EDINBURG – Sports have always been a big part of Danny Elizondo’s life.

“I grew up in sports,” says Elizondo. “My dad took me to the parks around here to go play with him. He used to go play with his brothers.”

After high school Elizondo earned a broadcast journalism degree at UTRGV and then soon after that, started working with the school as an announcer. Eventually he would start scorekeeping for games, which is what he’s been doing for the last seven years. Elizondo doesn’t just help out the Vaqueros. He also works for the Vipers.

“They threw me into the fire in basketball and it was a mess the first couple of games,” Elizondo said. “But you know you get used to it after you get going.”

Elizondo has become a trusted part of the Vipers’ scorekeeping team. This summer, he was sent to Las Vegas where he worked on a special project during NBA summer league games.

"They’re going to have a new stats system, the G-League and the NBA. It’s going to be the same system for both. So they wanted people from around the league to come and try it out,” said Elizondo.

Elizondo’s work in Las Vegas was a quick glimpse at the future of scorekeeping. Working with stats continues to take him on adventures watching the games he loves. All the while, Elizondo has had a front row seat, watching Valley sports reach new frontiers.

“To see where UTRGV is going it’s pretty awesome,” said Elizondo. “They’re just going to keep growing. Same thing with all the professional teams here in the Valley. The Vipers, we have the Toros now and it’s just amazing to see how much growth has happened in the last couple of years.”