Josue Aguilar, alumni and former HP soccer player, is now a temporary soccer coach for HP. After years of not having a permanent coach, and facing a lack of conditioning, the soccer team’s success and morale has increased thanks to Coach Aguilar.
Aguilar came from Honduras when he was just a freshman in high school. At first he felt lost since he didn’t know what to do or who to talk to. He struggled navigating school in a new country, everything was new to him.
However, Aguilar found a place within HP’s soccer team. Soon, he became a phenomenal player valued by his team. He knew how to communicate with the other players, even though he didn’t know English all that well.
Josue has been playing soccer for 5 years and has acquired so much knowledge that brought him to who he is today. These experiences led to him playing college level at UC Irvine soccer, a huge milestone for any soccer player.
He has learnt many lessons through this sport some deeper than others.
One of which being, “When you are in good shape you will be ready mentally.”
At first he didn’t understand the meaning of this, but over time he learnt to implement this lesson into his everyday life.
He learned that it does not matter if you are not the best on the field, physically, because if you have a strong mentality, then you are going to stand out. Now he is trying to express this to his players.
He believes that this will help them overcome their imperfections and stand out from other schools that are physically better than them.
Josue wants players to understand that playing soccer isn’t just dribbling a ball. He wants them to understand what it means to play soccer and how they can use these experiences in the real world. He wants them to use these experiences as lessons that most people take for granted. Josue is a good example of this because he came from Honduras and took every opportunity.
These opportunities led him to the places he is today. Thanks to soccer, he can enjoy many of these things. Soccer has taught him many lessons. He know wants to share these lessons with the new generation so they can implement them into their lives just like how he did.
For his short time at the school he is working on the players’ velocity, explosivity, and implementing these drills into real games.
Although many players feel dispassionate towards him because of the toll and exertion of the drills, Aguilar he doesn’t mind. He too once felt this way toward his coach, and knows this rigor is neccesary to become better.
As time goes on he believes they will look back and be grateful, just how he did when he learnt the true meaning of playing soccer. He wants them to leave as a better player, but with lessons that will last them life times.
By Laus Acevedo, Staff Writer