Norton’s boys’ soccer team aims to rack up as many wins this season as possible in hopes of setting a historic win-streak unique for any Norton sports team. The team’s first two games show promise of achieving this goal. Norton beat Entrepreneur High School’s Highland boys team on Tuesday, Nov. 19 with a 5-1 win and Entrepreneur’s Fontana boys team on Friday, Nov. 22 with a 4-2 win.
“My goal for this year is to try to go undefeated,” said Norton boys soccer coach Victor Varela. “I’ve been playing soccer my whole life, but I didn’t know that I had the talent to be a coach until now.”
Varela emphasized, too, the various benefits that playing soccer and working as a team has for student players–both personally and athletically.
“I try to be tough on them the same way that I treat my kids,” Varela said. “I treat them with respect so they can learn how to treat others. Athletically, they need to be fit for a game that lasts 40 minutes. They can’t just play 10 minutes and already be exhausted. That’s one of the things that I have tried to help them build, so that they can have stamina the whole game.”
Multiple Norton players reflected Varela’s enthusiasm and commitment toward the season goal of racking up wins.
“I’ve been interested in soccer my whole life,” senior Korian Maldonado (‘25) shared. “I played with my cousin when I was younger, up until he got put into his right age group. He now plays Division I for Cal State Fullerton as a freshman. Playing soccer here keeps me motivated because I need the grades to stay in it, and it helps me beat my senioritis.”
“I started playing when I was a little kid, too,” junior Ricardo Torres (‘26) said. “My favorite memory was when I was like eight, and I won my first championship with my club. Playing soccer now helps me get rid of stress and get in shape. I like, too, that we are motivated to win league. We have the team to do it, and I think we can.”
“I’ve been interested for like six years,” sophomore Antonio Esteban (‘27) added. “A good memory I have is when I played with my cousin in Sunday League. We won the finals. Playing now makes me feel good about myself and helps me work out. I like that our team treats everyone like family, and that we all want to win CIF.”
Norton players also shared highlights from their match against Entrepreneur’s Highland team.
“One of the most impressive things from the Entrepreneur game was Antonio coming in as our goalie,” Maldonado (‘25) said. “He was not our original pick, but our original goalie had something going on, so we put in Antonio. He ended up being like our MVP of the match.”
“Our first goal was scored by Leo. He gave us momentum,” Torres (‘26) added. “Victor also scored two goals from outside the box. And Antonio saved us at the end with a low fastball.”
“Leo made the first goal. He made us believe we could win the game,” Esteban (‘27) reflected. “Some kid named Victor also took the ball from halfway across the field and ran it all the way and scored.
Varela noted that even if this year’s team does not continue undefeated, he still has goals set to grow and improve the program for the future.
“My goal is to continue coaching middle school and high school,” Varela said. “When it comes to high school, we will continue to grow, athletically as well as personally. No matter what, my favorite thing is to be out there with the kids, training with them, and playing a little. We call it cascaritas. They have a lot of respect for me, and I also have a lot of respect for them. It’s mutual respect that we have, all of us together as a team. I like to say that they’re part of my family.”
