Boys Varsity Soccer Interview: Nahin Khan & Bryant Parra Velez

In 2023, Lionel Messi shocked the sports world by signing a 2 and a half year, $150 million contract with Inter-Miami of the MLS (Major League Soccer) here in the United States. At this point in his career, he had recently come off a World Cup championship for Argentina’s National Team in 2022, making him far and away the most popular soccer player in the world. In the last couple of years, the impact and relevance of soccer has been felt all over the United States as the world’s game has become increasingly popular—the sport has seen an astounding 400% increase in first time fan viewership, the highest out of any mainstream sport in the country.

Dan Hajducky of ESPN coined this “The Messi Effect”— a phenomenon that can be seen just as well from the stands of an Inter-Miami game as the bleachers of the York College gym. In March 2024, the SGO premiered Soccer as part of their Battle of the Grades lineup. In the hard-fought finale, the Seniors (Class of 2024) led by Mitchell Agris routed the Juniors (Class of 2025) 2 to 1 in heartbreaking fashion, winning with a 90th minute goal to seal their victory. Since then, 2 Juniors (now Seniors) have aspired to not just come back and win in 2025, but progress their soccer career and hone their craft.

On November 9th, Hillcrest Varsity Soccer defender Nahin Khan (#38) and right midfielder Bryant Parra Valez (#37) agreed to an interview regarding their journey as a soccer player, experience at the varsity level, and future aspirations in their sport.

Both Nahin and Bryant grew up with the sport as a mainstay in their family. “I’ve been playing soccer since I was 3 years old,” Nahin said. “My father first introduced it to me. I remember watching Argentina vs Germany in the quarterfinals [in the 2010 World Cup] and since then it’s been my passion.” Bryant was similarly introduced to the game, responding “I guess my passion [for soccer] would come from my family. We’d always get together to watch the World Cup whenever Colombia was playing and cheer for the players as they ran across the field.”

As soon as they were old enough to do so, they would spend hours in the park or at professionally held soccer academies— places where their passions became tangible skill sets they could use to contribute to a winning club. The two diverged when it came to their preferred positions and roles in the field. Nahin chose to become a left-wing, a position mainly concerned with creating scoring opportunities and providing balance and dynamism to the offense, while Bryant chose the right-wing, a more assist and defense centric position. Both agreed that the true thrill of the game came from the adrenaline rush of offense with Bryant adding “There is nothing better than seeing the ball hit the back of the net.”

Despite being extremely proficient in their respective positions, the 2024-25 Hillcrest Varsity season, in Bryant’s words, “didn’t go as planned.” The Hillcrest Hawks were mired with injuries, poor positional fit, and severe chemistry issues. In the first two games of the season, Nahin was either incapable of playing (registration issues) or out with an injury. When they were both able to see the field, they started out with a losing record. Nahin was often forced to play out of his preferred position of either left-wing or striker, stating “For Hillcrest, I had to play almost every position, and this season I played primary defender.” Bryant’s main grievance was primarily about the alienation they received by virtue of being from a different school and being surrounded by teammates who were familiar with each other and offensive and defensive schemes currently in place. The team would go on to make a slight comeback as they became more comfortable with each other’s styles and strengths, but the team would fall short, losing a crucial game against Jamaica that would’ve put them in the playoff picture.

The season was by no means a net negative. Nahin recalled a game against Francis Lewis earlier this year where the Hillcrest Hawks trailed 1-0 with 10 minutes remaining in the second half. As the game progressed to its final 2 minutes, they found that they had made no tangible progress, still down 1 with a slim chance of winning or even tying the game. With Nahin on defense, he had no choice but to trust in his striker, Cedric , to secure a tie for the club. In the final minute of the second half of a game down 1, the striker delivered, scoring the game-tying goal. At this moment, the bench cleared and stormed the field. Despite being an admittedly rough season, the team was able to find camaraderie and celebrated accordingly.

This is only the first stepping stone of many for the 17 year old talents. When asked, both agreed that they would be eager to pursue soccer careers either at the collegiate level or through semi-professional leagues. “I would love to play for whatever college I end up going to, but in the near future I hope to be playing semi-professionally for my team Real New York FC alongside Bryant.”, Nahin said. Regardless of where they go to college, I truly believe that players like Nahin “King” Khan and Bryant Parra Velez are the future of sports in America— soccer will continue to grow and become one of the most popular sports in America.