36 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JULY 9-15, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com FACE TO FACE A conversationalist and a sports lover at heart, Salinas native Mayra Gomez has been involved in the world of athletics since she was born. Her father believed sports could transform childhoods and communities. At Alisal High School, Gomez played four sports, including soccer. That carried her to North Carolina Wesleyan University, where she played soccer for four years. Gomez’s break into sports journalism came unexpectedly at Entravision Monterey-Salinas, a local marketing, advertising and broadcast media branch that primarily targets Hispanic audiences, where she first worked as a receptionist at the front desk. A conversation with the news director at the time led to her first on-air soccer segment for Liga MX. In 2016, Gomez decided to study sports journalism in Mexico. From there she worked with the San Francisco 49ers, serving as a Spanish analyst for the Las Vegas Raiders and attending eight Super Bowls. She’s also been an emcee for the Club World Cup. Today, she’s bringing that experience home to elevate the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex by coordinating the World Cup tailgates and creating new opportunities for local youth. Weekly: How did you eventually become a sports analyst? Gomez: My dad said, “Honey, you love the game, you love being out there. Get it together, figure it out. Either you’re going to go and get a master’s or you’re going to go back to work.” So I found a program that did sports journalism and sports broadcasting in Mexico City and the next day, my dad and I went and had a cup of coffee and he looked at me and said, “How much is this supposed to cost me?” Thankfully, there’s so many of us that are now calling the games, and showcasing that women can do it all. At that time, that was not the case. I was only a year into my studies when I got my first job to work the sidelines for the Las Vegas Raiders against the Houston Texans. So are you a 49ers or Raiders fan? I love all 32 NFL teams. You’ve covered FIFA games, too. Yes, I did the FIFA Club World Cup last summer in Seattle. I was in the works to be a host for the FIFA World Cup this summer, but I got surgery on my shoulder. So now I get to bring a little bit of that to my community. I host the events here at the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex and celebrate the goals with everybody, and it’s been incredible. I bring the same energy that I would to the 70,000 plus people that I have in the past, to the thousands of people that we’ve welcomed now to the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex, and it’s quite a blessing to be able to do that. How did you start working at the Regional Soccer Complex? The [Salinas Regional Sports Authority] president, Kurt Gollnick, is my former soccer coach. He called me and we sat down and discussed the possibility of me coming to work for the complex. I’ve worked for Grupo Orlegi, the owner of the football Club Santos in Mexico, as their international director of marketing and communications, and so I’ve done as much work on camera as I have behind cameras in the business world. My father passed away and I wanted to be close to home. I wanted something more stable, and so it just made sense—it was the right time. I want to leave bridges for my community that allow them to connect to professional pathway programs, and build bridges to professional athletes and teams. I’m a big dreamer. So my goal is to help the complex get to that next level, which is to create even more opportunities for our community, to bring in partners that can provide those opportunities and those resources for our community. We want to internationalize the Salinas Regional Soccer Complex. Out of the many athletes you’ve spoken to, did any make you starstruck? Carlos Hermossillo. I was speechless—and as you can tell, I can speak quite a bit. We were at Estadio Akron, [a soccer stadium in Zapopan, Jalisco] and we saw each other and I cried and he cried and took pictures. He hugged me and said, “I wanted to be you growing up.” Besides your father and family, who are the people who you’re grateful to in molding who you are today? Kurt Gollnick; Catherine Kobrinsky Evans of the Salinas Regional Sports Authority; Ms. Jane Albano, my English teacher at Alisal High School; and Heidi Shobbe, my second-grade teacher at Virginia Rocca Barton Elementary School. End Goal Trailblazer Mayra Gomez brings global experience to Salinas Regional Soccer Complex. By Royvi Hernandez Longtime sports reporter Mayra Gomez has been watching the World Cup—especially the U.S. and Mexico—during watch parties at the soccer complex. “But sometimes I cheer for England, Spain, Portugal and Brazil,” she adds. DANIEL DREIFUSS Golden Oldies Cat Rescue Learn more about Tippy at Adopt•Volunteer•Foster Older Cats New Beginnings Tippy: a 14-year-old girl with supermodel good looks and an easy-going a�itude. What’s not to love? Sweet Quiet Independent ―― www.gocatrescue.org 831•200•9232
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