From the day junior Osmar Luna was born, soccer has been part of his life.

“When I was 1, I had a soccer ball,” Luna said. “At 2, I had cleats.”

Luna’s drive to pursue the sport blossomed from his parents’ passion for it. While many children choose to eschew the path their parents have laid out for them, Luna embraced his with open arms.

“Since my mom and dad both played soccer, everything I did revolved around it. [My success] shows how much they sacrificed for me,” Luna said, remembering days when his parents had to cancel plans with their friends to attend his games.

Starting at Carnegie Vanguard as a freshman in 2023, Luna assumed he’d fit in as striker—the position he has played in club soccer. But with the school team, the physical and mental demands of the goal count on his shoulders manifested in hesitation.

“I remember coming back from games we lost and even games we won, and my mom asking me if I was scared,” Luna said.

Sophomore year was a transition period for Luna, allowing him to adjust to the dynamics of varsity soccer while testing the limits of his talent and leadership. After playing his first couple games as an under-performing striker, he moved to the back line.

“I remember going into center-back and everything changing. It was about realizing where I belong. Our season went from nothing to something,” Luna said. “There has been a difference. I don’t know how to explain it.”

While he couldn’t find the exact words, Luna believes the switch he made from the front line to defender allowed him to grow not only as a player, but as a leader.

“If I see someone slacking, I can tell them to get back on their game,” Luna said.

His leadership style contrasts with that of his co-captain junior Nabeel Walji.

“My leadership style is highly collaborative,” Walji said. “I focus on empowering players to trust their own instincts while building deep mutual respect across the team. A core part of this approach is creating an environment where we acknowledge our mistakes openly, learn from them as a unit and immediately push forward. Osmar’s leadership is more direct and on the stricter side in order to enforce rules and regulations to keep the team running smoothly.” 

Luna agrees, acknowledging their difference in style but believing that it works to the benefit of the team.

“[Walji’s] more quiet and keeps to himself most of the time. That’s allowed us to reach people in our own ways. I try to push everyone to do their best,” Luna said. “It’s just about paying attention to everyone.”

Being co-captains for a program that isn’t as established as other schools’ has come with its fair share of responsibilities.

“We have to do basically everything. We have to organize meetings. We have to go through tactics,” Luna said, insisting on a major contrast to his club role. “All I have to think of [on the club team] is my performance alone and how my performance associates itself with my team’s performance.”

The co-captains’ relationship of shared duties has matured alongside their progression as leaders in the sport.

“Since we were freshmen, we have always been friends. Now that we are both captains, we support each other in many areas of leadership and friendship, making our bond closer than it has ever been,” Walji said.

The immense improvement of players this year serves as a testament to their partnership.

“I joined the team this year,” junior Benjamin Chapa said. “And I’m already a starter. They make me more aware when I’m on the pitch. [Luna] and [Walji] help me see plays and field tactics more clearly.”

The success of Luna and his team this year has not gone unnoticed. In April, HISD announced members of its All-District First Team, and to his surprise, Luna was named.

“I had seen other teams’ Instagrams, like Milby and Waltrip, post their All-District First Team players and awards, and my captain and I always wondered, ‘When are we going to know who won what?’ I remember going up to Coach and asking, ‘Hey, Coach, do you know anything about who won?’,” Luna said.

Longtime Carnegie coach Abderahman Lamane had hoped for Luna to win Defender of the Year.

“He wanted me to have a prestigious award to my name,” Luna said.

Though the title of Defender of the Year proved elusive, being named to the All-District First Team surpassed Luna’s expectations.

“This achievement shows how important I have been to Carnegie this year,” Luna said. “It shows how important my efforts have been.”

So what’s next for Carnegie’s co-captain?

“Now I look into the future and think, ‘What am I going to do in life? Would I be able to work in an office?’ That’s a boring lifestyle,” Luna said.

Luna’s soccer achievements might just offer a path that would keep him out of an office and on the field after high school, for while serving as the co-captain and defender for Carnegie’s varsity soccer team, he also has been playing for the Houston Futsal Association in MLS Next.

“What I like most about the club is the ability to play at such a different tactical level. In school, it’s just two or three months. But with club I play year-round, and the exposure compared to school is bigger—there are always tournaments, there are always showcases, and there are always places to go and people who are watching,” Luna said.

Playing on a club team in addition to Carnegie Vanguard’s varsity soccer team has allowed Luna to improve his skills as well as evaluate his worth as a player. Weighing his post-high school prospects, Luna is aiming for as big a stage as possible, even if that were to necessitate changing clubs at some point.

“If I don’t make it at one club, I’ll move to another one, and if they don’t value me at that one, I’ll just go to a different one where they do value me,” Luna said.

Luna names two possible paths to becoming a professional player: continuing as an MLS Next player for a sizable MLS club and following a more earmarked career path, or playing soccer in college and carving out his future himself.

Playing an active role in his own future is something Luna already knows well from his journey of adapting positions in order to maximize his contributions, to co-captaining Carnegie Vanguard’s varsity soccer team.

But his journey has also been one of self-discovery, for Luna now realizes that while he once thought of soccer as a companion on his life’s journey, it has since become the center of his identity and his path to the future.

“Soccer means a way to express myself,” Luna said. “If I weren’t playing soccer, I’d lose part of myself.”