Column: Salesian High student switches from football to caddying, opening path to become doctor

Two years into his high school football days as an offensive lineman at Los Angeles Salesian High, Isaec Valencia changed plans. He gave up football and focused on caddy school.

He put good use to the strength gained from his days in the weight room. Carrying a golf bag was much easier than learning the rules and etiquette of golf.

“At first, it seemed like a lot,” he said. “I had no idea of any rules of golf.”

After three years at the Western Golf Assn.’s Caddie Academy, the 17-year-old Valencia received life-changing news. He was awarded a $125,000 Chick Evans Scholarship, which will enable him to attend the University of Washington, study biological sciences and pursue his dream of becoming a family practitioner.

With a single mother, Judith, who came here from Mexico and worked and studied to become an accountant, Valencia said he is grateful he’ll be able to attend college thanks to the scholarship.

“This scholarship was a huge financial burden lifted off my family and myself,” he said. “It gives me the ability to continue to work hard and make my family proud.”

His dream is to attend medical school and return to his Boyle Heights neighborhood as a doctor to help others.

“I really love helping people and being useful,” Valencia said. “Being able to make such a huge difference in communities would make a positive impact on future generations.”

Valencia lives with his mother, 15-year-old brother and grandparents. He spent two summers in Chicago caddying. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, caddy school was only online, so that was a challenge learning without hands-on experience.

He has learned how to read the line for putting, gauge the length needed for shots to reach the hole and, most importantly, keep track of the ball off the tee.

He came in as a shy teenager but learned to feel comfortable holding conversations with golfers to make the rounds enjoyable.

There are more than 1,100 caddies enrolled at 22 universities across the country as Evans Scholars, and more than 11,800 have participated since the inception of the program.

Several former Salesian students participated in the program, and that’s how Valencia got involved as a freshman. At 6 feet and 240 pounds, he’s certainly big and strong enough to carry a bag filled with clubs and balls for 18 holes. But that’s just one of many responsibilities for a caddy.

Valencia learned his responsibilities from scratch.

“It was repetition, going out at different times with different golfers that gave me the ability to learn,” he said.

He also credits his experience at Salesian for putting him on the right path.

“We’re taught about the lesson of community,” he said. “There always needs to be a support system for each other. It makes a world of difference.”

As for Valencia playing golf, he said his best skill would be putting.

He’s grateful for his mother’s inspiration and sacrifices to show him how to succeed.

“She was always working hard in any situation,” he said. “Many days and many nights, I saw her working hard going to Cal State Los Angeles and working at the same time. It goes to show how tough a person she is and her determination to be successful.”