The future is bright for five outstanding varsity soccer players: Joseph Jacobs, Yair Roman, Jared Quintero, Milton Pingarron and Kareem Madito. All five have been voted to the SI All Star Team. The voting was done by all the Staten Island coaches, both public and private.
All five of the boys take their sport very seriously playing on club teams when the high school season ends.
According to midfielder Yair Roman, “being an athlete helps me develop sportsmanship which also helps me with my personality. It helps me treat others with kindness.” Roman is in his third year as a varsity player and is one of the most versatile athletes on the field. Being selected as an all star was an important accomplishment for Yair, “This makes me feel complete since the sport means so much to me, I live for it. So gaining awards is a bonus for something I am already so passionate about.” Roman had four goals and six assists.
Milton Pingarron has been the starting goalie for Curtis since he first stepped on the pitch as a freshman. To Ms. Turner, he was the obvious choice for the first all star game. Pingarron only let in seven goals the entire season. Moving forward, Pingarron wants to play in college. “The biggest challenge I had to overcome was always being the second choice since I wouldn’t really get noticed by teams. But I realized I had to work really hard if I wanted to get somewhere. I now realize I overcame this obstacle by taking part in the all star game,” said Pingarron.
For midfielder Jared Quintero, soccer has helped him develop off the field. With eight goals and eight assists, he helped his team throughout the season. “My sport has helped me develop determination and perseverance to keep going until the end. When asked what advice he would give someone he answered, “what I would say to someone else is that no matter who or what people say, don’t listen to them just work hard and stay focused. Focus is the most important thing.” Quintero had 8 goals and 8 assists.
Defender, Kareem Madito, has been in the starting lineup since sophomore year. As a centerback he controls the defensive line and he was a huge factor in the goal differential the team accomplished this season. Kareem’s long term goals is to go D1 or D2.
Striker Joseph Jacobs was the leading scorer for the team. Jacobs arrived from Antigua this year and immediately made a difference, scoring 10 goals and 8 assists. Jacobs is humble and attributed his success to the team. “I’ve learned from my past experiences on my team that nothing is possible without teamwork.” He continued, “I believe what makes me a good athlete is working hard no matter what and never underestimating an opponent.”