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Erick Madriz is a man of few words. Rather than talk about his accomplishments, the Avalon senior has spent the last four years letting his play speak for itself.
A naturally shy kid, Madriz found his place in high school playing three sports, building his confidence while developing into a standout athlete in basketball, volleyball, and 8-man football. The senior molded himself into one of the best athletes to ever come out of Avalon and was recently named the Western Athletic Conference Athlete of the Year.
“I feel like I accomplished a lot and it feels great,” Madriz said. “It’s been great having the Avalon community behind me and showing support, and it’s been great showing them what can be achieved.”
The Western Athletic Conference is made up of 25 small CIF Southern Section schools across four different leagues. At the end of each year, athletic directors from each school nominate and vote on the conference’s top three athletes, and Madriz became the first boys athlete in Avalon history to earn the honor.
“He is the best representation of what we want in a student-athlete here at Avalon,” said Avalon AD Carlos Martinez. “He’s humble, but also has a competitive side that you don’t always expect. I knew he’d be a great athlete, but I think that’d it was going to be this. What he’s been able to accomplish is really awesome.”
Madriz had all the athletic potential when he entered high school at Avalon, but you never would have known it by talking to him. In his first year, he spent time on the bench and at the junior varsity level in his three sports, describing himself as shy and rarely speaking up or drawing attention to himself.
“I was just scared to talk to people,” he said. “We’d be at 6am football practices during the summer and I would be scared to ask people to give me a ride home. I used to walk every time because I was afraid to ask anyone.”
As he began to grow more confident, it was those sports that helped Madriz break out of his shell. He earned varsity spots in all three as a sophomore and quickly became one of Avalon’s standout competitors, remaining among the school’s top athletes throughout the rest of his high school career. Madriz helped lead Avalon to league championships in all three sports while earning All-League honors in each of them.
But the key to Madriz’s success wasn’t just natural talent. He led his teams by example through his work ethic, and even outside of practice he was constantly looking for ways to improve his game.
“He’s just so dedicated and it’s rare to find those kinds of athletes that just want to be great,” Martinez said of Madriz. “During the summer he went to football workouts, he’d go to basketball camps with his coach, last summer he went to the Long Beach State volleyball camp—he just works his hardest with everything in front of him and that’s the biggest thing about him.”
Madriz faced his share of obstacles along the way, too. The toughest came during his junior year, when a dislocated knee sidelined him for nearly the entire football season. After spending months rehabbing and waiting for medical clearance, Madriz returned just in time for Avalon’s CIF-SS Division 2 championship game, helping the Lancers defeat Lancaster Baptist 20-10.
“Coming back from injury after hearing doctors tell me week after week that I had to wait and not get to enjoy my junior year, that was probably the lowest point of my life,” Madriz said. “I was just cheering them on from the sideline, wanting to be out there playing with them. But coming back for that game was the best feeling ever.”
Madriz plans to leave football and basketball behind him but will try to play volleyball at the next level. Volleyball was his strongest sport in high school, where he was named Academy League Player of the Year as a senior, and he plans to attend Long Beach City College as an automotive major while trying to walk on to the Vikings’ volleyball team.
Though his high school career has come to an end, it’s safe to say Madriz has left a lasting mark on Avalon. If you asked him about his accomplishments, he’d probably shrug them off. Ask anyone around town, and they’ll quickly tell you just how much of an impact he’s had.
“He’s more than an athlete and his records,” Martinez said of Madriz. “He’s truly made a difference here not just in sports but in the way kids have been able to look up to him. He might be the best athlete to ever come through here.”
