Northside senior soccer player Izaiah Hernandez gaining confidence, leadership

Izaiah Hernandez got involved in playing soccer from an older sibling. He’s enjoyed it ever since, and now Hernandez is in the final season of playing soccer for Northside High School, as he’s a senior.

“My older brother introduced me to the sport, and as a family, it has been a great way to bond and have fun experiences together,” Hernandez said. “I love soccer because it has given me an outlet to decompress and just have fun with friends and family.”

He’s started for the Grizzlies since his freshman year. But this year, he’s taking on a new role, playing center back after having played left back the previous three seasons. Hernandez is liking the different position, though, and is also using his expertise as an upperclassmen to help lead the way for the Grizzlies.

“For myself, this season has been great and I have gotten a lot more confident in my playing and leadership skills,” he said. “I think that my major strengths as a player are being vocal on the field, and my experience playing for the varsity team all three seasons.”

Another way Hernandez made the transition to his new role was not to put too much emphasis on it in the weeks and months leading up to the season. Hernandez is also doing his best to help will Northside into the Class 6A state tournament as the Grizzlies navigate the always difficult 6A-West conference.

“This season for our team, as a whole, is that it is going even better than projected, and we have been working really hard to earn our way back into the playoffs,” Hernandez said. “One major goal for the rest of this season would be for our team to make it to the playoffs, and hopefully all the way to the state championship.”

There have been some good performances by the Grizzlies in conference play. Hernandez points out one game in particular.

“This season, my best game has been our home game versus Rogers,” he said. “This game was one of my best this year, not only because of my performance, but also because our team morale and attitudes were all working together.”

In that game, played in early March, the Grizzlies defeated Rogers, 4-1, with Kevin Canelo Perez posting a hat trick. Later that month, Northside also posted a 2-1 road win against defending state champion Rogers Heritage while getting another hard-fought 2-1 victory, this coming at Fayetteville.

Hernandez has also enjoyed playing under Mauricio Maciel, the Grizzlies’ longtime head coach.

“Under Coach Maciel, I have been given chances to improve my leadership skills, and he has guided me on working with others as a team and putting the team first,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez also avidly follows soccer in other places around the world.

“My favorite team to watch is (Futbol Club) Barcelona because their playing style most resembles my own,” he said. “One of my favorite players to watch was Sergio Busquets (a recently retired defensive midfielder who primarily played for Barcelona).”

Soccer isn’t the only sport Hernandez has taken a liking to. There’s another activity he has really enjoyed doing of late.

“I also enjoy playing pickleball with friends and family,” Hernandez said. “Outside of playing soccer, I am involved in my church, Immaculate Conception, and I serve our fourth grade class.”

Hernandez is getting things done in the classroom as well.

“I am graduating with honors this year (from Northside), and my (grade point average) is a 4.1,” he said. “This fall, I will be attending UAFS (University of Arkansas at Fort Smith), and I plan to study business to earn a degree in accounting.”