CHICAGO — Washington High School coach Alvaro Perez believes the 11 seniors on his boys soccer team are "agents of change."
All 11 will be attending college and several of the players will be competing at the collegiate level.
"One by one, they are becoming agents of change in our East Side community, but the significance of it all is that our Patriots now understand that a college degree is simply a game changer," Perez said.
The 11 seniors are: Miguel Rodriguez, Roosevelt University (playing soccer); Luis Hernandez, Morton College (playing soccer); Ismael Arreola, University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign; Braulio Herrera, University of Illinois-Chicago; Diego Diaz, Olive Harvey; Rogelio Catalan, University of Illinois-Chicago; Jose Soto, Moraine Valley (playing soccer); Danny Castillo, Moraine Valley; Josue Navarro, South Suburban (playing soccer); Lorenzo Mendoza, North Park (playing soccer); and Paulo Gonzalez, Monterrey Institute of Tech Mexico.
100% of our senior soccer players are going to college! ⚽️📚#studentathletes #proudpatriots #collegebound pic.twitter.com/gSvjR58BF5
— GWHS Boys Soccer (@GWHS_BoysSoccer) June 10, 2016
Washington finished fourth in the state in the IHSA Class 2A playoffs this year.
Assistant coach Ashley Fleming gave a great deal of credit to Perez, who has been Washington's head coach since 1995. In that time, he's had 25-plus players earn athletic scholarships and countless others go to college.
"Our student-athletes have the option to go to college for academics, soccer or both," Fleming said. "This is possible because of the program Coach Perez has built for the last 20 years as well as the college-going culture Washington has built over the past four years.”
Another soccer coach, Vanessa Carlin, said the 11 seniors are "setting the standard for younger generations."
"Here at George Washington, college is the expectation and although many obstacles stand in our athletes' way, they have beaten the odds," Carlin said. "However, our work is not done. We are a family here at GW, and we will continue to support our seniors by pushing them to work hard and graduate from college."
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