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Washington High School senior Ivan Machado has been playing soccer for as long as he can remember. He talks about his responsibilities as team captain, reflects on his soccer highlights and offers his opinion on which actor played Spiderman the best.

1. What are your first memories of playing soccer?

Ivan: My dad started me in the Washington Youth Soccer League as soon as I was old enough and I’ve been playing ever since. He played professionally in Mexico for a couple of years before he came here and he brought me along to his recreation games here. I grew up around soccer and came to love it at an early age.

2. Why is soccer known as the Beautiful Game internationally?

Ivan: Because it’s a hard sport that is played by technically skilled players at the highest level. The pros make it look so easy when they make a perfect pass to somebody on the run who scores a goal. It’s such a mental sport; you always have to think ahead and see where the ball is supposed to go before it actually goes. Playing for so long has made me more confident on the field and in school. I’ve learned to scan the field to see where the ball needs to go and that’s helped me think better in school.

3. Soccer is the only sport you play. When did you make that decision?

Ivan: After I got cut in seventh grade at P.S. Jones. I was out of shape and didn’t work very hard to prepare for the tryout because I thought I could make it easily. Getting cut was a huge wakeup call because I wasn’t going to play on a team for the first time in my life. I worked very hard to get into better shape and I practiced my skills all the time. I was captain in eighth grade and have kept working hard.

4. What have you learned from being captain this year?

Ivan: That I’m held to a higher standard and my teammates look to me to get a positive example. It’s my job to communicate on the field to put everybody in the right spot. I have to rise to the occasion and keep us in a positive mind frame.

5. What is your favorite Marvel character?

Ivan: Spiderman, because he has crazy skills that I wish I had. It would be really fun to swing all over the place and do all the stuff he does. I think Andrew Garfield did the best job of playing him in the movies. He played Peter Parker and Spiderman the best. The others didn’t play both roles as well.

Bonus Question: What are your plans after graduation?

Ivan: To study computer science in college and maybe play soccer. Coding as always fascinated me and the class here with Mr. Tyson was my favorite. I’d like to go into Cyber Security someday.