A little more than a year after signing professionally with the Charleston Battery, Fidel Barajas has broken through as one of the top teenage talents in North America.

With two goals and eight assists for the Battery in the USL Championship this season, the 17-year-old has been part of a resurgence at the club that has Charleston headed back to the 2023 USL Championship Playoffs this October.

At the same time, he’s also starred for Mexico’s U-17 Men’s National Team, recording three goals and five assists to help El Tri win the Concacaf Men’s U-17 Championship earlier this year and earn a place at Novembers FIFA Men’s U-17 World Cup.

For USL Hispanic-Latine Heritage Month, we spoke with Barajas about his upbringing in Northern California, the path that brought him to Charleston, and what his future might hold.