UC Irvine Notebook / John Weyler : Malaver Gets a Real Kick From His New Connections

Ask Jimmy Malaver what he likes about playing soccer in the United States and he’ll tell you the best part is you don’t have to know anyone to get on a team.

Ask him what he likes best about going to a university in the United States and he says it’s the fact that you don’t need connections to get in.

So don’t ask him about working or living here.

“You don’t have to know anyone to get a good job or a nice house,” he says.

Nine years ago, Jimmy Malaver was a high school student in Bogota, Colombia. At 16, he was an accomplished soccer and basketball player and practitioner of martial arts. He liked athletics and had always excelled in sports. But most of all, he wanted to be a doctor.

A noble aspiration, but without the right connections, just a pipe dream for a kid in Colombia.

“We were a middle-class family,” said Malaver, a senior at UC Irvine. “My father had a steady job and we had a house, but everything is politics there and if you don’t know the right people, you can’t get into a university. Even very good soccer players have to have the right ‘godfather’ to get on a pro team.”

So the Malavers decided to come to the United States for the educational sake of Jimmy and his sister, Nubia. Malaver’s mother was able to get a visa first because she had a relative here. Then, after a myriad of delays, the rest of the family was allowed to immigrate a year later.

“When I got here, I knew a few words in English . . . yes, no, hi, bye,” he said, flashing an infectious grin. “My dad couldn’t find a job for about 4 months and my mom was our only support. She worked as a janitor.

“My sister hated it here at first. I felt the frustration, too, but I wanted to learn the language and build a new life here so badly that it motivated me. It was a sacrifice, but it was a challenge as well.”

Malaver met the challenge--not to mention the rush-hour traffic--head on. He rode a bus from Hawthorne to downtown L.A. where he attended adult school from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. He learned 2 languages there: English and computer, eventually developing skill as a data entry operator.

It was while he attended El Camino College 4 years ago that he dusted off a long-dormant skill: his ability as a soccer player. He tried out for El Camino’s team, but didn’t make the final cut.

“Some people said, ‘Look at the team, they’re all white. The coach is racist.’ But I didn’t believe that and I wouldn’t quit. I don’t quit. I tried out again the next year and made the team.”

A severe muscle pull in his first season and a stress fracture during the second limited Malaver’s playing time at El Camino, but the second year he managed 9 goals in 10 games while playing with a broken bone in his ankle.

With med school foremost in his mind, however, Malaver enrolled at Irvine. The “I-wonder-if-they-have-a-soccer-team” question occurred later.

“I came out (for the Irvine team) at the same time our season had begun at El Camino and found out they already had been practicing for 4 weeks,” Malaver said. “Then I had to fill out these forms and wait 2 more weeks.”

As a result, Malaver played in just 10 games for Irvine last season. He wasn’t in great shape, but his talent and experience were still evident. The conference coaches made him a second-team all-conference pick for a 2-goal, 2-assist, half-season performance.

“He never really was fit last season,” Coach Derek Lawther said. “He relied on his experience. He grew up with this game, as most Latins do, and he has the touch, the feel, that only comes with years of play. It’s almost second nature.”

Malaver’s soccer instincts have elevated the play of the entire Anteater squad, according to Lawther. Irvine is 4-7 overall and 2-2 in the Big West, and center-forward Malaver, with a team-leading 3 goals, has played a vital role.

“Seeing Jimmy handling the ball, and getting so much out of it, has helped the other players, just as watching the pros and trying to emulate them helps,” Lawther said. “But the feeling that if we knock the ball up there, we’ve got a guy who can really do something with it, is just as important.

“I wish we had a few more Jimmys to spread around. We’re really, really, really going to miss him. We don’t have anyone else with that kind of skill.”

Malaver says he won’t be so preoccupied with his medical career that he’ll give up soccer. In fact, he hopes to someday play on the U.S. national team.

“Going to med school has been my biggest motivation since I was 16, but I would love to play soccer for the U.S. One day, we will have the best soccer team in the world. In 10, maybe 15 years, it will happen.

“And I would very much like to contribute to making soccer a great sport here.”

Irvine is playing host to the tennis tournament with the world’s most cumbersome name again this year. The Rolex-Intercollegiate Tennis Coaches Assn. Southern California Women’s Tennis Championships begin today and run through Sunday.

The tournament, for college players only, is a sectional qualifying meet with the singles finalists and doubles winners advancing to the Rolex National Indoor Championships in Minneapolis Feb. 9-12.

Pepperdine sophomore Janna Kovacevich is seeded No. 1 in singles and USC’s Lupita Novelo is No. 2. Five teams ranked in the top 20 will be participating. Play begins at 8 a.m. today and 9 a.m. Friday with the singles semifinals starting at 9 a.m. Saturday. The singles final is set for 10 a.m. Sunday with the doubles final to follow.

Doreen Irish, the UCI women’s coach, says she is glad to host the event.

“There’s a couple of reasons I volunteer to host it,” she said. “First, it saves budget money because we don’t have to travel. Second, it cuts down on the school hardship--the kids don’t have to miss as much class.

“And there are other benefits. It’s good publicity. Courtney Weichsel (Irvine’s top singles player) came here to watch this tournament three years ago and decided to come to UCI.”

Anteater Notes

Chuck Harris, Irvine’s new director of marketing, is moving at a frantic pace these days in an attempt to ensure the success of Friday night’s Anteater Basketball Bash, which is actually scheduled for 12:01 a.m. Saturday. Irvine is flooding the campus and community with 10,000 flyers and 3,000 door-hangers, $6 T-shirts commemorating the event are on sale and the cheerleaders will visit KIIS-FM disc jockey Rick Dees Thursday morning to promote the season-opening scrimmage and dunking contest in the Bren Center. Four players--6-foot 5-inch senior Kevin Floyd, 6-9 junior Rob Doktorczyk, 6-2 junior Troy Whiteto and 6-6 freshman Elgin Rogers--will compete in the dunking contest. Irvine assistant Mike Bokosky thinks Whiteto, a transfer from Santa Monica College, is the favorite.

The Anteaters can’t start practice until Saturday, but they can participate in conditioning drills. Coach Bill Mulligan’s commitment to a full-court pressure defense/running game has meant lots of running for the 18 players (including 4 walk-ons) on the roster. Rob Doktorczykzy and 6-9 center Don May already have foot ailments.