It's become a yearly tradition for Cerritos College women's soccer coach Ruben Gonzalez to bring several members of his team to the Casa Hogar Santa Teresita de Jesus Orphanage for Girls in Tijuana. Gonzalez, his wife Senaida, several Cerritos College and Bishop Amat High School players arrived on January 7 for Día de los Reyes (Three Kings Day), which represents the arrival in Bethlehem of Wise Men bearing gifts for the baby Jesus. In addition to gifts and monetary donations, they provided the group of 60 girls with some Cerritos College women's soccer sweatshirts, soccer balls and spent the day with the girls.

 

    "We arrived at the orphanage with the preparations underway for the young girls," said Gonzalez. "This year we learned the orphanage had grown from 50 to 60 children, including a 1-year old boy. There were many new faces when we arrived and the children were all excited to see us because they new something special was being planned for them. They heard the jukebox music and smelled the meat on the grill that was being prepared for them to have lunch."

 

    Over the years, Gonzalez and the Cerritos players have become like family to the girls at the orphanage. It's become a tradition for the Falcon players and coach to join the girls and nuns to celebrate the Three Kings Day with them. Some were wearing Cerritos College t-shirts and sweatshirts that were left for them last year upon the team's arrival.

 

    Not only was the trip memorable for the orphans, it touched the hearts of the Cerritos players that made the trip for the first time. Goalkeeper Sandra Coto stated, "It’s amazing the little things you can do for others, but it makes such a wonderful difference in their lives. It was touching to see how excited they were to have us there and when they broke piñatas it was just as exciting for them as it was for us to see their faces. It was very touching to see these girls with no homes and so few material objects in their lives, that it showed me how having materialistic items is not what life is all about. It’s amazing to help out others when they are really in need of it."

 

    "I am very emotional," said Jackie Cisneros. "It touched me to see so many young girls at the orphanage, but I was happy to see they all had great manners and a good sense of humor. I am glad that we were there to share fun activities with them so they can have a good time with each other as if it were one big family. I know they enjoyed themselves as much as I did. We got to eat tacos, break a piñata, take pictures and inflate some of the soccer balls that were donated by our team sponsor, Adidas. I had a great time with all the girls and won't ever forget this experience. Hopefully I can be a part of this again next year."

 

    In addition to all of the activities that took place, the Cerritos players took part in a friendly soccer game with the girls for the second year in a row. Said Gonzalez with a smile, "we lost last year, 7-6 and we were not about to let it happen again this year. The girls made a friendly wager that if they lost, they would give up their Cerritos Soccer hoodies. We won, but of course the girls gave them their hoodies anyway."

 

    The group also spent the day making crafts, singing songs and spent their time enjoying the experience of giving. One thing that caught Soto's attention was the girls excitement for something in particular.

 

    "A very popular drink in the U.S. for little kids is the Capri Sun pouches," said Coto. "I’m guessing they don’t really get those drinks because when the girls arrived to get their food and drinks from the taco cart, they seemed extra excited to get those Capri Sun pouches. It was just so adorable to see their faces light up when they asked for the juices."

 

    Both players expressed an interest to return to the orphanage next year. "This was my first year being a part of this so I didn't get to experience what the other girls did the previous year," said Cisneros. "But I can honestly say this has been one of the best deeds I've done in my life so far. I'm glad Coach Ruben and his family take their time to do this every year and want to make it a tradition. That's very humble of them."

 

    "We are thankful for our sponsors who made it possible to put on this event," said Gonzalez. "Some of them include adidas and Niky's Sport, who donated soccer balls to leave with the girls; Rafael Arredondo from Invision Insurance in the city of Bell; Mr. Arenas from Bishop Amat High School and our family and friends who made contributions to make this a great event for the girls in Tijuana."