Most people know Carlos “Charlie” Estrada because of his great accomplishments during his time in AST. Carlos Estrada, an AST graduate of the Class of 2019, was born on October 31, 2001 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and has been one of the best athletes our school has ever had. He has played for the Pumas in the Universidad Autónoma de Honduras (UNAH), Florida Memorial University, and he is currently playing with União Serpense. Uniao Serpense is located in Portugal, and Carlos is planning to play as a full-time professional football player. I asked him if he had any intentions on starting a college degree and his response was,
“I am currently pursuing professional soccer full-time. However, I am planning on starting my college degree through an online program. My major will be Civil Engineering.”
Charlie had his best memories in AST, and when I asked him about them he said,
“The best memories I have of playing soccer at AST are definitely the ones when I became an AASCA Champion in 2018 with my teammates.”
We started discussing his success in school, and then I asked him about his journey and how it all started at AST, leading him to Europe. He answered by saying,
“I developed myself as a player throughout middle school and high school during the ABSH and AASCA tournaments with AST. Once I graduated, I went off to play one season of collegiate soccer for Florida Memorial University in the Sun Conference. At the end of that season, I was offered an opportunity to travel to Portugal and try out for União Serpense. At that trial period, I was offered a full-time position in that team.”
Charlie didn't have an easy path and he worked hard to get recognition. We all knew Charlie was not an average player because he had an ambitious mentality, and he was never satisfied with being top 10 or top 5; he always wanted to be the best. I asked him when he started to get recognized and when he realized that he was better than most players. He said,
“Those around me began to notice my skill and technique. I stood out once I began to compete in tournaments such as ABSH and AASCA.”
I proceeded to ask Charlie about his biggest obstacles of being in Portugal and he said,
“The biggest obstacle I've had to overcome in my career was adjusting to being so far away from my family and close friends.”
Charlie commented on how Europe is different from Central America.
"Over there, everything is more advanced and developed, which is a huge advantage for players. For instance, In Europe, teams have better training camps, stadiums and management.”
I asked Charlie about the difference between the players and trainers of Europe and Central America. He said,
“Yes, there is a major difference between the training level in Honduras and Europe. The game is much more competitive and faster in Europe. This is why players can better develop themselves in this region.”
Almost at the end of the interview, I was wondering what Charlie would tell his younger self and he told me,
“I would tell my younger self to always work hard and to keep dreaming. I would also tell my younger self to spend more time researching to understand the business side of having a soccer career.”
By this, Charlie is talking about learning the statistics of soccer and exploring the international competition outside of Central America. Finally, the last thing I asked him was where he saw himself five years from now. He responded by saying,
“Five years from now, I see myself playing in one of Europe's top five leagues. In addition, I hope to have finished my bachelors degree.”
Hard work leads to great things as you can see with Charlie.