Feature Story: The remarkable career of AJ DeLaGarza.

Boston, MA– High school success, College honors, a remarkable MLS career, injuries, and a wild family ride. AJ DeLaGarza has always been adjusting to his consistently changing life.

Adolph Joseph DeLaGarza was born on November 4th, 1987, to (father) Adolph Joseph & (mother) Linda DeLaGarza in Bryans Road, Maryland.

AJ began playing soccer at the young age of 4 years old and attributed the beginning of his career to his over-abundant energy as a kid.

“Literally from the time they had soccer for kids, the earliest age, I started playing just to stay fit and get some energy out. My parents had nothing do with soccer in their entire lives… never watched it, never played it, but when I was younger, I was faster than the boys and girls that I was playing against, and I feel like that’s kind of how it all started.

At quite a young age, AJ stated that he enjoyed being faster, scoring goals, and tackling other kids. He added that those aspects of the games helped him early on.

“My dad was my coach until I was about 14 years old, so I had played local rec-ball until I was about 12 years old really and overtime it started to expand further and further away from home.”

“When D.C. United started in 1996, the MLS got my eyes on the team. I was watching Marko Etcheverry when they were top of the league and back then Bruce Arena was the coach… I was a little kid with a professional soccer team in my backyard, so I can say that it definitely helped me fall in love with the game and helped my development.”

At 12 years old, AJ played for the D.C. United U-12 team at the Danone Cup in France under coach Dave Sarachan. He played in 3 matches, beating Orlando Paris, losing to Paris Saint Germain, and tied with Manchester United.

“I played for quite a few teams following my time at that D.C. United Team. I went out to Bowie, Maryland which was about 45 minutes from where I lived, and it was the first time that I had moved away from my dad being my coach. My dad worked in Bowie, so my dad would come home, pick me up, and go straight back to where he just was… After a while, the coach of my team and his son left for the Baltimore Bays and I followed them there, which was an 1hr 30 minutes away rather than 45 minutes away. It made no sense, but my parents did that for me which helped my development as we were the best team in our age group in the country.”

During AJ’s time with the Baltimore Casa Mia Bays, He went on to win two USYSA National Championships in back-to-back years in 2002 and 2003 respectively.

Following his youth career, AJ attended Henry E. Lackey High School, in Indian Head, Maryland from 2000-2004. He was a four-year letter winner in soccer and was named to the all-state team twice. He was named all-county four times and all-conference four times. In 2003-04, AJ received All-American Honors and was named Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year.

“It was different back then when I was in high school. There were no academies let alone MLS academies as MLS got started a couple years before that.” With kids nowadays having to make decisions regarding playing matches for their high school or their club teams AJ stated, “I would play for my high school. You grow up with these kids that go to your high school, that play on your team, your brothers. Club kids know each other only for a few months, maybe a year, and this is their one opportunity to go to a state tournament.

Entering High School, AJ reflected on the challenges of playing at the high school level. “High school was the first test of playing with kids that weren’t my age. I entered high school at 110lbs playing against dudes with beards. I thought to myself that, ‘this was different’.”

“I was a forward back then. It sounds crazy, but I was scoring goals, I was second leading scorer in the conference.”

Following his high school career, AJ exited school knowing nothing about college soccer.

“I always lived in the moment. Maryland came along in my junior year and that’s where I had ended up… My club team earlier that year went to North Carolina on a trip, and we had visited North Carolina, Duke, and Wake Forest. I received offers from UNC, UVA and Wake Forest, and I was probably going to the school that was going to give me the most money.”

AJ stated that one day, Maryland had called him, and he went on a non-official visit with his dad. At the end of the day, AJ stated that, “Head Coach Sasho Cirovski came up to me and said, ‘so are you going to commit?’ and I looked at him and told him, ‘I have to ask my mom’.”.

Following a discussion with his mom, AJ accepted an offer from the University of Maryland Terrapins and attended the University from 2005-08.

“They were a well-established team and had gone to 3 final fours in a row in the years before I had gotten there, and they obviously had a lot of history behind them. Little did I know that I would have a bigger role when I got there.”

“I remember my first game in college, we were playing Cal State Fullerton in California and we were up 5-0 or so and Sash comes up to me and says to me that he wanted to Redshirt me. I told him straight to his face not to redshirt me and he put me in the game. A couple weeks later, this one forward was just dominating us, and I was put in the game for my second ever game. My assignment was to guard Aaron King from NC State. I basically man marked him, and I followed him around the entire rest of the match… Following the game, we had lost, and Sash had told the squad that everyone’s spot is up for grabs except mine. That was a huge moment for me and my career.”

During his time at the University of Maryland, AJ was named College Soccer News Second Team All-Freshman after helping Maryland win the National Championship in 2005. In 2008, DeLaGarza had his best season of his collegiate career as he was named to the College Cup All-Tournament Team, was selected to the All-ACC Second Team, was named Co-Most Valuable Defensive Player (with Omar Gonzalez) and helped lead Maryland to yet another National Championship and ACC Championship in 2008.

Following his collegiate career, AJ had no idea where he stood in the professional ranks.

“I had gotten a call to go to the combine and in my head my thoughts were ‘Oh! I made the combine team’. And this brought me and my agent discussing possibly signing a pre-draft deal to not be knowing where I’d end up overall”.

AJ ended up entering the 2009 MLS SuperDraft.

Following a team trade with Chivas USA, the Los Angeles Galaxy selected AJ DeLaGarza in the second round (19th overall) of the 2009 MLS SuperDraft.

“Back then, they only showed the first round on TV on ESPN and the second round was all on the computer, so I was just sitting on my computer hitting refresh and when Chivas USA had the pick, I had gotten a phone call from my college teammate Graham Zusi saying congratulations and I replied with “what are you talking about” and I hit refresh and the Galaxy made the trade and I was selected.”

AJ ended up playing eight seasons for the Los Angeles Galaxy from 2009-2016. During his eight year LA Galaxy tenure, he would end up on one of the most successful teams to ever grace Major League Soccer. AJ would make 204 appearances for the Galaxy, starting in 194. He accumulated 17,249 minutes and tallied 2 goals and 4 assists in the process along with 48 clean sheets. During this tenure, the Galaxy would go on to win two Supporters Shields (2010, 2011) and win 3 MLS Cups (2011 and 2012 versus Houston Dynamo, and 2014 versus New England Revolution). AJ would also be named as LA Galaxy Defensive Player of the Year twice in 2012 and 2014 respectively and won the MLS Humanitarian of the Year Award in 2014.

During his successful campaign during the 2011 season, AJ received his first United States Men’s National Team Call-Up. On January 21st, 2012, He started and played a full 90 minutes in his debut for the senior side of the USMNT during a 1-0 victory over Venezuela. Four days later, he made his second appearance and played a full 90 minutes once more in a 1-0 USMNT victory over Panama.

“I was told in the offseason by one of the LA Galaxy equipment managers to stay fit during the offseason and they told me that they heard that I was getting called up to the National Team and I was like ‘What are you talking about bro? are you drunk?’ and I managed to get called up to 4 camps and ended up playing two games.”

“At the international level they wanted me to play as a right back when I had never played that position before and it just was not my skill set or my position. I was a defender that read the game, made his tackles, and communicated on the field. Overall, I felt I didn’t make a good enough impact in those two games and felt I wasn’t going to have a huge career with the US National Team.”

Entering the 2013 season however, AJ was not officially cap-tied by the United States and on August 27th, 2013, AJ switched allegiance and played for the Guam National Team.

“I had been getting calls for years from Guam National Team and they understood that I had still been on the outskirts on the US National Team, and they understood that. Once I knew nothing was going to come out of it, I knew I could make the switch and play international football and travel the world to help the other side of my family and the overall sport in Guam.”

Following his international success and entering the 2016 season, on January 13th, 2017, the Los Angeles Galaxy traded AJ to the Houston Dynamo for $125,000 in General Allocation Money and $50,000 in Targeted Allocation Money.

“I was pissed. Just because the whole year before that, I had still played in 20 games or so, but I had felt my role wasn’t as big and I was like okay, this was my time to get out, let me go to D.C. United, a club that I admired and grew up watching and would love to be a part of just because my family would be there back home.”

“The Galaxy had helped other players from the Galaxy move to other teams that they wanted to be a part of and I told them I wanted to be traded to DC, Philly or Orlando. They said no and I tried again next week. They said no once again, and I thought to myself that I needed to be all in for the Galaxy and fight for a position and do whatever I can.”

“I remember I got home one day from the stadium with food from my favorite taco spot and noticed that I had a missed call from the GM and a text message saying, ‘Call me when you can’. I didn’t even realize it was the day of the MLS Draft. Once I saw it, I called him back and he told me they just traded me to Houston.” All AJ could say was, “alright thanks” and ended up hanging up the phone. He also ended up not eating the tacos.

“After a couple of days of thinking it over, I thought that it was a new opportunity to go continue develop in a new atmosphere and to continue to do what I do in my career, and I entered Houston with a clear and positive mind.”

AJ went on to play three seasons for the Houston Dynamo from 2017-2019. During his tenure, AJ made 57 appearances for the club, starting in all 54. He accumulated 4,978 minutes and tallied 0 goals and 4 assists and held 8 clean sheets. During his tenure, in his first season, the Dynamo reached the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time in three seasons. He went on to win the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in 2018 versus the Philadelphia Union.

In his Houston debut season, DeLaGarza made 30 appearances and registered 3 assists. Unfortunately, during the final match of the 2017 regular season versus Chicago Fire, DeLaGarza suffered a torn ACL in the 13th minute, which forced him to miss the remainder of the playoffs.

“Our coach harped on blocking crosses to where we had to sell our souls to block a cross and I did that. Unfortunately, Brandon Vincent of Chicago Fire ended up chopping me back to the inside and as I planted to turn, my knee popped. It was a huge moment that effected our team entering the playoffs and effected my career.”.

Following the conclusion of the 2017 season, AJ’s option with Houston was declined, but then he had negotiated a new contract to remain with Houston on a lower salary as result to his injury. Due to this injury, AJ missed majority of the 2018 season and was loaned to Rio Grande Valley (Houston’s USL affiliate) where he made 4 appearances for the club. Following the recovery from the injury and improvement of form, AJ returned to the Dynamo and appeared in just 4 matches in 2018 and the Dynamo missed the playoffs. This was the first time AJ had missed the playoffs in his entire career.

Entering the 2019 season healthy, AJ appeared and started in 23 matches. All was going well in terms of recovery and getting back into good form until disaster struck once again. On August 31st, 2019, AJ broke his foot in the 69th minute of a match versus Sporting Kansas City, which effectively ended his season. The Dynamo once again, missed the MLS Cup Playoffs.

“My Dynamo career was filled with injuries and following this one, I knew I needed a change of scenery.”.

Following the conclusion of the 2019 season, DeLaGarza’s contract had expired, and he was officially a free agent searching for a new club.

Entering the 2020 season, on December 2nd, 2019, DeLaGarza signed for MLS expansion side Inter Miami CF ahead of their inaugural season. The club was and remains owned by former 4-year LA Galaxy teammate David Beckham. AJ went on to play one season for Inter Miami in 2020. He made 5 appearances out of 23 possible for the club due to the COVID-19 pandemic and started all 5. He registered 0 goals and 0 assists and held 1 clean sheet.

“I wanted a change of scenery and my agent had told me that Miami seemed interested… So my mindset was that I need to be healthy this year and I’d be in Miami with David Beckham, and things would be done the right way and we would be successful.”

When AJ had gotten there, things were not easy as he was recovering from a hernia surgery. Due to the surgery, he ended up missing the first couple of full training sessions.

“I’m not even lying; I was the best neutral player I had ever seen in my life. My teammates were shocked and thought I was 6 or a 10 and I told them I was not. To be honest, I don’t know if those coaches though if I was a central midfielder and they had me playing the 6 and the 8 and I thought to myself, ‘do they even know who I am?’ and I actually went up to one of the coaches and asked that, and they had told me that they saw me in a few different roles.”

AJ knew it was bad during one of his preseason training sessions. “One day in preseason, instead of working on 1v1 drills in the box with all of the defenders, the coaching staff had me on the opposite side of the field doing shooting drills with Lee Nguyen, Juan Agudelo, Julián Caranza, and I thought to myself ‘What the Hell is going on!?!’ and to be honest, I think that my entire career in Miami started off wrong.”

Following Inter Miami’s unsuccessful run in the 2020 MLS is Back Playoffs, AJ was once again a free agent and announced his international retirement from the Guam National Team.

Entering the 2021 season, on January 7th, 2021, DeLaGarza signed for the New England Revolution.

“Honestly, I was looking at teams that did not have #20’s on their rosters and I had texted Bruce Arena and spoke about the opportunity in New England. Obviously, Taylor Twellman is a beloved player there and though nothing is really officially retired, nobody wears that number. So, I had to respect that, and I had to make a number change which was tough. I had worn number 20 since I was 14 years old, and I ended up choosing #28 as I wore that in high school and my son Luca was born on the 28th of August so that number made sense to me and meant something to me.”.

While with New England, AJ went on to play two seasons for the Revolution in 2021 & 2022 respectively. He made 14 appearances for the club, starting in 9 matches. He tallied 0 goals and 1 assist and registered 1 clean sheet. While with New England, he assisted the club to winning the Supporter’s Shield in 2021. The 2021 New England Revolution squad currently holds the MLS record for most points in a single season as they tallied 73 points that year with a record of 22-7-5.

When reflecting on his time with New England, AJ stated, “I thought that I would have more of an opportunity, and that’s not to say that I was better than any of those guys that were playing, or should’ve been playing over any of those guys, but there are 30 something games in a year. Guys need a rest, their bodies are breaking down, they play through things and in 2021, I got 5 starts. I played in squads that had 8-9 changes and it was tough to feel positive about your performance. Honestly, it felt like some of us played 1 game every 3 months and I felt like it was an opportunity but not a real opportunity to show what we can do on the field… We all still came out with results, and I know a lot of guys felt the same way, but in the end, we needed to remain professional and that was the hardest part about not playing…. I would say that it ultimately led to me retiring overall.”.

Following the end of the 2022 season, the New England Revolution missed the MLS Cup Playoffs, and AJ was once again out of contract, and a free agent.

On November 17th, 2022, AJ DeLaGarza signed a one-day ceremonial contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy and retired from professional soccer.

AJ had a successful career across his making 297 appearances across his stellar 14-year career, starting in 281. He accumulated 24,810 minutes and tallied 2 goals and 11 assists in the process along with 62 clean sheets. He entered the referee’s booklet 43 times in his career, all yellow cards.

“I began questioning myself following my little role in New England and I thought to myself that it wasn’t worth moving my family anywhere else to sign a one-year contract and that lead to me making my decision. My 4-year-old daughter had lived in 3 different cities in 4 years, and I didn’t want to make yet another sacrifice. I’m hoping the new chapter has something more stable for my kids and my family, and I’m hoping my next move will be my last for quite a while.”

Following his retirement from professional soccer, AJ announced that he would be participating in the TST7v7 tournament in June of 2023 for $1,000,000.

AJ’s team, Zala FFF is a squad that consists of ex-professional soccer players, NFL players, and futsal players. His squad currently consists of Jonny Orlando (US Futsal National Team Player), Ryan Russell (US Futsal National Team Player), Lee Nguyen (Former MLS midfielder), Tony Rocha (Former MLS midfielder), Mikey Ambrose (Former MLS defender), Mikah Seger (College goalkeeper for the University of Maryland), and Lauren Sesselmann (PanAm Olympic Medalist).

He stated he is still looking for pieces to fill out his roster and is continuing the process to finalize his roster.

AJ DeLaGarza is 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐘𝐄𝐓!

The 3 time @MLS Cup winner is bringing Zala FFF (a team of fútbol, futsal and football players) to TST this June⚽🏈

Stay tuned for roster updates👀

Oh ya, and someone tell @AJD_20 there's no slide tackling… pic.twitter.com/xSbcML8scD

— TST (@TST7v7) January 12, 2023

Along with TST, AJ during his playing career obtained his USSF B Coaching License.

“For me, the Revolution Academy was a potential option, but the hours and pay to be able to support my wife and 3 girls is the most important thing. Coaching does not offer that at all, and the instability is not what I’m looking for right now. Maybe something will happen down the road, but it’s just not worth it for me at this time.”.

Outside of his sporting career, AJ has had quite the personal journey as well.

In his personal life, AJ DeLaGarza married his high school sweetheart, Megan DeLaGarza on December 4th, 2010. The pair have 3 children together (Noelle (7), Alexi (4), and Colette (2) and have been together for 19 years.

In 2014, AJ & Megan gave birth to a son, Luca Wyatt DeLaGarza on August 28th, 2014. During the pregnancy, doctors notified the DeLaGarza’s that Luca had hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a rare heart defect. Doctors notified that not many children with HLHS survive following their diagnosis and just one week after his birth, on September 4th, 2014, Luca passed away.

Following the passing of Luca DeLaGarza, AJ & his family started the LucaKnowsHeart Foundation to assist families that are affected with have heart conditions. They have continued to run the organization since 2014.

“Originally we started the slogan Luca Knows Heart as a hashtag to keep all of our families informed on what was going on. My wife had her own blog detailing everything that was going on. Overall, it made it easier instead of saying the story over and over.” When discussing how large of an impact it has made, AJ stated, “It became bigger due to the MLS c0mmunity, and I’d say that fans became family because of it… I can confidently say that it had a big impact on not only my family, but also the Galaxy, and the MLS community as a whole.”

The site, LucaKnowsHeart features a clothing brand donates funds received to the Heart Center at Children’s Hospital – Los Angeles.

“My wife in the beginning didn’t even want me to start a clothing line and I started the whole thing with no idea what I was doing. It was tough as I was doing things that I had no idea what I was doing and now that I’m done playing, I can spend more time on it and make it bigger and better to gather a bigger impact on the heart community.”.

To learn more about LucaKnowsHeart, Megan’s daily blog, and the full story of Luca Wyatt DeLaGarza, click the links below:

Players Tribune – https://www.theplayerstribune.com/articles/aj-delagarza-luca

LucaKnowsHeart Website –https://lucaknowsheart.com/

Instagram –https://www.instagram.com/lucaknowsheart/?hl=en

Megan DeLaGarza’s blog –https://lucaknowsheart.wordpress.com/

Following his retirement, AJ is starting his new journey, working for a health and wellness company that is set to drop their platform in the next couple of weeks.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for everyone really for people to learn more about their bodies and to be healthier. It’s a really cool thing and I think that it has the potential to be really big one day.”

To Follow AJ DeLaGarza and his journey, you can follow him at the links below:

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/ajd_20/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/AJD_20