Nationality United States | Paralympic final 2012 Summer Paralympics | |
Born April 24, 1993 (age 23) ( 1993-04-24 ) California Sport Soccer / Cerebral palsy soccer, Volleyball Paralympic finals 2012 Summer Paralympics | ||
David Garza (born April 24, 1993) is an American Paralympic soccer player. He attended California State University Dominguez Hills, and was involved in a car accident in his freshman year that left him with permanent paralysis on part of his body.
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An active sportsperson, he was a two-sport athlete at Bonita Vista High School, playing boys varsity volleyball and soccer. He also played club soccer for the Chula Vista Rangers. He earned a spot on the California State University Dominguez Hills team, redshirting his freshman year.
Garza was with the United States Paralympic National Team in 2012, playing with the team at the 2012 Summer Paralympics. He went on to represent the USA at the 2015 Cerebral Palsy Football World Championships, 2015 Parapan American Games and other 2016 Summer Paralympics qualifying efforts.
Personal
Garza is from Chula Vista, California, and attended Bonita Vista High School.
Garza had a traumatic brain injury in May 2012 after his freshmen at university as result of a car accident. The accident left him in a coma for four and a half weeks. The extent of his injuries was such that doctors initially told him he would never be able to walk again. He has permanent paralysis on part of his result as a long term consequence of the accident. He attended California State University Dominguez Hills, graduating in May 2016 after studying sports psychology. While there, he was an Army Senior Cadet, serving in the CLC cadet 8th regiment. In 2015, he participated in a 28-day Cadet Leadership Course Fort Knox as part of the United States Army Cadet Academy program. In December 2015, he required an operation on his talus bone in his ankle because a piece of the bone was missing.
Garza is 6 foot 2, and weighs 165 lbs.
Volleyball
Garza started playing soccer when he was 7 years old. He played volleyball in high school. During the 2009/2010 season, as a junior, Garza was a member of his school's boys varsity team. That season, he had a hitting percentage of 0.261, 13 blocks, 17 digs, 23 kills and 1 ace. He was with the team again for the 2010/2011 season, and played in the Metro Conference’s annual all-star girls and boys volleyball games. He played for the Mesa league in that game.
Soccer
As a youngster, Garza played for the Chula Vista Rangers. In a game in 2010 against the City of Salford Schools F.A. under-17 boys soccer team, he scored a goal in his team's 2 - 1 victory. He played varsity soccer at Bonita Vista High School as a defender. He was part of the team that competed in the California Division II title match. He played for the California State University Dominguez Hills, redshirting his freshman year. Other schools that tried to recruit him to play for their programs included Cal Lutheran, San Francisco State, CS Bakersfield and Cal State East Bay.
Cerebral palsy football
Garza is a CP6 classified footballer, playing as a midfielder.
Garza captained the United States squad at the 2012 Summer Paralympics. National team coaches changed, and his January 2013 call up to participate in camp was the first one he did under the leadership of new coach Stuart Sharp. In April 2014, he was invited to participate in a week long national team training camp at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California. The camp was being held in preparation for the 7-a-side Football Ciutat de Barcelona in June of that year. He was invited to a national team training camp that took place from April 29 to May 6, 2015 in Carson, California. This camp was in preparation for the 2015 Cerebral Palsy Football World Championships in June of that year in England.
The 22-year-old captained the US side at the 2015 Cerebral Palsy World Championships, scoring two goals against Argentina. One of them came off a penalty kick after Argentine goalkeeper Gustavo Nahuelquin was red carded for kicking Adam Ballou. This performance qualified the United States for the 2016 Summer Paralympics. He was a starter in the team's 10 - 0 loss to England. He also started in the USA's 2 - 1 win against Scotland. It was his first World Championships as a member of the national team.
Garza was part of the 14 man squad that represented the United States at the 2015 Parapan American Games in Toronto. There, the United States played Canada, Venezuela, Argentina and Brazil. He played in the United States' 0 - 6 loss to Brazil at the Parapan Games.
Garza took part in a national team training camp in Chula Vista, California in early March 2016. In April 2016, he took part in a national team training camp in Bradenton, Florida in preparation for the May 2016 Pre Paralympic Tournament. He was part of the United States Paralympic National Team that took part in the 2016 Pre Paralympic Tournament in Salou, Spain. The United States finished 6th after beating Argentina in one placement match 4 - 3 and losing to Ireland 4 - 1. The goals scored in the match against Argentina were the first the USA scored in the tournament, before putting up one more in their match against Ireland. He scored one of the United States's goals in their placement match against Argentina. The tournament featured 7 of the 8 teams participating in Rio. It was the last major preparation event ahead of the Rio Games for all teams participating.