Garcia, Suns Set New Standard at Cedar Valley

While in high school, Bryan Garcia had aspirations of playing soccer at a higher level, maybe even professionally.

Like most young athletes who entertain similar lofty goals, Garcia didn't want to give up the game after his days at Irving Nimitz High School.

That's when Dallas College Cedar Valley entered the picture.

"I was really privileged to get to play college ball," Garcia said. "It was honestly probably one of the greatest experiences of my life. I had a great time."

A right back who helped anchor the Suns' defense, Garcia played three seasons at Cedar Valley, beginning with the COVID year in 2020-21 when all student-athletes were given the exception to compete in their sport an additional year. A two-year captain, he played through the 2022 season, helping the Suns climb to No. 5 in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III national rankings.

"It was an honor to work with him," Suns head coach Nasko Arsov said. "He was very disciplined. He was always bringing people together. When a new player came, he was very friendly, and introduced him to the environment."

Cedar Valley went 9-4-2 this past season – the best in program history under Arsov. The Suns won six straight games during the year – a stretch in which they allowed just one goal. Garcia played a big role in that defensive shutdown. The Suns posted five shutouts during that six-game span.

"He was solid defensively," Arsov said. "Teams didn't score easily on us. He was a big part that for us. Without him and a couple defenders from Nigeria, I don't think we could achieve that result."

The Suns posted six shutouts during the season, and finished with a 6-2-1 record at home. Garcia started in nine of the 11 games he appeared in.

"He's very technical," Arsov said. "For a defender, he can do amazing things when we're attacking. What I liked is he is a really strong defender, a very good tackler, but also when we have possession, he can create for us. In the final third, he can cross and assist, creating free kicks, and then we create the chance to score. He's a very good shooter, too."

Garcia appeared in 25 games, starting 23 in his Suns career. He had an assist in a 6-0 win over Southwestern Adventist University this past season, putting the finishing touches on Cedar Valley's highest scoring output of the year.

The Suns went on to win their next four games, vaulting their record to 8-1-0 at that point in the season.

"Honestly, it hits different after being there for so long," Garcia said. "I think it hit me really late in the season that we were really where we were. I never would've thought we would be in a position like that. It was more than an honor to play under Coach Nasko, and to play with such talented teammates.

"Seeing the program develop into what we became last season, it not only pushed me to become a better player, but it helped me to help Coach Nasko out with the future. I'm not a player at Cedar Valley anymore, but I look for players that could help Coach Nasko out. Being part of that team made me want to help them out even more. I want their future to be great."

Garcia has been a liaison to Cedar Valley's pipeline to his hometown area of Irving, Texas. He's helped Arsov sign a few players from Irving, including his cousin, forward Alex Garcia.

In the spring of 2022, during a game against Dallas College Mountain View at the University of Texas at Dallas, the Suns began to notice maybe they had something special in the works.

"That's when I realized how much we had improved as a team," said Garcia, who assisted on the first goal in that game. "It was a proud moment for not only me, but also Coach Nasko. You could tell by the look on his face. He was proud of the whole team."

Garcia transferred to the University of Texas Arlington this semester, and is majoring in history. He earned his associate degree from Cedar Valley, where he graduated with a 3.4 grade point average. He completed a couple semesters in Lancaster with 4.0 GPAs.

"Most people want to play soccer just to play soccer," Garcia said. "I thought about it at school, 'I'm already at school, so why not let soccer be the reason I have good grades?'"

That's the part that sold Arsov on naming him a captain. In some ways, Garcia was a coach on the field.

"It was a pleasure to work with him," Arsov said. "He also has really great character. For me as a coach, it's great to have a player like him because he's so easy to work with: to be disciplined, to be on time. If I wanted to ask him something, he was going to pass it on to the team. He was a really good person to bring the team together. At some point, he was almost like an assistant.

"He has a good sense of humor, and made some jokes at the right time so people could have fun. Sometimes they stayed after practice just talking, and didn't want to leave."

After putting on a Suns uniform for three seasons, why would he?