Jamie Garcia

It is with an extremely heavy heart that I share that one of our teammates, Jaime Garcia, a founding member of the Central Valley Ghostriderz, passed away on July 2, 2019 at the age of 25. Jaime was there from the very beginning, our #9, our original goalie extraordinaire, and spent the last 10 years of his life displaying his passion for power soccer on the court.  Jaime was born on October 8th, 1993 in Fresno California, and was eventually diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy at the age of 5.  He began to use his power wheelchair at about the age of 7 but despite this, he was treated like any other child.  While attending elementary school in Clovis, he excelled in his studies and was placed into the gifted and talented program.  He went on to attend Buchanan High and participated in the robotics team, as well as continued to take advanced courses. It was in high school that Jaime began to play power soccer – he was one of the 4 original athletes that showed up at our first power soccer clinic in 2009.  Those four players went on to form the first power soccer team in the Central Valley.  Jaime went on to graduate high school and then attended California State University Fresno.   He crossed the stage to receive his Bachelors degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing and became the first person in his family to graduate from college.  Jaime, or Jr., as he was known to his family, was a sweet, bright, and beautiful athlete, artist, son, brother, and student. He brought a steady calmness to the court, always smiling, listening, learning, and welcoming. Underneath his quiet demeanor, he had a passion for power soccer as well as many other interests, including travelling wherever he could, usually with his dad, and going to new restaurants even though he was such a picky eater!  Jaime was also an artist, creating and painting the best he could, using whatever medium was available to him.  Besides power soccer, another of his great passions was playing Yu-Gi-Oh at the Bullpen with friends on Friday nights.  Both of these passions and the strong friendships he made kept him going through the latter part of his life.  We will miss Jaime’s beautiful soul; he is loved and will never be forgotten.  Jaime’s steady presence and contributions to the Central Valley Ghostriderz team helped make the dream of power soccer here in the Central Valley a reality for so many athletes. Please keep Jaime and his family in your thoughts and prayers.