He's become the first graduate of the New York Cosmos Youth Academy to play for the Cosmos professional team.
As the New York Cosmos prepared for their reincarnation as a professional soccer club Wednesday night, there was one young player who, as exhausting as practice seemed, smiled through it all.
David Diosa is just 20 years old, the youngest on the team, and he's playing professional soccer about a half hour from where he grew up.
"I'm not going to say I was better than everyone, but I was a good player," Diosa said.
Diosa was born in Columbia, but grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens, and starting next month, he'll play in front of, among others, his mom.
"It feels good, it feels awesome, to have my mom here and my sister, and it feels good that they are going to come here and watch me play every game," Diosa said.
There are actually eight players on the Cosmos from the tri-state area and the team is counting on that pulling in the fans and the fans seem to like it.
"This is a grass roots kind of thing and now you are dealing with a real, real club that's dealing with the community and the way it's supposed to be," said Richard DeBosse, a Cosmos fan.
"It makes it more exciting to know that they are from the area and we're going to root for them," said Debbie Silver, a Cosmos fan.
And that local flavor is what team executives were looking for.
"With us, we need to have a very strong connection to the community. If we don't do that, we're not meeting our mission of being a proper soccer club," said Erik Stover, of the Cosmos.
Proper for him, a dream come true for true for Diosa.
"I think about it a lot and I'm just blessed and I know I'll do good and I'll help out the team too," Diosa said.
