talent

If El Camino Real’s boys’ soccer team wins its third consecutive City Section championship this season, then Cal State Northridge soccer fans should be feeling good because three of the team’s players are taking their talents to CSUN.

Jayden De La Cruz, Diego Apolinar and Roman Holiday are teammates at El Camino Real, play on the same club team and also will be college teammates next year.

Holiday is the goal scorer, with De La Cruz and Apolinar serving as the playmakers to get him in position to score.

The Royals will be this year’s City title favorite, but rival Birmingham is lurking, and the two teams are scheduled to open West Valley League play on Jan. 6 at El Camino Real.

When asked if the team was ready to face Birmingham, Holiday suddenly got excited.

“Oh my God, yes,” he said.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

Sway Dasafo, a pioneering British Ghanaian rapper known for his lyric storytelling and championing of British music, has died. He was 44.

The rapper and producer’s death was announced Thursday on social media by the Mobo Awards, which celebrates music of Black origin. Dasafo’s friend Kash Ahmad confirmed to the BBC that he died at his home in Ghana. No cause of death was provided, but the outlet reported that Dasafo had been diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in 2010 before going into remission later that year.

“We’re deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Sway,” Mobo wrote on Instagram. “Sway will always hold a special place in MOBO history.”

In 2005, Dasafo became the first unsigned artist to win the Mobo award for hip-hop act before he released an official album. He won over other established artists including 50 Cent and the Game off the strength of his mixtapes, “This Is My Promo” volumes one and two.

“Mixtapes effectively provide a diary of my life,” Dasafo told the Guardian in 2005. “They feature skits and interviews of me on radio. When people follow your story, they feel closer to you — it’s like a soap opera. People want to know what’s going to happen next.”

“It was a huge moment,” Mobo’s Instagram statement said of Dasafo’s win. “Not just for Sway, but for UK Hip Hop. At a time when British rappers were still fighting to be recognised alongside their US counterparts, his win made a real statement about the talent, creativity and potential coming out of the UK. … [W]e will always be proud that he was part of the MOBO story and of the history we shared together.”

Born Derek Andrews Safo on Sept. 5, 1982, in Hornsey, north London, to Ghanaian parents, Dasafo grew up primarily in England where he developed a love for literature and music. He started rapping as a hobby when he was 10 and was making beats on his computer at 13.

The versatile rapper got his start in groups such as Phynix Crew and One before going solo and releasing his series of mixtapes. Among his early hits were “Up Your Speed” and “Little Derek,” from his debut alum, “This Is My Demo,” which he released from his own label, Dcypha Productions.

“I’m a positive person and this positivity comes out in my music,” Dasafo said in his 2005 Guardian interview. “I don’t go round holding guns to people’s heads, so I won’t rap about holding guns to people’s heads. Trouble attracts trouble. If you rap about trouble, it will come to you.”

From early in his rap career, he expressed his desire to become a producer so he could sign and nurture other talent. Dasafo has collaborated with artists including Riz Ahmed, Ed Sheeran, Lupe Fiasco and Chamillionaire.

BBC Radio 1Xtra broadcaster Remi Burgz called Dasafo a “UK Rap pioneer” and “one of north London’s finest” during her program, according to the BBC.

“He was mine and many others’ first experience of U.K. rap [and] hip-hop in mainstream media,” she said. “He was a literal example of paving the way and showing that U.K. rap can take up space in music.”

Dasafo is survived by his two sons, Jalil and Ammar-Joseph, and twin daughters, Queen-Inaya and Queen-Imara.

Paez is a record breaker and a headline maker.

He became the youngest debutant and goalscorer in Ecuadorian top-flight history at the age of 15 before making his debut in the Copa Libertadores, South America’s equivalent of the Champions League, later that same season.

Later in 2023, aged 16 years and 131 days, he made his second appearance for Ecuador, becoming the second-youngest South American international to feature in World Cup qualifying after Diego Maradona.

A month later, he became the youngest South American to score in a World Cup qualifier in a 2-1 win away to Bolivia.

It was understandable, therefore, that Chelsea believed the attacker, who had two international goals and 18 caps when they agreed to sign him, was destined for big things.

Chelsea allowed him to train regularly with the first team before he was officially eligible to join the club following his 18th birthday.

They also provided security for Paez, his family and the family of international team-mate Moises Caicedo after violence broke out in Ecuador in early 2024.

A few months later, Paez was filmed in a New York strip club while away on international duty.

He initially impressed on loan at Chelsea‘s sister club Strasbourg by winning September’s Young Player of the Month award in the French top flight, but then came in for criticism from then-manager Liam Rosenior.

“We expect more, clearly,” Rosenior said later that season. “I’m tired of using the excuse of the player’s youth.”

Despite Strasbourg’s links to Chelsea through their shared ownership, the loan was cut short after one goal in 21 appearances. Instead, he joined Argentine giants River Plate on a two-year loan spell.

Sources in Argentina expressed similar concerns about his attitude when asked by BBC Sport. They point to a disappointing display in the 1-0 Superclasico defeat by fierce rivals Boca Juniors at the Monumental in April.

Shortly afterwards, Paez was named by club president Stefano Di Carlo as one of 15 players training away from River Plate’s first team, although other sources felt he could have been given more opportunities.

His loan ended by mutual consent after Paez scored once in 14 appearances in 461 minutes for River Plate.

Ahead of the international break, concern has been expressed in Ecuador, having built him up as the country’s next great attacking talent.

Michel Deller, the owner of Independiente, told Hincha Amarillo: “He’s like a son to us. We care about him deeply.

“He’s a good kid who’s had a tough time and has made decisions that have complicated his life.

“We are always hopeful he’ll show his exceptional talent one again but right now, it’s up to him to decide what to do with his life.”

These concerns are not dismissed completely by Chelsea or Paez’s environment. However, there is a belief they are grossly overstated, highlighting he is owed time to grow as a player and person.