injury required reconstructive surgery, putting him out of the game for a while.
“I was scared that they would throw my offer away,” Garcia said. “Instead, luckily, they moved back the official visits where I could get off crutches. . . . When I went there, they told me they had trust that I would be back and would be able to play.” Ultimately, Marco Garcia recoverd and made the team.
Looking back, Garcia believes his journey to Clemson shows how much it was God’s plan for him to end up where he is now. Throughout this journey, however, several experiences made him question his faith.
While he performed well his freshman soccer season, Garcia tore his ACL during the summer before his sophomore year. With an injury of that magnitude, he was unable to play all season. With more time on his hands, Garcia went back to church and even attended the annual SEEK conference organized by the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) in January 2024.
When he returned to Clemson for his sophomore spring semester, Garcia was fully in tune with his faith and ready to “attack” the upcoming soccer season after healing from surgery.
“I was praying every day, praying my rosaries, going to church,” he explained. “I felt really close to God.”
God had different plans, though. On his first practice back, he tore his ACL again.
“That was a really hard moment for me, where I kind of doubted God,” he said, noting that he felt confused why it happened when he’d finally “locked in” on his faith.
During his soccer hiatus, he met Jack Obeck, one of Clemson’s FOCUS missionaries at the time. Obeck helped Garcia receive the sacrament of confirmation and stay focused on his faith.
However, around the end of his sophomore year, Garcia found himself struggling with old habits and realized he was finding his identity solely in athleticism.
Garcia has since discerned that his true identity is found in God.
“I love soccer, and I’m happy I’m an athlete and he gave me the talent, but that’s not my full purpose in life and my identity,” Garcia said. “I do that through Christ who strengthens me.”
He also came to the realization that each setback he has experienced is God testing his faith and shaping who he is today, just as St. Paul writes in 2 Timothy 4:7: “I have fought the good fight, I have run the race to the finish, I have kept the faith.”
The senior has stacked up several redshirt years of athletic eligibility from his various injuries. After he graduates this spring with a degree in sports communication, he plans to stay at Clemson for at least another year to play soccer and get his master’s degree in athletic leadership or sports business.
“I always wanted to play professional soccer after college, but my knee’s been through a lot of surgeries,” he explained. “If God allows me to stay healthy, and my knee’s willing and I come back playing at a high level, then I would like to play professionally.”
What can an athlete learn from Marco Garcia’s trials that led him back to his Catholic faith? That one’s identity rests only in Christ. Whether recovering from injury or playing at the top of the game, Marco’s assertion is an indispensable reminder: “I do that through Christ who strengthens me.”