Sports can be a multilayer experience that can be analyzed and picked apart into oblivion. A simple football game can birth dozens of articles and countless opinion pieces.  Anything from the pregame locker room to the maintenance of a stadium can offer a fruitful insight into what makes organizations function. Any stadium or arena bleeds history and tradition that can fill pages of stories, that intrigue is what drove me toward sports writing.  

I am currently a multimedia journalism major entering my junior year at the University of Texas at El Paso. I am originally from Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, but moved to Fort Worth, Texas at an early age. I attended Castleberry Elementary, A.V. Cato Elementary, Irma Marsh Middle School and Castleberry High School.  

Over the years, I have played football, basketball, tennis and ran track and field. In high school, I was an avid member in my community serving in my school’s chapters of the National Honor Society, National Technical Honor Society and the Student Council. I was also a member of our award-winning marching and concert band where I became a drum major. I graduated from Castleberry High School in the spring of 2021 and made my way to the University of Texas at El Paso soon after. 

Some of my hobbies include watching films and TV, collecting physical media like CDs, vinyls and DVDs, and thrifting. Some of my favorite movies are Last Night in Soho and Evil Dead 2. I have recently been watching TV shows like The Rehearsal (HBO Max), The Orville (Disney+, Hulu) and Aunty Donna’s Big Ol’ House of Fun (Netflix). My Spotify is riddled with music from Steve Lacy, Olivia Rodrigo, clipping., crumpton, maye and Jon Batiste. My favorite pro teams are the Dallas Cowboys, Dallas Mavericks, Dallas Stars and FC Dallas. My favorite athlete is undoubtedly former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. 

After college, I am planning to move back to the Dallas-Fort Worth area and climb up the ladder in one of the many local news stations in order to bring a much-needed voice to the growing Latinx population in the Metroplex. Growing up in the DFW area, I struggled to see myself when it came to news reporting and broadcasting. I would only see other Latinx journalists on Univision or Telemundo. And that’s not to discredit what those stations do. Those stations allow certain audiences to receive information that they would otherwise not get. But for those watching an English-only broadcast, it can be difficult to feel represented or even acknowledged and I know I can make a positive difference in that aspect. 

Free press has always served as a beacon for the people of a developed society. In its essence, a free press serves to amplify the unheard voice of reason. Being able to practice this principle at any level can set apart works and publications. Moving forward in my journalistic career I hope to become an advocate of truth and justice. In the meantime, I am honored and looking forward to working with The Prospector to bring you only the best UTEP has to offer. 

Emmanuel Rivas Valenzuela is the sports editor and can be reached at [email protected]: @rivasemmanuel2 on Instagram