Varsity Boys Soccer Team 2025-2026 meets coaching expectations

Season 2025 has officially started for Coach Zé

The Varsity boys soccer team circle around their coach as he begins a day’s practice to start getting ready for the season. [by Dr. Cristina Meier]

By Samuel Volkart

Coach Zé Adriano is starting his 4th year of coaching at the Pan American Christian Academy (PACA) with a new set of athletes and new rules to guide his coaching goals. 

Student Athlete Lucca Machado is a 9th grade striker who has been playing soccer for several years. He has gained confidence over all of his years playing for PACA.

 “Our team is very large this year, I strongly believe that we can have great results by the end of the season,” said Lucca Machado, one of the 26 athletes playing for the varsity team.

The coach of these 26 athletes, José Adriano, was a former player on professional teams in  Austria and Brazil.  His experience as a player helped him with his coaching goals for his team. He uses this experience to help his team become more competitive.

“Contrary to last year, this team has great potential,” said Coach Adriano, “and is more competitive each day. I have very high expectations for this season.”

This year the boys have a complete team.

“Last year we had about 16 athletes, and only about 11 of them would practice, and these would play the games. Now we have 26 athletes who actively practice and want to play, making our team very competitive. Everyone wants a spot in the team,” said Coach Adriano.  The coach wants the boys to fight for their position, and this causes the players to practice more, and it makes the team build itself stronger.  “I expect all players to give their best during practice and games,” said Coach Adriano. “I count on each and every one of them, every single one of the boys is very important for our team’s success.” This year, there is a new model called “Captain Code of Conduct,” it was first introduced by Renato Sousa, PACA’s athletic director. Its purpose is to make the captain aware of his responsibilities, so that he can be a role model for the rest of the team. The captain for the 2025-2026 season is Felipe Morales, because José Addriano saw him as an influential part of the team. “ A captain first of all has to build his teammates up, and encourage them,” said Adriano. Another responsibility of the captain is to keep unity in the team. According to Adriano he should include everyone, making everyone feel part of the team. ” If someone doesn’t have these qualities they aren’t a good contender,” said Adriano. In looking ahead coach Adriano has high hopes for this becoming one of the best seasons ever. “I believe that we are able to have great achievements, and are able to finish off this season well,” said Adriano. “Even if we don’t have the results we want, I am sure that every athlete will learn a lot from this season. The most important thing is to honor our name, Pan American Christian Academy.”