Margarito Samayoa picked up soccer when he was just a young kid. Watching his family play for fun and going to games with his father helped him grow a healthy interest in the sport. By age 11 he was playing on a team. Now a high school senior, Samayoa is an all-section pick and a two-year team captain at Ramapo High School.
"Being with friends and having fun together and the exercise — I just have a lot of passion for soccer," the Rockland Scholar-Athlete of the Week said. "I never get tired; I just love it." Besides playing for Ramapo, Samayoa plays on a travel team and said he plays pickup games with friends and family at least once a week. He may be the captain but he doesn't let the position go to his head.  "I try to be friendly with everybody," he said. "I hate being bossy and I hate giving attitude. I just act like they are my friends. I pretend I'm not the captain so I'm not bossy."
 
Ramapo coach Tom Heim said Samayoa is a role model on and off the field and a great leader. Samayoa played injured all season after spraining his ankle in a preseason scrimmage against Nyack. "He played hurt all season and even though he was hurt, he was still double-teamed," Heim said. "He has tremendous strength and endurance as a soccer player. He was consistently a role model to the other players." Off the field Samayoa is involved in extracurricular activities. Academically he is ranked 15th out of 277 students and carries a 95 cumulative average. Time management is not an issue for the senior. "If I stay after school for a club or activity, I go home right after because I am filled up with homework," he said. "I eat dinner with my parents then go straight to doing my homework and try to focus."
 
Samayoa is a member of the Aspira Leadership club, a group where Latino students can get together to talk about problems they are having in school or at home. "You don't have to be Latino to join but we get together once a week and we talk about the problems we are having," he said. "We help in the community, too. We brought in canned food and made baskets for the families in need in the community. We do a lot of stuff together." He is also a member of the Basic Club, a religious group on the high school campus. "People that are religious go there and we share how we feel about religion and we talk about religion," said Samayoa, who also volunteers at St. Joseph's Church. "We get to express our feelings and stuff."
 
Samayoa hasn't decided on a college yet but he is hoping to play soccer wherever he ends up. The trouble he had with his own computer piqued Samayoa's interest so much that he wants to study computer engineering and computer science in college. "I remember when I didn't know too much about computers. I would call someone or go online and ask for help," Samayoa said. "My computer had all these viruses and I was so upset and confused. I called this guy (for technical support) and he helped me out. He controlled my mouse on the screen and everything. It was amazing.  "I want to do something with computers because I love them."