High Hopes for Hononegah’s Varsity Soccer Team in 2025
Soccer is everything to me.
“I am really excited…I think we’ll really get some great results from these boys.” - Mike Fasula, new varsity head coach.
This season is starting off stronger than ever with a group of individually skilled players coming together to take Hononegah to the top of the NIC-10 for the first time in years. Hononegah High School Head Boys Soccer Coach Mike Fasula has high expectations for his inaugural season, planning to achieve a top-five finish in the conference at a minimum. Discipline, at the foundation of the players’ conduct and technique, is the coach’s main strategy to take this team to the next level. To junior Co-Captain Jacob Wright, being a varsity soccer player means a “responsibility representing our school”—this is the winning mentality that Fasula is cultivating.
Senior Co-Captain Cameron Nelson commented that with Coach Fasula, every practice is like another tryout to earn your starting position, which helps encourage the team to be their best. All the players, in fact, had great things to say about their new coach. Goalie Oliver Campbell (junior) celebrated their “great chemistry” within the team as a result of Fasula’s support.
Hononegah’s program as a whole saw nearly 90 boys attend tryouts, which set a new record for soccer. The varsity team has 11 seniors, 10 juniors, and two sophomores. Because of this, many of the players are already familiar with each other and their individual skill sets, which is a step towards success in itself.
Another advantage that this group has is a higher level of experience and dedication to the sport. For junior Jackson Metzler, “soccer is a lifestyle.” Chris Salas Perez, a new student at Hononegah, echoed Metzler’s sentiment with his own personal story. Now a senior, Perez has been playing since he was four years old in Costa Rica. He commented, “Soccer is everything to me.”
Hononegah’s 2025 varsity soccer team has more potential than ever before to place in conference and even make it to the playoffs. Fasula is turning this group into a cohesive team that will outwork all of their opponents to kick off his first year as varsity head coach. The season opener is scheduled for Saturday, August 30, at 1 p.m. at home against Boylan Catholic. Without a doubt, this will be a challenging competition and a great game for the spectators.
