By Lindsay Shiroma

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After Senior John Paul “JP” Carson V made the JV soccer team in his sophomore year as the starting goalie, he eventually climbed through the ranks to become this year’s captain and starting forward of the boys’ varsity soccer team while balancing a heavy school schedule.

“I’ve been playing soccer my whole life, my dad played in college so I just grew up playing,” Carson said. “I played pretty much every sport as a little kid, but I just fell in love with soccer.”

Throughout Carson’s life, both of his parents have supported his passion for soccer and his commitment to the team. “The Mililani Trojans soccer team is such a great group of boys led by outstanding coaches. He loves being a part of that team and I love cheering them all on,” said Carson’s mother, Annie Carson. “His father, John Paul Carson IV, has probably had the greatest influence on his life. They both are soccer players and share a love for the sport and all sports in general. His dad has always emphasized the principles of hard work, discipline and leadership.”

In Carson’s junior year, the team won the Oahu Interscholastic Association (OIA) as well as the Hawaii High School Athletic Association state championships. Carson is a committed player and is willing to make sacrifices for his team. “I just play wherever Coach (Steve McGehee) needs me and try to do what’s best for the team,” Carson said.

Carson is taking four AP classes and still manages to get over a 4.0 GPA, though it keeps him quite busy, especially during the season. “John is very academically smart and he’s good on and off the field,” said Midfielder Junior Jamin Fonseca. “He can do work on the field, he does his job on the field and I feel like I can look up to him off the field.”

Despite his excellence in his studies and athletics, Carson makes it a priority to make sure that he enjoys his high school life. “(Carson) is really a level-headed guy. He’s mild-mannered and just pretty easy going and laid back,” Annie Carson said.

Although Carson has dedicated much of his high school career to soccer, he doesn’t plan on continuing after high school. Instead, he plans to direct his focus more onto his studies and will major in either chemical or environmental engineering in college.