Gaona: Tucson High striker has new form of dribbling to master

It isn’t because the senior captain has scored 36 goals and dished out 15 assists for Tucson High this season or because he helped the program win its first state title two years ago. Nor is it because he has the Badgers poised for another championship run.

Gaona, the Star’s 2013-14 boys soccer player of the year, became a father on Nov. 17, just two weeks after the first practice of the season. Even before Julian Adriel was born that day, Gaona accepted the challenge of being a parent.

He now juggles academics, athletics and a part-time job. Somehow, he also finds time to play occasional gigs with Tucson High’s steel band Jovert. He even danced folklorico at Tucson High, but dropped it from his schedule to spend more time with his son.

With the help of his girlfriend, Angelica Guerrero, and the support from his parents, Gaona has been up for the task.

“It’s not as difficult as it seems; my girlfriend helps me a lot,” said Gaona, who turns 18 on Feb. 12. “It’s just a lot of cute moments you see with him — the way he smiles, how frustrated he gets, the little fits he throws. It’s pretty awesome.”

Gaona met Guerrero in folklorico class during his sophomore year. The two began dating and stayed together, even after she graduated in the spring of 2014 and went on to college at the University of Arizona.

It’s been a challenge, juggling two schedules and managing time. But Guerrero said both she and Gaona have learned a lot from the experience.

“We’re both pulling through it and we’re both trying to be better,” Guerrero said. “Luckily, we’ve been able to balance everything out and he’s doing pretty well with it.”

Gaona arrives at school around 7:45 a.m. daily and gets out around lunch time — a benefit of an abbreviated schedule as a result of being ahead on credits. After school, he spends time with his girlfriend and son before returning to campus for practice. And once that is done, he heads off to work in the kitchen at Sauce Pizza & Wine.

“I’m really glad that the coaches have been really understanding with me going to work,” Gaona said. “Sometimes I’ll leave practice 10 to 15 minutes early to work and then work 5 until close and then do that again every day.”

Gaona’s bosses have been understanding too, he said, working around his soccer schedule. The same goes for his teachers at Tucson High, according to Badgers coach Ismael Arce.

“It’s not something new; this has actually happened to me before,” Arce said. “I think our responsibility as an adult, as a teacher, as a coach, as a human being, is to be there and to show we support him being a father.”

Gaona and the Badgers will spend the next few weeks trying for their second state championship in three seasons. Tucson (21-0-1 overall) has won six straight matches and could earn the No. 1 seed in the Division II state tournament, which begins Wednesday.

Gaona will have fans in the stands as always: Guerrero, little Julian Adriel the rest of the Gaona family — including the striker’s mother, Adriana Arias, and father, Juan Gaona — attend the Badgers’ matches. They all live together in a house near midtown.

After suiting up on game days, Gaona goes up into the stands to spend time with his son and girlfriend before taking the field for warmups. After the match, he runs back up in the bleachers to say hello again.

“It’s great just seeing someone waiting for me,” Gaona said. “Not only him, but my girlfriend as well, waiting for me to come say hi so she can congratulate me. It’s like a second mother.”

Julian Adriel was introduced to soccer earlier this season, when the family took him out to the Chris Maier Invitational at Sabino High School. Arce scolded Gaona for bringing the newborn out into the cold, but admits now that it proved to him how proud Gaona is to be a father.

“Everybody sees him as a little soccer player already,” said Guerrero, holding Julian Adriel wrapped in a blanket with a soccer ball on it. “They think he’ll follow in his shoes, and hopefully he does, but whatever he’s happy with, we’re good.”

Tucson High honored Gaona and the rest of the seniors on the team during halftime of Wednesday’s regular-season finale against Catalina Foothills. He carried Julian Adriel off the field after the ceremony and gave him a kiss before handing him back to Guerrero. Roughly 35 minutes later, Gaona scored a goal to secure a 3-1 win against the Falcons.

“I like to say he’s my good luck charm to the team,” Gaona said with a laugh. “There’s like two games he didn’t go to, and I didn’t score in those two.”

Gaona will likely play soccer at Pima College for the next two years as he begins studying business. After that, he hopes to move on to a Division I school where he can continue playing and both him and Guerrero can finish their education while maintaining their parental duties.

“Our main priority is him, giving him a good life,” Guerrero said. “We have our goals set straight and we do want to accomplish them one way or another.”

Arias was 17 when she gave birth to Julian, so she said she knows what it’s like to be in his shoes. And while her son is always busy now, she’s glad her son stuck with soccer. He has also done a good job sticking to his word.

“When he told me,” Arias said, “he said, ‘It’s not going to stop me, it’s only going to make me work harder for what I want.’”