Imagine being a celebrity in another world where your every move is followed and children — heck, even grown men — ask for your autograph.

And then imagine coming back to Porterville, where you probably wouldn’t get a second glance passing someone on the streets.

Indeed, life is a strange dichotomy for 15-year-old Amber Hernandez.

One week, Hernandez is trying to qualify with Mexico’s U-20 National team for the U-20 World Cup, which begins Wednesday.

The next week, after a loss to Canada, Hernandez is back home in Porterville attending Monache High.

Makes you wonder how many of her classmates knew she was taking on the world in Trinidad and Tobago while many of them were eating at Rally Burgers down the street.

“It’s exciting,” Hernandez said of her “secret” life outside of town. “People recognize you and say, ‘Hey, you play for the national team!’”

Hernandez began playing for Mexico’s U-17 National team when she was just 13. So, you can imagine her fears after her first game in Mexico when the crowd rushed the field, asking for pictures and autographs.

Her coach is Leonardo Cuellar, a legend in Mexico who played in the 1972 Olympics and once sported an afro that Shaft would be jealous of. Yet, 10 days ago, Cuellar and Hernandez were putting on a clinic for South Valley Chivas Academy right in the middle of the Sports Complex amidst hundreds of AYSO soccer players and their parents.

While a small crowd gathered to watch, the rest barely sneezed that some of Mexico’s finest was in attendance. Cuellar is hoping his first visit to Porterville changes all that.

“I will go back to Mexico fully satisfied with my experience this morning,” Cuellar said. “We’re gonna keep an eye on this area very close because I’m very sure that in the near future you will have somebody represent this area.”

After watching some 30 members of the Academy, which is associated with MLS’ Chivas USA, based out of Los Angeles, Cuellar liked what he saw.

“I recommend that the national team stop by this area to have a clinic or tryout because I see that potential,” he said. “I see a lot of possibilities to find talent in this area for our national team in different divisions.”

It was in a tryout just like Cuellar hopes to establish here that Hernandez was first discovered. Since she began playing at age four, it was only a matter of time before a scout would notice her, a trend that seems to target children at younger and younger ages these days.

“(Amber) is one of the bright futures of our program,” Cuellar said. “If I came here 10 years ago, I probably wouldn’t see these beautiful little girls playing. I was in (a tryout) the other day and I saw 700. 150 of them were under 10 years old. The culture is changing rapidly.”

Hernandez, who hopes to play for UCLA and become a pediatrician, recognizes a demand for competitive soccer at younger ages and appreciates her membership in the Academy, which fields weekly matches against other competitive club teams.

“First, they start with the basics,” Hernandez said. “But if they see you have talent, they call professional coaches to come in and help out.”

Cuellar said he was impressed with the structure, the support system and the talent the two-year-old Academy continues to produce.