Kim Wood, contributing writer

When 21-year-old Wade Estrada was asked what sparked his interest in sports, he remembers back to when he was as young as three years old.

His best friend would come visit him every morning in the summers and the two would play basketball, football and baseball. They did this until they were 14 years old, often including their two little brothers in the games. Estrada played in Little League until the age of 15. He went on to participate in baseball his freshman and sophomore years in high school as an outfielder.

He also participated in four years of football where he played the positions of corner back, running back and receiver.

When Estrada was a freshman on the football team, he broke his knee in the next-to-last game of the season. For the next six months, he wore a cast that stretched from his ankle to his thigh.

Estrada doesn't recall exactly how the injury happened, but he does remember how painful it was.

Despite the accident, Estrada was able to start the baseball season on time. "I just wasn't very coordinated," he said.

Estrada joined the track team his junior and senior years. He ran the 400-meter relay, 4x4 relay, 4x1 relay and, occasionally, the 200-meter dash. In Estrada's senior year, he and his teammates earned the state championship title in track. Estrada won "his share of races" in his two-year track history.

Also, in Estrada's senior year, he and his football teammates played their way to the quarter finals in the state playoffs, but fell short to Payson.

That same year, Estrada played football and ran track, not knowing that he was doing so with a hernia. He didn't discover this until after his graduation.

Estrada was jumping off the diving board at the college and had an accident that sent him to the hospital. He received outpatient surgery and slept solidly for the next three days. "The pain just about killed me the day after surgery," he said.

Despite his physical misfortunes, Estrada had a great time playing sports and hanging out with his friends during the sports seasons. "Those were the good times," he said.

After high school, Estrada attended Eastern Arizona College for a year before he left for two years to serve missions in Connecticut and Rhode Island.

In October of 2003, Estrada returned from his mission and enrolled at Eastern Arizona College where he's working towards completing his generals. Soon he will attend school at the University of Arizona.

Estrada was born and raised in Safford. His parents are Danny Estrada and Cheryl Shedd. He is the oldest of four children.

Estrada loves the peace and quiet of the Gila Valley. He is comforted by the fact that most of his family resides here, as well as a lot of friends and acquaintances.

If Estrada could change anything around him, he would like to see more youth who have the opportunity to know and learn of the life of Christ. He would like to see many of them behave with more respectful and responsible manners.

As for his own personal growth, Estrada hopes that he will continue to be non-judgemental of people, by finding the good in them.

He has made it a personal goal to like everyone and to give everyone a chance, no matter what their personal downfalls.