Javier Ruiz Duran Finds a Summer Home with Project 51O 

“As a captain, and an experienced player, my goal is to help the young players keep growing and gain confidence.”

Javi Ruiz Duran is no stranger to leadership roles. Project 51O’s 24 year-old Spanish skipper has worn the armband at every level he has played at, and during a recent interview, he provided insight into the organic culture that 51O has created this summer. “As a captain, and an experienced player, my goal is to help the young players keep growing and gain confidence,” Ruiz said. “I think there are many young players with great potential on our team, and I want to help them be the best they can be.”

Oakland Roots Technical Director Jordan Ferrell lauded Ruiz’s impact this summer, and has been routinely impressed by the consistency of his performances. “Javi’s professionalism, leadership and quality of performance at the left back position has been massive for us, and he has been key to our success so far this season,” said Ferrell. The appreciation is certainly mutual. “I have known Jordan, Nana (Attakora), and Yamo (Eric Yamamoto) for a while now, and I am really grateful for their help with my career,” Ruiz said.

Ruiz’s wealth of experience provides necessary balance for 51O’s young roster. Eschewing the typical makeup of a USL League Two side filled with top collegiate talent, 51O’s most recent starting eleven featured six players who are still in high school, with four more on the bench. “We are proving that age and physicality are far from the most important aspects in soccer,” Ruiz explained. “Some of our players are almost ten years younger than me!”

“I spent 8 years at Barca, and it was an amazing experience,” Ruiz said, with a smile. “It was really competitive, however. From the outside, it looked perfect, playing for one of the best teams in the world, traveling and competing with good players, but the pressure grew each year.” Ruiz’s modesty is apparent: the assertion that his former teammates were simply “good players” is an understatement, to say the least. His close friend, Red Bull Leipzig’s Dani Olmo, is one of the Bundesliga’s brightest young stars, as well as a mainstay for the Spanish national team. “When Dani turned 15, he made a crazy acceleration in his development, and became an amazing player,” Ruiz explained. “I am so happy to see his success so far, and he deserves it more than anybody else.”

Olmo is just one of Ruiz’s former teammates competing in the highest echelon of the European game. Riqui Puig, Oscar Mingueza, Marc Cucarella, Jordi Mboul, and Carles Aleñá have all graduated from La Masia, and made an impact on Europe’s top five leagues. Like most academy products, Ruiz’s journey at Barca did not end with a first team contract, or a six-figure move away from the Camp Nou. However, the lessons he learned at La Masia have helped shape his approach to adversity, and continue to help him in his career today. 

“During my last year at Barca, the club had FIFA sanctions that prevented the signing of new players,” Ruiz explained. “The club had signed seven or eight players who could not play, so I was getting consistent playing time, and was the second captain of the team. But after the ban expired, and the players returned to the team, I only played in one game the entire second half of the season.”

Despite his frustration due to the lack of opportunity, Ruiz’s commitment to his development never wavered. “I would go to training, knowing I would not play on the weekend, but each training became about getting better, learning as much as I could, and preparing myself for the future,” he explained. Ruiz’s mental fortitude would catalyze the next step of his soccer journey. Faced with the harsh reality of professional soccer, he decided to leap into the unknown, and continue his career 6,000 miles away from home in the United States, at Santa Clara University. “When they say California, I pictured LA and San Diego. When I came here, it was completely different!” he said, harboring a chuckle. “But I really like the Bay Area!”

Flash-forward five years, and Ruiz’s decision to bet on himself in a foreign country has paid off in spades. He recently completed a sparkling collegiate career at Santa Clara, where he was a three time co-captain and a five-year starter, as well as an All-West Coast Conference selection in every season he competed (First Team in 2019, 2020, 2021, Second Team in 2018, and All-Freshman Team in 2017). Ruiz was also a three-time All-West Region selection, and helped lead the team to a WCC Championship and an NCAA Tournament berth in his last season of competition. “I really enjoyed representing my school, and playing in front of my people,” said Ruiz. “Winning for my school gave me a ton of satisfaction, and winning the WCC with Santa Clara was my dream for all of the years I spent there.”

Although Ruiz’s collegiate success did not result in an MLS draft selection, three USL Championship clubs were intrigued, and brought him in for trials. “I was on trial with El Paso Locomotive, Las Vegas Lights, and Monterey Bay F.C.,” Ruiz explained. However, due to the USL’s rule that limits teams to eight international spots, signing a contract as an international player is exceedingly difficult. Despite the multiple setbacks, hardship has not dissuaded Ruiz from pursuing his childhood dream. “I want to sign a professional contract in the United States,” he explained.