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Esposito to play college soccer in England

If no unforeseen obstacles occur, Jonathan Esposito will be the first former Bonsall High School soccer player to play the sport in college.

Esposito, who graduated from Bonsall High School this spring, will be playing soccer at the University of Chester in northwest England.

"It's always been a dream," Esposito said of playing college soccer.

Esposito attended the Innovation Center charter school, which included Murrieta High School Academy, from kindergarten through 10th grade before spending his final two high school years at Bonsall High School. "It was a pleasure to have been able to coach him and I wish him nothing but the best. I'm sure he'll do great in college," said Bonsall coach Francisco Camarena.

Both of Esposito's parents played high school basketball in Southern California. His father, Dan, attended Whittier High School and his mother, Nila, attended La Puente High School.

Esposito attributed his athletic success to his parents. "They always pushed me to do my best," he said. "I just want to appreciate how much they supported me."

After living in Los Angeles and the city of San Diego, Esposito's family moved to Fallbrook when he was a year old. Esposito was not yet in kindergarten when he began playing recreational soccer in Fallbrook. He was seven when he joined the Fallbrook Fury under-8 team. He subsequently played club soccer for the Vista Vipers, the Attack, United Football Club and the Nomads.

Most recently he focused his club activity on futsal with the 619 Futsal organization; Esposito was with 619 Futsal for two years. He participated in the national identification camp in 2018 although he was not on the national futsal team that summer, and was one of the 12 players on the national team in 2019.

"Jonathan is one of the most skilled players that we have," said 619 Futsal technical director Sean Bowers. "He's very talented, and I know he's going to do a great job in college."

Esposito was also involved in Fallbrook Youth Baseball for four years. "Then we decided to put all the focus into soccer," he said.

Once Esposito became a Bonsall High School student, he also joined the Legionnaires' track and field team. As a junior, he was on Bonsall's 4x400 relay team which participated in the CIF San Diego Section meet's preliminary heats. The 2020 track and field team had practices but no meets; the scheduled Frontier League cluster meet March 12 was rained out and the coronavirus quarantine closed the school following the March 13 classes and afternoon activities. Esposito ran the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash, and the 4x100 relay as well as the 4x400 event.

Murrieta High School Academy was part of a charter school indoor league. "That was very fun to compete in. You met a lot of competitive players," Esposito said.

In addition to showing his skills during his two seasons with the Bonsall High School soccer team, Esposito also showed his versatility. He played both center midfielder and striker.

"Often this year, though, you would find me at the position of center-mid," Esposito said.

Due to the small roster during Esposito's senior season, players were often placed at different positions. Esposito's brother Matthew played both left midfield and center midfield for the 2019-20 Legionnaires.

That small roster gave the Legionnaires a 2019-20 season record of 5-10-3, and Bonsall finished last in the six-team Patriot League standings with a 1-7-2 league record although two of the league losses were forfeits when the Legionaries did not have enough available players. The Patriot League coaches selected Esposito to the all-league first team.

The 2018-19 Bonsall team fared better in the standings, taking third with a 5-3 league record and posting a 10-6 overall mark. Esposito was chosen as the Patriot League's most valuable player for his junior season. Including the nonleague games, he scored 30 goals and had 16 assists in the team's 16 matches.

"He has to be one of the most talented players I've had the pleasure to coach. It made it easy for me to be a coach," Camarena said. "He's a very humble person, very attentive at practices, always helping his fellow teammates."

Camarena noted that Esposito also helps himself through his attitude. "He made corrections when needed," Camarena said. "Very bright young man."

The team growth each season is Esposito's favorite Bonsall High School soccer memory. "Throughout the season the team slowly would become a family," he said.

Camarena told his players that they should always be proud but never satisfied and that hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard. "Those two quotes stuck with me," Esposito said.

"I love my coach," Esposito said. "He was very inspiring. He was very strict with how he taught us."

His theater activity is Esposito's favorite overall Bonsall High School memory. "I enjoyed musical theater. I enjoyed the adrenaline rush before opening night," he said.

That adrenaline rush included taking steps to ensure that the performance would go as planned. "Somehow our shows always came together at the last minute," Esposito said.

Esposito was in Mission Theater as well as in high school theater for four years. He plans to major in drama theatre while at the University of Chester and would like to pursue a master's degree. Esposito hopes to pursue an acting career after completing his university studies.

He also was in San Dieguito Cotillion, which is in Del Mar, for three years. He was in the choir at the San Luis Rey mission church for three years. Esposito is also a volunteer for New Venture Church in Carlsbad and has been an assistant at vacation bible schools in Fallbrook and Bonsall. He was a member of Boy Scouts for seven years and received his Arrow of Light. The Bonsall High School students selected Esposito as the runner-up homecoming king for his senior year.

Esposito was also considering the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of San Diego. In fall 2019, he attended a tryout camp in Scottsdale, Arizona. The director of the University of Chester soccer team was in attendance. "The opportunity presented itself when they contacted us," he said.

"My parents asked me if I wanted to do something like that," Esposito said. "It was just a fun experience to play in something like that."

Esposito showed his versatility when he played at the center midfield position during the tryout. "I believed that I would be a forward," he said.

The University of Chester didn't wait until the end of the tryouts to express interest in Esposito. "They came up to me after the first day," he said. "They offered me a spot right away."

Esposito will be part of the University Degrees Abroad program. "We made the decision pretty soon after the tryouts," he said. "It was a dream I couldn't pass up."

The selection makes Esposito the first Bonsall High School graduate to play collegiate soccer. "I'm very excited, and I appreciate all the teachers who would support me during the games," he said.

Esposito noted that the support from the faculty and from Bonsall High School parents included encouragement after a Legionnaires loss. "Our team rose up because of that support," he said.

"I am very excited, Esposito said of playing at University of Chester. "I'm looking forward to it to see what the type of competition will be over there."

Author Bio

Joe Naiman, Writer

Joe Naiman has been writing for the Village News since 2001

 

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