Hart alumna Destinney Duron has not played a match in her hometown since her Cal State Northridge soccer days.
Duron, who currently plays for Juarez in the Liga MX Femenil, the pro women’s league in Mexico, will finally make her return to a Los Angeles pitch this week. Juarez will face Angel City FC on Sunday in a friendly match, but for Duron, this game means much more than an exhibition match.
“This game is very important,” Duron told The Signal in a phone interview. “My parents actually told me yesterday that they have 67 tickets, so excited is definitely an understatement. I haven’t been home in a while and playing in front of friends and family, for me that’s so important. It’s also great that my grandparents get to see me play again. They haven’t seen me play since my last home game at CSUN.”
Duron graduated from Hart in 2014 after an electric senior season. The senior led Hart to an 18-win season and the team reached the CIF Division 2 title game. Duron punched in two goals but was unable to finish after a concussion sidelined the striker.
Overcoming injuries became a common occurrence for Duron. She tore her ACL just a few years earlier in her club career and suffered a similar fate during her junior year at CSUN.
The mental toll of the same injury was demoralizing for the Matador. She told CSUN staff she wanted to quit.
“It was the hardest mentally and also physically. It was the hardest injury for me,” Duron said. “The first one was smooth daily. I knew it was my first injury, I was ready to come back and everything. My second one, I thought, ‘This is way too hard for me.’ There were days where I would just show up to CSUN crying, but CSUN definitely had a really good staff.”
Duron finished off her collegiate career strong on the pitch and in the classroom, despite more setbacks with her knee.
“I had a few more complications throughout my senior year with my knee, and I still had a couple of things, here and there, but I finished strong,” Duron said. “I was able to get my degree, which was the most important thing.”
As a graduate with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology, she hoped to continue her career on the field. While options for professional play went cold after her collegiate years, Duron stayed active with the sport. The Hart grad worked at a Futsal facility in Los Angeles while training on the side for over a year waiting for the right opportunity.
Duron played for pro-am teams all over the state, including a few seasons with the Santa Clarita Blue Heat. She continued to keep her game strong and added film to her resume before she got her first and only shot at the pros.
The opportunity to play professionally came through a tryout with the Liga MX team, America. However, the tryout wasn’t even for Duron. The Matador found out one of her best friends, Elizabeth Lyons, secured a tryout. Lyons had no issue with sharing the tryout and fought to get her friend’s foot in the door.
Duron got her tape out to former Club America coach Leonardo Cuellar and eventually got the green light for the tryout.
The Hart alumna trained for over three months, waking up at 5 a.m. every day for daily runs, workouts and soccer training.
“Elizabeth Lyons, she definitely helped me a lot in this process,” Duron said. “Her as well as my trainer, Eric Zarate, from Long Beach. I would say he definitely is another hero in the story, because he was one who made me wake me up at 5 a.m. and he got me ready for my first-ever tryout.”
The former Matador felt confident after her weeklong tryout but knew a lot would have to go right for her to get the green light to join America.
During Christmas break, she got the official confirmation Cuellar wanted her on the team. Within a week, she had moved to Mexico City and signed her first professional contract.
The signing was a dream come true for Duron, who had trained with her father since she was 4 years old.
“I’ve always wanted to play professional soccer, it was my ‘yes or yes,’ I was gonna do it no matter what,” Duron said. “My dad was my coach since I started playing soccer at 4 and a half up until I was 13 or 14. He molded me to be the tougher player that I am today, especially mentally.”
After one year, Duron moved on to Toluca, where she made her biggest splash. The striker led the team with 12 goals in 2021-22. She remained a staple with Toluca but eventually signed with Juarez. The move was extra special as it moved Duron much closer to home, now being in a border town 15 minutes from El Paso.
Juarez’ exhibition game with Angel City will give players a chance to shine against National Women’s Soccer League talent. Duron has enjoyed playing abroad but could see herself returning to the U.S. if the right opportunity calls. One international chance she won’t pass up is one she can feel herself closing in on: a spot on the Mexican Women’s National Team.
“I’m gonna make the national team and it’s all gonna go from there,” Duron said. “That’s my plan, especially after I got called up to the first list. That definitely helped raise my confidence.”
Duron makes her return to a Los Angeles pitch for the first time in eight years on Sunday at 7 p.m. as Juarez takes on Angel City FC at BMO Stadium.
The Juarez winger will give her all in front of her massive family section and keep taking strides toward becoming a Mexican national teamer.
“I just want to stay on top of my rhythm, stay on top of being strong,” Duron said. “That’s the biggest goal right now, to make sure that my body is ready to go at any moment, because I definitely am getting older. I’m 100% not backing down from the national team. That’s my ultimate goal.”
