A. J. DeLaGarza

Youth career

At the age of 12, DeLaGarza played for the D.C. United U-12 at the Danone Cup in France, under coach Dave Sarachan. He also played for Baltimore Casa Mia's Bays, where he won two USYSA National Championships. In high school, DeLaGarza played at Henry E. Lackey High School for head coach Gary Lesko in Indian Head, Maryland. DeLaGarza enjoyed a distinguished high school career, being named all-state twice, all-county four times and all-conference four times. DeLaGarza played college soccer at the University of Maryland, College Park. He was named College Soccer News Second Team All-Freshman after helping Maryland win the National Championship in 2005. He started the title game and helped the Terps keep a clean sheet in a 1–0 victory over New Mexico. DeLaGarza had a successful senior season being named to the College Cup All-Tournament Team, Second Team All-ACC selection, and was his team's Co-Most Valuable Defensive Player as he helped lead Maryland to the 2008 National Championship and 2008 ACC Championship.

Los Angeles Galaxy

DeLaGarza was drafted in the second round (19th overall) of the 2009 MLS SuperDraft by LA Galaxy. He made his professional debut on March 22, 2009, in Galaxy's first game of the 2009 MLS season against D.C. United, playing the whole 90 minutes at left back in a 2–2 draw. Following Sean Franklin's mid-season hamstring injury, DeLaGarza played many games at the right side of Galaxy's defense, starting 16 consecutive games at…

United States

On December 21, 2010, United States men's national soccer team head coach Bob Bradley called in DeLaGarza along with 23 other players into the United States' January 2011 training camp. The end of the training camp culminated in a match against the Chile national football team. On January 22, 2011, DeLaGarza was selected to the 18 member game day roster. However, DeLaGarza failed to make an appearance in the 1–1 draw against Chile. On January 21, 2012, DeLaGarza made his début for the senior side of the United States in a friendly match against the Venezuela national football team. DeLaGarza started the match and played all 90 minutes in the 1–0 win over the Venezuela. Four days later, DeLaGarza, again started and played the full 90 minutes in the United States' victory against Panama.

Guam

DeLaGarza was still eligible to play for the Guam national team because he was not officially cap-tied with the United States. On August 27, 2013, he made the commitment to switch and play for the Guam national team. On November 16, 2013, DeLaGarza made his first appearance for the Matao in a 1–1 draw in a friendly with Laos. He appeared in his first competitive match for Guam on November 13, 2014, a 2–1 win over Taiwan in the East Asian Cup. On June 11, 2015, DeLaGarza started and played all 90 minutes in Guam's first-ever World Cup Qualifier win beating Turkmenistan 1–0. Just a few days later DeLaGarza started and played all 90 minutes, against India, in…

DeLaGarza was born in Bryans Road, Maryland to a Mexican-Chamorro father and a Native American mother.

DeLaGarza's son Luca died on September 4, 2014, only a week after being born. Luca suffered from Hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a rare heart defect. In his son's memory DeLaGarza and his family started the Luca Knows Heart foundation to help other people who have the condition. DeLaGarza was named the 2014 MLS Humanitarian of the Year as a result of his work with the Luca Knows Heart foundation as well his work with other organizations. DeLaGarza is married to Megan, his high school sweetheart, and the couple have three daughters, Noelle, Alexi, and Colette. DeLaGarza is close friends with Omar Gonzalez, who was his teammate at Maryland from 2006 to 2008 and with the Galaxy from 2009 to 2015. He is of Native-American heritage through his mother and Mexican and Chamorro through his father. Although he represented the US and Guam at international levels, he was also eligible to represent Mexico. He has a sister named Tabatha. DeLaGarza modeled his game off of Barcelona and Spain legend Carles Puyol, who, like DeLaGarza, was undersized for a center back and had long hair, which DeLaGarza had as a child.