Student Athlete of the Week – Henry Lopez

The heart of Henry Lopez’s success starts with his family.

“They give me a lot of support. They’re always behind me and they’re always cheering for me at games. They’re very protective also,” Lopez said.

His family even extends onto the football field, with Coach Dockery and his wife being Henry’s godparents.

“Henry does a great job of trying to be faithful to his religion, to be faithful to his school, to be faithful to his family. For such a young guy to really, I feel like, work at those categories in his life, it just shows me that he’s on a mission to do something pretty special as an adult,” said James Dockery, head football coach at Xavier Prep.

Xavier Prep’s two-sport standout has been playing baseball since he was little, but credits his dad with getting him into football in middle school. 

“I find myself just loving to watch him play. You know, he plays with a ton of passion. He might catch me a flag every now and then, but you know, sometimes when you’re playing football, I’d rather have players that I have to tell to calm down than I have to tell to turn up, so we love Henry,” Dockery said.

“It helped me to really, like, understand a lot of things better. When adversity comes, it makes it a lot easier to get through it,” Lopez said.

His hard work doesn't go unnoticed. 

“When Henry’s at practice, he’s treating it like it’s a game. There’s countless times, I’ve got to pull him off players at practice, cause he’s just playing normal situations at practice like full speed,” Dockery said.

Off the field, Lopez has a heart for helping others. 

“What you give is what you get,” he said.

His mom inspired him to start volunteering, which he does with the Coachella Valley Rescue Mission and Baseball Buddies.

“When you help people, it helps you realize how grateful that you are and all the things that you have, and it really just brightens your day,” Lopez said.

Lopez is pursuing college baseball, and aspires to work in the justice system, like his dad.