The562’s coverage of Millikan Athletics for the 2026-27 school year is sponsored by Brian Ramsey and TLD Law.
Soccer has been an integral part of Millikan junior Jayla Cortes’s life for as long as she can remember. Whether she was watching the sport on her family’s television or following in her older sister’s footsteps as a player, Cortes always knew soccer was the sport for her.
Even when her sister decided to explore softball, Cortes remained focused on soccer. The team-first mentality fueled Cortes’s passion — a fire that still burns inside of her to this day.
“I think you can literally be involved with it [soccer] no matter what, and on the field, everybody has a job that they have to do,” Cortes said. “I’m a team player for the most part. I don’t usually think of just myself in one situation, I like to think about the bigger picture and my team.”
Years later, that team-focused mindset has helped Cortes become one of Millikan’s standout midfielders. As a sophomore, she scored the lone goal in the CIF title match, leading the Rams to their first-ever championship win.
Now in her junior year, Cortes is already thinking of her future. She recently committed to play Division I soccer at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa for her collegiate career.
“The coaching staff made me feel super comfortable and genuinely excited about me wanting to go there,” Cortes said of her commitment. “Being in an environment where you know you’re going to be happy as a player and as a person was really huge for me. “
Cortes joins a growing list of Long Beach soccer players taking their talents across the Pacific Ocean to compete for the ‘Bows. Long Beach Poly alum Kennedy Justin and Millikan alum Sophia Nygaard are also representing the 562 on the Hawai’i team.
“Obviously, I love Long Beach; I really, really do. It’s pretty much it’s all I know,” Cortes said. “We’ll watch the games and it’ll say where the girls are from, and my parents are like, ‘That’s gonna be you repping Long Beach.’ And I was like, ‘That’s gonna be me.’”
Millikan Head Coach Tino Nuñez said Cortes and Nygaard committing to the same Division I program is a direct representation of the caliber of play being developed within Long Beach’s soccer community.
“There’s a lot of talent,” Nuñez said. “It’s nice to see Long Beach coaches or people from Long Beach giving back and helping with the development of these student-athletes that are making our city stronger. You always see girls with aspirations, and you can see it with the right mindset, right approach, what they’re capable of accomplishing.”
For Cortes, the DI commitment represents years of dedication to a dream that began long before she stepped onto the field for the Rams.
About four or five years ago while competing at the highest level in club soccer, Cortes remembered the exact moment that fueled her drive to play at a higher level. It was a moment that changed the way she envisioned her future.
“I remember it was our first year playing, and we saw one of the older age groups and they had over 100, maybe 150, coaches on the sideline,” Cortes said. “And I was like, ‘I want to be in that position.’”
From that moment on, playing Division I soccer became more than just a possibility; it became a goal Cortes was determined to reach. She began doing extra workouts, lifting weights and even switched club teams to continue growing her game.
However, Cortes quickly realized that she wasn’t the only player chasing that same dream. Cortes began looking for ways to separate herself from the competition and players around her.
“I think it was just realizing that there were so many girls that I was playing with or against that wanted that same goal, and it’s super competitive,” Cortes said. “It’s super hard to go play collegiately, even Division I more specifically — everybody wants this.”
That drive has translated into Cortes’s onfield success. The junior is a key part of a powerful Millikan midfield.
Nuñez said Cortes’ energy, player instincts and ability to disrupt attacks have made her a valuable part of the Rams’ program.
“Jayla is just somebody that always comes with a lot of energy and covers a lot of ground,” Nuñez said. “She’s disrupting a lot of what opponents are doing and is just defensively covering a lot of ground and making it hard for other teams to do what they’re looking to do.”
While Cortes has demonstrated her offensive abilities, including delivering the decisive goal in last season’s CIF-SS Division II championship game, Nuñez believes it is her defensive work and aggressive style of play that will help her transition to the collegiate competition.
“I think there’s her speed of play,” Nuñez said. “She’s willing to tackle, she’s willing to get into those 50-50 battles. So her willingness to be aggressive and then just the speed of play based on her attacking things and covering things — those two things I think will allow her to be successful.”
But even with her collegiate future now secured, Cortes knows the work is far from finished.
“Now that I am committed, it’s a huge relief, but then at the same time, I have to keep working really hard for it because playing time isn’t given or guaranteed,” Cortes said. “It’s super competitive. Everybody has to work really hard in order to earn their spot, and I was like, ‘I need to keep working hard to get better as a player.’”
From a young girl watching soccer on television to a CIF championship star preparing for Division I competition, Cortes has spent years working toward the future she once dreamed of from the sidelines.
But for now, Cortes is focused on the final two high school seasons ahead of her. Coming in as a reigning CIF champ and emerging leader for the Rams, Cortes will continue trying to build on Millikan’s success and develop the skills that earned her a Division I future.
