Diamond Bar soccer star has international experience

Many high school soccer players dream of playing internationally. However for senior Guy Horcasitas, he has already dribbled past opponents in Europe and
looks to finish his senior year with finesse.

Horcasita’s parents initially put him into three sports as a young
child—wrestling, baseball, and soccer. Coming from a very athletic background,
with a cheerleading captain mother and a football captain father, Horcasitas
was bound to fall into the sports spectrum. However at the age of nine, at his
father’s request, he had to make the choice of devoting himself to only one
sport. Horcasitas chose soccer.

“My love for the game inspired me to keep playing and choose this sport,”
Horcasitas said.

Horcasitas was the only ninth grader to make the varsity soccer team at
Diamond Bar High School, which consisted of no sophomores, ten juniors, and 11
seniors. Currently, Horcasitas switches off between the forward and center-mid
fielder position but occasionally plays defender.

“It was the best experience of my life,” Horcasitas said. “They would pick me up, we would go
eat places after practice, and have team parties with story time so I got to be
really close to everyone.”

Over the course of his high school career, Horcasitas made it into Olimpica
United FC, a soccer team that allows participants to compete in Europe.

“My friends from soccer told me about the team and their big plans, so I
went to try out for the team and I made it,” he said. “[I] worked hard and made the team
to go to Spain and Russia.”

Through Olimpica United FC, he was able to travel to Europe and play
in an international tournament called the Mediterranean International Cup, only
losing once throughout the entire tournament.

“We lost in the group stages. In order to move on, we had to win and we were
winning 1-0 [but] then they scored with[in] two minutes left in the game and went
on to the next stages. Then they just beat everyone and won the tournament in
Spain,” Horcasitas explained via Facebook.

However, he does not play on Olimpica anymore due to financial
issues regarding the owner, which ultimately caused the team to disband.

He has been rewarded first Team All-League twice and All-Valley Team
All-League once. Due to his innate soccer skills as well, DBHS’s
varsity soccer team has won three league titles in a row, and placed second
place in the Palomares League.

Playing soccer for 14 years and counting, Horcasitas has devoted himself to
the sport making soccer a “year-round thing” for him. Once high school season
ends, he goes straight to club season. Although he considers
soccer as his passion and love, he is not sure he wants to pursue it as a
career just yet. Next fall, he will be attending the College of Mount
Saint Vincent in New York.

“I have still not decided what I want to be when I grow up but I’m leaving
to New York for college and majoring in business so I think it’ll be somewhere
along those lines,” he said.

Although Horcasitas is majoring in business, he plans on playing soccer in
college due to financial priorities.

“[Soccer is] helping the financial part of [college] a little better because
the school I’m committed to is giving me a little bit of a scholarship. I just
made my down payment for my room for next year for college and now the next
step is to sign with them,” he said.

—-Michelle Ki