El Paso teen debuts national anthem at Houston rugby match

An El Paso teenager made his on-field debut this weekend and he wasn't throwing a ball.

Adonis Loya, 15, performed the national anthem at Sabercats Rugby Stadium in Houston, Texas on June 8.

Loya just finished her sophomore year at Eastwood High School here in El Paso.

The teenager has been playing guitar for three years, but said he picked it up quickly.

Loya described how he felt moments after being chosen by the national rugby team to play.

Hey, do you want to play the Houston Sabercats national anthem? I'm like, Hey, I'm going to be bored. Why not? And then it happened.

The high school student said playing a song was all about finding the right tabs, but performing in front of that many people was a lot of pressure.

It's more different when it's your first big concert, it's like throwing a little cat into the lions' den.

The El Paso native says he was excited to play in Houston but the crowd was a little different.

This town is weird in my opinion. But I mean, after all that, apparently my dad said, I killed him. I actually heard one of the audience members near the end of the game say, Hey, you're the kid who played that national anthem.

The teen is on Eastwood's golf team and the school's theater program, but he says his passion is metal music.

The passion is reflected in his large collection of guitars, including but not limited to a replica of Dimebag Daryl's guitar from Pantera, a regular old Fender Stratocaster, a Jackson Randy Rhodes, and a replica of Brandon's ghost horse Smalls from Epiphone.

Loya will perform the anthem right here in El Paso, at Southwest University Park, for the Chihuahua game on September 14.

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