Dodi Soza: The Educator

Isaac Newton's theory of relativity: energy is never lost or destroyed, it is simply transferred from one object to the next.One thing is true as ever: Dodi Soza loved football and football loved him. His coaches, his teammates, his family and friends loved him. His passion radiated this energy that can never be destroyed. A fire has been lit deep inside the soul of each Downey Viking football player. There's a change in their spirits. This hunger to make each moment count. It's a clear dark Friday night as the mist of the fog begins to come across the grass. You feel him through the gentle breeze as he awakens your heart to the spirit of football. You can't see it, but you can feel it. And for the first time, you believe in it. Dodi's energy lives with each life he touched on and off the football field. He is physically a part of us if Newton's theory of relativity is correct. A driving force and the source of his teammates' motivation. We cannot see him or touch him, but his energy lives on. Though his time was short-lived, he has changed his teammates and brought together a community. He is Dodi the educator, always reminding us football is life. It was his life and now a part of ours. Dodi Soza will forever be a guardian to the Downey High School Vikings football team. He will be always deeply missed. Michelle Melendrez is a Downey resident who wrote this story as a tribute to Dodi Soza, the Downey High student and football player who died earlier this month.

********** Published: Oct. 31, 2013 - Volume 12 - Issue 29