COUNTING ON ARROYO

NORTHRIDGE —  It’s the simple things that make Federico Arroyo so appealing.

It’s the simplicity he brings to a soccer field, where he performs high-speed maneuvers with an ease that belies their difficulty.

“I don’t try to do the spectacular things,” Arroyo said. “I don’t dribble past six guys and take the shot from an impossible angle. I give the ball off and move to open space.”

It’s the simplicity of his priorities away from the game, which include family, school and little else.

“Since I was a little kid, my parents have always told me to get an education,” Arroyo said. “I don’t like to miss school. I’d rather get up and learn new things every day.”

Arroyo’s Matador teammates and coaches have learned in the last two years that the 6-foot, 175-pound junior can be counted on in almost any situation, in or out of uniform.

“His parents have nothing to complain about and neither do I,” Northridge Coach Marwan Ass’ad said. “Federico is a player that a coach doesn’t need to demand things from. He demands more of himself and he comes through.”

Arroyo, a 1995 graduate of Van Nuys High and a native of Guatemala City, has a mature outlook based on his past and his hopes for the future. The Matadors’ best player and their only 1997 all-conference selection is determined to blaze a trail for his two younger brothers and provide for his parents.

The Arroyo family, which lives in a two-bedroom apartment in Van Nuys, emigrated from Guatemala City to the Valley in 1989. A visit to relatives turned into a decision to stay and, for the first five years, a home in a one-bedroom apartment.

Federico, who was 12 when his family arrived, parlayed an understanding of basic English and his skills in soccer into a quick assimilation. During his first week in the U.S., he stumbled across a practice for one of the region’s top youth club teams, the North Hollywood Jets, and was quickly signed up by club officials.

At Van Nuys High, Arroyo helped the Wolves reach the City Section quarterfinals as a junior and was selected to The Times’ all-region team as a senior after scoring 35 goals.

Despite Arroyo’s skill, few colleges pursued him. Lacking resident alien status, he would have been designated a foreign student at a U.S. college and would have been subject to substantially higher tuition.

To help his family’s finances and to give himself time to procure the necessary residence paperwork, Arroyo took a year off from school after graduation. He worked with his father, Federico Sr., cleaning houses by day and cleaning a health club by night.

“I was just working and working and I didn’t want to do that for the rest of my life,” Arroyo said. “I wanted to go to college, even if I didn’t play [soccer]. It motivated me; it made me so mature.”

Arroyo joined Northridge for the 1996 season and has had a tumultuous stay. Though at his best as an attacking midfielder or forward, he started at fullback as a freshman because the Matadors were desperate for a skilled defensive player.

Between Arroyo’s freshman and sophomore years, Northridge officials briefly dropped the men’s soccer team, along with three other men’s sports, because of budget and gender-equity concerns.

The program was temporarily reinstated for the 1997 season, in which Arroyo finished as the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation’s second-leading scorer with 11 goals and nine assists.

“Federico always seems to be in the right place at the right time, and that’s one of the greatest talents a forward can have,” Northridge defender Mark Fitzpatrick said.

Said Terry Davila, a former Northridge assistant who recruited Arroyo: “Federico can quietly kill you. He does everything simple and proper and correct. There’s no extra movements and not many players are that efficient.”

In December, a committee on Matador athletics recommended the team be supported for the foreseeable future, but conference soccer schedules had already been finalized without Northridge. As a result, Arroyo and his teammates must play 12 of this season’s 17 games on the road.

Northridge opens the season Sept. 4 at San Jose State and Arroyo knows he will again have to help carry the team.

“This year I’m going to have to be more of a leader and a counselor,” Arroyo said. “I can be cool with everything, but if I don’t agree with something, I’ll let you know.”

Ass’ad, who says Arroyo has the talent to play professional soccer, is more impressed with his character than his skills.

“You would love your son to be like Federico,” Ass’ad said. “I know he will succeed in life.”

Arroyo takes little steps toward success and a degree in kinesiology by waking at 5:30 a.m. most days.

He drives his mother, Lilian, to work in Bel Air and his brothers, Jose, 17, and Miguel, 15, to school at Van Nuys High. After classes and practice, Arroyo picks up his mother and turns the family’s car over to his father, who manages the family’s apartment complex by day and cleans a health club at night.

Federico Jr. spends his evenings doing homework and watching professional soccer games from around the world on cable television. He is well aware that the stability of his family life allows him to capitalize on his opportunities at Northridge.

“My parents don’t want me to be working like them, they want me to have a better life than they’re living right now,” he said. “I wish I could help them out more and when I don’t have practice or I’m not too tired, I do help them. I wish they didn’t have to work so hard, but later on in life I will be able to pay them back.

“That’s what gets me going each day.”

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MEN’S ROSTER

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Player Pos. Yr. Hometown Federico Arroyo F Jr. Van Nuys Jason Austin D Fr. Cypress Matthew Banuelos MF Fr. Whittier Luis Castro MF Jr. Granada Hills William Diaz MF So. Los Angeles Mark Fitzpatrick D Jr. Northridge Christian Perez GK So. Moorpark Oswaldo Pina Rivera MF Jr. Oxnard Steve Ponce MF Fr. Cypress Michael Preis F Jr. Chatsworth Jon Relles D Jr. Woodland Hills Patrick Russo F Jr. Moorpark Trevor Schmidt MF/F Sr. Chatsworth Scott Stark GK So. Northridge Jaime Tinajero MF So. Van Nuys

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Head Coach: Marwan Ass’ad

Assistant Coach: Ivan Alzate