The562’s coverage of Avalon Athletics is sponsored by Curtin Maritime.
You’d be hard pressed to find something that fazes Matthew De La Rosa.
Growing up in a small town on Catalina Island, De La Rosa didn’t have many outlets beyond sports, but his path to first-team All-CIF honors in both 8-man football and volleyball has been anything but easy. From battling an undersized frame to overcoming a season-ending injury, the senior’s journey has been rooted in adversity—but he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I think I’ve just looked at some of my lowest points through high school as a challenge where I just wanted to make something out of it instead of letting it eat me alive or bring me down,” De La Rosa said. “I feel like I can overcome anything that comes my way, and that’s probably the biggest skill I’ll be coming out of Avalon with.”
De La Rosa’s most recent adversity came last fall during his senior football season, and it proved to be his most challenging. While coming down from a high-point catch at wide receiver during Avalon’s regular-season finale, he landed awkwardly on his front side and immediately knew something was off. De La Rosa was diagnosed with a broken collarbone and given a six-to eight-month recovery timeline—but miraculously, he cut that down to a fraction.
“It was the worst news when they told me how long it would take to come back and I honestly thought my senior year was over,” he said. “I was blessed to not have an injury like that during high school until it happened and it definitely ended up being the hardest time for me in my four years. But with all God’s help, I came back just two months into soccer.”
De La Rosa used soccer as a way to pass the time during the winter of his junior-to-senior year, and was cleared to return thanks to the sport’s limited upper-body physicality and his quick recovery. As for his main sport, football, his high school career was cut short—but not before he helped lead Avalon to a CIF championship.
The Lancers reached the title game twice during De La Rosa’s career, including a loss his freshman year that ended in disappointment. Fast forward to 2025, when Avalon redeemed itself behind De La Rosa’s heroics, claiming the CIF-SS Division 2 8-man title with a 20-10 championship win over Lancaster Baptist.
It proved to be a close matchup with a light drizzle falling, and Avalon barely edged the Eagles in the third quarter when the Lancers’ starting quarterback suddenly went down. That’s when De La Rosa stepped in at quarterback in the wildcat and turned what looked like a stuffed run play into the game-sealing touchdown.
“The defensive end was in the perfect position to make a tackle, and Matt just beat him to the outside. It was the type of play that you can’t coach,” said Avalon football coach Nicholas Morones. “It was just a result of hard work and natural ability. A lot of times I go back and watch that play—it’s just that special. You can’t recreate it.”
De La Rosa is now in the final stretch of his high school career as he wraps up his senior volleyball season. It’s safe to say volleyball is where he’s evolved the most, playing well beyond his 5-foot-11 frame while taking on the challenge of learning multiple new positions over his only four years playing the sport.
“The biggest thing has been his growth,” said Avalon volleyball coach Carlos Martinez. “He started playing volleyball just for fun and became great as one of our middles, and now as a senior he’s our captain as an outside hitter. He’s played a different position every year and he’s been growing from it.”
De La Rosa has picked up no shortage of accolades along the way, from his first-team All-CIF honors to first-team All-League recognition and an AVCA All-American Watch List nod in volleyball. But perhaps his greatest accomplishments lie in the challenges he’s faced, and he plans to carry those lessons beyond sports after he graduates.
“I want to take everything I’ve learned in Avalon and bring it to the mainland,” he said. “‘It’ll be one of the biggest changes in my life going there, but I’m just going to focus on academics and I plan to pursue a career in business over the next four years.”
De La Rosa explored a few options in Southern California, but says he plans to attend Long Beach State, where he’ll begin working towards his degree in the fall of this year. Back on Catalina Island at Avalon, he leaves behind a legacy and a world of lessons for the K-12 students who follow.
“I just want the rest of the kids in my town to see me and learn from everything I’ve gone through at Avalon,” De La Rosa said. “If you put your mind to it, you can do it. I want people to look at me and see what I’ve gone through and know they can come back from being at their lowest points and be even better.”
