Edgar Rodriguez learned to play soccer when he was 12. He played for the local team Quest FC through high school, and continued to play in college. Now, when Rodriguez gets some free time from his career in the oilfield, he loves passing on the love of the sport to his young daughter.
Rodriguez graduated from Dublin High School in 2010 and went to Ranger Junior College, where he played soccer for two years and earned his associates degree. He got some offers from out-of- state schools to play for them, but opted to stay close to his family, and in 2012 he transferred to Howard Payne, and then to Tarleton in 2013, where he studied sports medicine.
“I was there just for that year,” he said. “I took a break from college. I wasn’t feeling it, so I started working at Saint Gobain there in Stephenville. I was a machine operator, and then I moved to the maintenance team.”
In 2015 he married his high school sweetheart, Adilene Rodriguez, and then in 2016 went back to school part time to earn his bachelors in kinesiology. He graduated in 2018.
For several years after he graduated from Tarleton, Rodriguez continued to work at Saint Gobain. In 2019 he and his wife welcomed a daughter, Valencia, and Rodriguez appreciated that the job could allow him time with his family.
“I worked there for the night shift, so it gave me time to spend time with my wife and my daughter,” he said. “Whenever [Valencia] was born, we didn’t have anybody that could babysit. So my wife would watch her at night, and I would watch her in the day. I would take naps with her until my wife would come back from work as a teacher in Stephenville, and she would take over with the baby. The schedule worked for us.”
The job offered lots of benefits, too, and Rodriguez made a lot of friends there.
In 2023, some of Rodriguez’ family members who worked in the oilfield encouraged him to take a job out in West Texas. The money sounded good, so Rodriguez moved out to Odessa and began doing water transferring for frack sites. “It was a really good opportunity. And I think it landed at a perfect time for me and my wife and my baby,” he said.
While the job makes good money, the work and schedule can be grueling. Currently Rodriguez works many hours a day, seven days a week. “All I do every day is go to work, I come home, we do homework with my baby girl, we practice soccer, because that’s our favorite sport, and then I just try to spend time with my wife, whenever I do have a little bit of time.”
Rodriguez plans to stay at his current job for another couple of years at least, and then find something that lets him have more time with his family. “I do want to move somewhere closer to home,” he said. “I don’t really know what I want [to do after this], but I know that I don’t see myself working out here forever. I want to find something that gives me more time with my family, gives me time to go play soccer, and spend time with friends.”
In the future, he’s looking forward to putting his kinesiology degree to use as a soccer coach — either volunteer coaching for his daughter’s team, or pursuing coaching as a career. “I love coaching soccer and that’s something I would love to go back and do,” he said.
When he gets some free time, Rodriguez enjoys playing soccer, cooking, fishing and hunting.
Rodriguez finds inspiration in his family. “My parents were immigrants,” he said. “They came here with nothing and made the best life they could for their kids. And I think I pushed myself to strive for that and do better — even though they did great, I want to do better for my kids.”
Rodriguez offers the following advice to Dublin graduates: “I would say if your loved ones are still around, hug them, talk to them, take some time,” he said. “Not everything’s about money, not everything’s about work. Enjoy those small moments with those loved ones.”
“Don’t compare your life to anybody else’s, and just live day by day,” he said. “Everyone’s timeline is different.”
Where are they now chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@ dublincitizen. com.