Trojan alum shakes up San Jose Earthquakes

Nick Lima, a 2013 CVHS graduate and now a professional soccer player, recently returned to his roots. The former star of the Trojans’ football and soccer teams helped the San Jose Earthquakes reach the playoffs in 2017.

Q: How have you liked playing professional soccer and how is it different from your time at CVHS or any other organized soccer that you might have played?

A: It varies in a lot of ways. I think the biggest way is it’s your job and so you worry about that 24/7. And you’re not occupied with school anymore, but for the most part it’s been a great transition and I love it. There’s parts and little aspects that you miss about Cal and Castro Valley, just the social part. But it’s amazing and it’s been pretty fun so far.

Q: And how has your time on the CVHS boys soccer team helped you prepare for your career?
A: It was good to start here. Being on any team, you learn how to interact with players. In a school setting as well as in college, you get used to kind of camaraderie that goes into it and that also develops you for the next level.

Q: And if you weren’t a playing soccer, what might you be doing instead?
A: I probably would want to become a firefighter. Hopefully I can do that post-career. I have a long family connection to it and a lot of friends do it as well. It’s just something I’ve always wanted to do.

Q: What advice can you give to aspiring soccer players or athletes in general out there?
A: I think you just gotta stick with it. If you have a dream, you gotta go for it. There’s plenty of excuses not to succeed and I think you gotta find one to do the right thing and keep going and keep pushing yourself.  

Q: What can we expect from the Earthquakes next year?
A: Hopefully a lot. I think this was a good start, this was kind of a learning year. We brought in a lot of new players and there was a lot of coaching change. There was a lot of change in the front office, so this year going forward there’s hopefully going to be a little more consistency. We want to make a deeper run in the playoffs and the ultimate goal is a championship.