PSJA North’s Andrew Alvarado Is Heading to College. He Built a Business to Help With Some of the Costs
- Roy Rivas
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
The former Raiders fullback created Fear Athletics from scratch, turning his own experiences with injuries and training into a business he hopes can help athletes across the Valley and beyond.
“You have to be willing to fail to succeed.”
Andrew Alvarado hasn’t even left the Valley for college yet, but the former PSJA North fullback is already building something beyond football.
Alvarado is preparing to continue his football career at Massachusetts Maritime Academy. He’s also preparing for the costs and responsibilities that come with going to school more than 2,000 miles from home.
So he started a business. https://shopfearathletics.com/
Fear Athletics was built around something Alvarado knows well: training, recovery and becoming a better athlete.
“You’ll never get anywhere if you don’t try,” Alvarado told DITV. “You have to put in the work. You have to start.”
Adversity Created the Idea
Alvarado battled multiple injuries during his career at PSJA North, and getting healthy became a major part of preparing for college football.
“I went through a bunch of injuries my senior year, and heading into college, it was all about making sure I was back to 100%,” Alvarado said.
As he learned more about recovery, therapy and training products, an idea started to grow.
“I wanted to expand that to every athlete around the Valley and hopefully nationwide one day,” he said.
Fear Athletics now offers recovery, strength, speed and agility products for athletes, lifters and people looking to improve their fitness.
It fits Alvarado’s background. He played fullback at PSJA North, competed in powerlifting and built his game around strength, footwork and conditioning.
“I wanted to make sure the brand was relatable to everybody,” he said.
Helping With the Next Chapter
The business also gives Alvarado a chance to help with some of the expenses that come with college.
Going from the Rio Grande Valley to Massachusetts means flights, food, travel and other everyday costs.
“Being able to help myself, also help my family provide — like plane tickets, to cover flights, to cover food when they’re out there,” Alvarado said.
Then he summed up his approach:
“If it’s possible, I wanted to get it done.”
That mindset may be the best part of this story.
He didn’t wait until he knew everything about business.
He started learning.
Face Everything And Rise
FEAR stands for:
Face Everything And Rise.
“Whatever you go through — adversity, injury, setbacks, whatever — you can always come back,” Alvarado said. “You gotta face it. You gotta keep on going.”
That’s also his message to younger Valley athletes.
“It doesn’t matter if you take small steps, baby steps,” he said. “As long as you take steps forward, you can build on that. You just need a foundation.”
Football is taking Alvarado from PSJA North to Massachusetts.
Fear Athletics is giving him a chance to build something that could last long after football.
“I’m focusing on bettering myself every day, but I want to help other people do the same,” Alvarado said. “I want other people to realize, like, anyone could do it.”
DITV Final Word
We celebrate Valley athletes when they score touchdowns, win playoff games and earn opportunities to play at the next level.
This deserves to be celebrated, too.
A young man from PSJA North took his experiences with injuries, football and training and turned them into an idea.
Then he acted on it.
Fear Athletics is still in its early stages, and that may be what makes this story so easy to root for.
We’re seeing the beginning.
At DITV, this is exactly the kind of story we want to tell — stories about Valley athletes and Valley people building something, chasing something and representing the 956 in their own way.
If you’re an athlete, parent, coach or lifter looking for training or recovery equipment, you can support what Andrew is building at:
Maybe another young athlete somewhere in the 956 sees Andrew’s story and thinks:
Why can’t I build something, too?
That’s worth celebrating, worth sharing and exactly the kind of Valley story DITV is here to support.
Face Everything And Rise.
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