Field Goals & Life Goals

Jorge Martinez has no cell phone. He has no car. He seldom has any money in his wallet.
But he has a dream he keeps with him at all times--a dream to be the first in his family to attend college.
Martinez is a senior kicker/punter for North Side High School in Fort Worth. He's kicked field goals from as far away as 56 yards this season, along with a 51-yarder. He's also one of the best soccer players the school has ever produced, scoring more than 40 goals last season despite missing five games.
Are his kicks far enough, or his goals plenty enough, to get Martinez to his dream? Unlike many other high school athletes who have a favorite college they'd like to attend, Martinez simply wants to get to the next level somewhere.
He's got the grades (3.5 GPA) and the skills. Now he just needs the chance.
"I'm interested in anybody willing to help me to get to college," said Martinez. "It's why I'm still kicking and playing sports."
As opposed to doing what his 12 siblings did, quit school and enter the workforce. The youngest son of Hispanic immigrants, Martinez has appreciation for hard work, but he has also seen how his 60-year-old father has no hope for retirement from the furniture manufacturing company for which he works. His 62-year-old mother spends much of her time babysitting her many grandchildren.
"I see the struggles every day, and somehow they come up with the money we need," said Martinez. "I feel their pain. I want them to not have to work so hard."
Martinez, his parents and his sister live in a two-bedroom house just a few blocks from North Side High School. He sleeps on the floor in the living room, and things often get crowded with five brothers, seven sisters and 36 nieces and nephews regularly in the house at one time or another. His oldest sibling is 42, and of course he's the baby among his parents' children.
"We always have little parties. It's always somebody's birthday," said Martinez with a laugh.
As for not having his own room, something near and dear to just about every teenager, Martinez said, "I don't mind, as long as I have a place to stay."
Martinez was named all-state as a punter last season (he averages more than 41 yards per punt and has pinpoint accuracy) despite the Steers finishing 0-10. The Steers were able to put a few wins together this season, and Martinez was hoping the turnaround would help with his efforts to attract college attention--serious college attention.
Martinez has been contacted by several colleges, including Ohio State, Tennessee, Arizona State, Kentucky, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, and the University of Texas-El Paso. None, however, has made any formal recruiting visits, only sending letters.
"Kickers are the last players that any college signs. They're hoping for a walk-on," said North Side coach Chris Killian. "It's going to be tough for him because of his position, but there is no question in my mind that he can kick at the (NCAA) Division I level.
"I had a kid at McCallum in Austin who was very much like Jorge. He ended up going to Holy Cross and playing both football and soccer. I think Jorge is also a D-I soccer player."
Playing both sports in college will be very unlikely, however. If he receives a football scholarship, he could cross over to the soccer team if the football coaches allow, but NCAA rules prohibit football coaches from taking players with soccer scholarships, Killian said.
Also, in college, football and soccer are played during the same time of the year - in the fall. In high school in Texas, soccer is a winter sport that begins in January.
North Side volleyball coach Paula Pederson has known Martinez since she coached him in cross country at J.P. Elder Junior High. She said she immediately saw something special in him.
"He's an old soul in a boy's body," said Pederson. "He's had to learn a lot in a hurry.
"I noticed right away that he was driven. Then I got to know his background, and realized it was all on his own. He'd come to school in the eighth grade, our best athlete, and he couldn't even afford a pair of shoes without holes in them."
For a while, Martinez thought his parents' financial fortunes might be changing. They moved from north Fort Worth to Keller and he played for Fossil Ridge as a sophomore, helping them advance to the second round of the playoffs. The next year they moved, however, and he was back at North Side, but he was okay with that.
"It was nice going from a 1-9 team (at North Side his freshman season) to the playoffs at Fossil Ridge, but I prefer North Side," said Martinez. "I feel at home at North Side. I went to junior high and grew up with most of the kids here.
"We moved to Keller because we found a nicer house, and most of our family lives there. My sister was helping with the rent.
"At Fossil Ridge we played North Side in the soccer playoffs and lost to them. My friends from North Side were teasing me. It was good to get back over here with them."
Martinez said he has loving parents, and he loves them dearly. However, they come from a culture where by the time a child is 18 he is working full-time and each day is structured around paying the bills instead of planning for college.
"I'm thinking past now," said Martinez. "I don't ask for much, because I know my parents don't have it, but I want more out of life."
For entertainment, Martinez often attends North Side volleyball games and watches his good friend coach. Most times, though, he goes home after school and watches TV. His favorite programs are talk shows and the National Geographic channel. He also listens to a lot of music.
"Anything to inspire me, that's what I like," said Martinez. "I don't get out much."
The north side of Fort Worth is notorious gang territory, with the majority of the members being youngsters about the same age as Martinez. He, however, will have none of that, instead forging forward with his dream.
"He doesn't drink or smoke," said Pederson. "His head is really on straight. He knows what those things and that kind of lifestyle will do to a person.
"I feel like he will make it out of here and become somebody, do something great with his life."
Fort Worth School District athletic director Herb Stephens first met Martinez when the youngster was an eighth-grader. One of Stephens' first memories of Martinez was when he kicked a booming 49-yard field goal in a game against Forest Oak Junior High.
"The Forest Oak coach was yelling, `It's a fake!' Meanwhile, this kid drills it from way out there," said Stephens.
Stephens is among the several who are getting the word out to colleges about Martinez. Their message to coaches is to just come see him and they too will believe in him.
"I told him his goal this year should be to be an all-state kicker. With North Side winning more and kicking off more, along with his field goals, I think he has a better chance for that to happen and to get more recognition," said Stephens.
"I believe that wholeheartedly there is a school out there for this young man." -