Forged by FAU - Daniel Del Rio
Wajih AlBaroudi
10/4/2020
Gallery: Daniel Del Rio
As a high school state champion and All-County selection, Daniel Del Rio, or Danny, had all the makings of a Division I soccer player.
Except for one: money. Del Rio’s family couldn’t afford the tuition at DI universities, making him consider junior college instead. It was a “very difficult situation,” Del Rio admits, and it led him to Broward College in 2014.
Del Rio made the absolute most of the situation. His 2014 and ’15 Broward College squads ranked top-25 nationally, and Del Rio played on a full athletic scholarship.
After those two excellent years at BC, Del Rio had the DI scholarship offers he yearned for as a high schooler. And the institution he chose, Florida Atlantic University, is one he eyed since then.
“One of the best schools I wanted to go to was FAU,” Del Rio said, “and that was from high school.”
The transition from junior college to Division I was one Del Rio prepared for but knew wouldn’t be easy or familiar. Del Rio says he “felt like I was coming into a much bigger and more professional environment” at FAU. It was “definitely different” than anything he experienced before.
In Del Rio’s debut season for the Owls, in 2016, he played 12 games – starting two – as a midfielder and totaled three points.
More than the numbers, though, Del Rio’s work ethic and organizational skills earned the team’s respect. So much so it elected him captain ahead of the 2017 season.
“It was just a great experience in general,” Del Rio said of his two seasons at FAU. “Not only the classroom, [but] as well as the travel, getting to experience big schools, playing against other big schools, that atmosphere.
“I think it was just a good atmosphere to be around as an athlete,” Del Rio added. “So, getting that opportunity to be at a school like that was a big plus.”
Del Rio graduated December 2017 – a semester early – with a finance degree and hopes for a financial advising future. He attended a career fair shortly after and met with the firm Equitable Advisors. The meeting went well, and Del Rio became an Equitable Advisors financial consultant in January of 2018.
As a former student-athlete, Del Rio had the requisite skills for financial advising success: time management, hard work and communication. Those skills smoothened his transition to the professional world.
“You’re really building relationships, which I was able to do during my college career and obviously before that as well,” Del Rio said. “But realistically, what you put in is what you get out of it. That’s realistically what I love most about it. The work that I put in off the field shows on the field, same happens here. Nobody sees when you’re putting the extra hours in. That’s realistically where you see the difference in this industry.”
Del Rio began his professional career where he ended his collegiate one: Boca Raton. But after spending close to three years there, he earned a promotion and left to his hometown Miami office. Del Rio likens the promotion to his soccer experience, as jumping from junior college to Division I required an increased commitment and understanding of fundamentals.
Financial advisors deal with clients ranging in age, careers, family sizes and more. A common fabric among Del Rio’s clients, he finds, is student debt. That’s a weight Del Rio’s FAU athletic scholarship took off his shoulders.
“As a financial advisor, I see clients with student debt, and I’ve always looked back and wondered what that would be if I was stuck in that situation as well,” Del Rio said. “Instead of me saving money, I would be putting money into something like that. So, it’s obviously a huge impact that a lot of people just don’t realize.”
Since Del Rio’s athletic scholarship provided him financial security, he has the time and opportunity to help others. Del Rio has coached youth soccer since graduating from FAU and is currently with the Miami Premier Soccer All-Girls Club.
Del Rio says coaching “obviously doesn’t pay much,” but he does it to impact kids and impart a love of soccer he describes as a “passion that never leaves” him. FAU awarding Del Rio an athletic scholarship made it possible for him to share that passion.
“The monetary standpoint is definitely not the drive there, but definitely being around the kids and so forth is very enjoyable,” Del Rio said of coaching. “And we can relay it back to the game: if it weren’t for the scholarship and opportunities at junior college and FAU, I don’t think that I would be in the situation to coach. I wouldn’t have that experience, that belief that I should be able to coach. And obviously I wouldn’t be where I am today without going to FAU, without going to career fair, without getting that opportunity.”