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Westminster Christian School senior Diego Diaz created a club called Conquering the Comeback for athletes with significant injuries.
Diaz plays soccer but he had a double torn Adducotor/Hip Flexor injury which is unusual for soccer players. His injury happened during his freshman year, but he tried playing through until August 2024 when he underwent surgery and months of physical therapy.
“I started physical therapy right after I woke up from surgery,” he says. “So, it was seven or eight months of PT. Now I’m good.”
He also plays for the Miami Breakers, a club team. He was a freshman when he and his siblings founded the club to help athletes on the road to recovery.
“We did this to help with the mental part,” he says.
He, his brother Lucas, and sister Alessandra have all suffered from serious sports injuries. His brother tore his ACL, his sister’s ankle injury required surgery, and she can’t play soccer any longer.
Through the club, they send injured athletes a goody bag with a notebook, a bracelet, a shirt, a water bottle, a small towel, a stress ball, and pen. They all have the club logos. Diaz says the notebook is an important part of the gift.
“Some people, they give up everything,” he says. “They have no motivation, so writing down your thoughts is very important. You can get it out of you. You might blame someone. Writing it out helps a lot.”
They bring in guest speakers at club meetings, including the director of a soccer club who had played soccer his entire life but had to stop because of injuries.
He’s a member of DECA and the Be the Light Club. He’s also in the BLU Crew, a club in honor of Lucy Fernandez, a student who passed away in a boating accident.
“The main part of it is to get your boating license and boating safety,” he says.
Diaz is in the National Honor Society, the National English Honor Society, the National World Languages Honor Society, and the National Spanish Honor Society.
His future might include playing soccer in college, but his first priority is to attend a strong academic school to potentially major in Business or Law.
His application list includes the University of Florida, Wake Forest, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Miami, and the University of Michigan.
His volunteer work includes working as a counselor for two summer camps. One at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic School and a Westminster Soccer Camp.
“I had a group of 15 kids,” he says. “I taught them soccer fundamentals. Some of them were actually very good, which is surprising. When I was little, I was awful.”
Diaz has taken a sports officiating class. Since then, he has refereed club games for younger kids. He’s also officiated at birthday party soccer games.
For two summers he interned at South Florida Pediatrics with Dr. Hector Trujillo, helping with patient scheduling and office administration tasks.
The next two summers he interned at a law firm, Alos and Associates Law Firm, which worked on real estate matters.
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
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