Diego Galvez Aranda ’26: Finding More Than a Record 

Diego Galvez Aranda ’26 was a doctorate student in electrical engineering at Texas A&M University looking for a chance to play soccer. He never joined Intramural Sports intending to break a record. 

Years later, after trying sports he had never played, competing alongside teammates from around the world and building friendships that lasted beyond graduation, Galvez Aranda found his name at the top of Texas A&M Intramural Sports’ all-time wins list. The record became another achievement from his time at Texas A&M; but for Galvez Aranda, the number of wins mattered less than everything that came with them.

“I was really excited,” Galvez Aranda said. “I don’t know how long I’ll have it, but it’s nice to check on the website. As a personal achievement, it feels really nice.”

Long before he was known as the record holder, Galvez Aranda didn’t even know Texas A&M offered intramural sports. 

“In 2018, a friend asked me if I could join a soccer team,” Galvez Aranda said. “I love sports, but I didn’t know you can play competitively and recreationally. And not just soccer, there were other sports. So I decided with other friends, ‘Oh, maybe next semester we can create our own team.’”

One invitation turned into another and soon Galvez Aranda began playing with a group of Peruvian friends. Eventually the team expanded well beyond its original circle.

“Slowly, people from different nationalities started coming in,” said Sourav Bandyopadhyay ’26, one of his original teammates. “At one point, there were people from 12 different countries. At that point, we were like, ‘Let’s call it Team World.’ Our logo had the map in which all the countries, where the players were from, were shaded.”

Yet unlike the ethnic diversity of Team World, Galvez Aranda and Bandyopadhyay weren’t familiar with all the sports offered. But not knowing never stopped them or their team.

“It was a nice opportunity to try new sports that I never tried before,” Galvez Aranda said. “Thanks to intramurals, I also tried spikeball, pickleball, kickball, swimming and so many others. So it was really nice.”

As the list of sports grew, so did the circle of people surrounding Team World. For Megan Zogaib ’22, joining that circle began with becoming a free-agent for the team. As a junior, she had wanted to get back into playing soccer recreationally after being injured in high school and Team World offered an opportunity to get back in the game. 

“I met the whole group, and they became my best friends,” Zogaib said. “I always say this, but I wish I had met them earlier. I wish I did it earlier in college, because I had the most fun. I told my sister, who’s a freshman at [Texas] A&M, ‘you got to join [Team World] right when you get there.’”

Acceptance onto the roster turned into something much more permanent. They would play multiple intramural games in a week. They often spent late nights at Fuego Tortilla Grill after a game. From celebrating birthday parties and weddings to visiting Galvez Aranda in Peru, the friendships made through Team World have been more memorable than any final score will ever be.

“We played so many finals, we won some, we lost some,” Galvez Aranda said. “At the end of the day, my favorite part was the experience of not just playing the game, but meeting these people from all different parts of the world. Some went back to their own countries, some stayed in the United States. But that’s the amazing part, some of them came to Peru to visit me. So I think that my best memory is meeting these amazing people.”

For someone whose name now sits atop the intramural wins list, Galvez Aranda’s teammates talk surprisingly little about his victories. They talk much more about what it was like to play beside him. Sourav remembered a long, hot summer game in which Galvez Aranda was put on the spot. 

“My favorite memory was a soccer game,” Bandyopadhyay said. “We had to score a goal in extra time, and if you scored a goal, you won the championship. Diego missed that penalty, and because of him, we had to play an hour extra. We were so tired. In the end, we won the game, and then we started bashing him because he missed the penalty. That’s my funnest memory of Diego.”

For Zogaib, it was playing tennis doubles with him. She had never played competitively, and felt less up to par than Galvez Aranda’s experience. But he was always there to encourage her.

“I obviously made mistakes in tennis,” Zogaib said. “I missed the ball, I had a crazy shot. And every time, he gave me a little racket tap, and he’s like, ‘You got this. You did good. Don’t say sorry.’ Sports are hard if you’re new to it, if you’re playing with people who have played their whole lives. In tennis, when you mess up, everyone knows you ruined the point. But he never makes you feel like you messed up, or you’re the problem.”

Intramural Sports also offered something Galvez Aranda needed away from the court, – a break from the demands of graduate school. His research meant spending much of his day in front of a computer, making time to move, to compete and be around friends especially valuable. Bandyopadhyay understood that feeling well.

“I was stressed the entire day because of my Ph.D,” Bandyopadhyay said. “There were many undergrads and other grad students who were stressed because of classes. And I think Intramurals was the one place where we could just let it out, don’t think about what’s happening in our life, and just concentrate on the sport. That kept me going for sure.”

That escape is exactly what Kaulin Andric, Intramural Sports senior assistant director, hopes students find in the program.

“Intramural Sports gives students a chance to get away from school a little while, have fun, and be around people they enjoy being with,” Andric said. “For a lot of students, it becomes a place where they build friendships and feel like they’re part of something.”

For Team World, that sense of belonging has lasted beyond the original group that brought players from 12 countries together. As members graduated and moved away, new students continued joining the team, carrying on something that had grown larger than any one roster.

For Galvez Aranda, it was more about playing, winning and losing with Team World and the legacy it left behind. The wins accumulated almost as a byproduct.

Breaking the record also meant replacing someone who had once been doing some chasing of his own.

“I enjoyed chasing that record for my entire time at [Texas] A&M, and the joy of ascending the mountaintop is a feeling I will cherish forever,” said Courtland Barnett ’26, who previously held the record. “Records are meant to be broken, and I hope that anyone reading this that wants to break the record goes after it! As much fun as it was to break the threshold, the journey was by far the best part.”

Eventually, another Aggie may look at Galvez Aranda’s name on the Wall of Champions and decide to chase it. If they do, the current record holder has some counterintuitive advice: don’t. At least, not yet.

“Don’t think of the record,” Galvez Aranda said. “Just enjoy sports. If you enjoy it, you will play as much as you want, and it will be something that will happen eventually. Just enjoy the moment, have fun, meet a lot of people, enjoy the challenge, enjoy just playing sports.”