Bob Larson
Neto Corona stands in an empty stadium at Liberty High. He’s bound and determined that the cancer which cost him his sophomore season won’t keep him from retaking Ohmstead Field as a player in the future.
Moving
Forward One season after being named as his league’s best offensive player, 15-year-old Liberty soccer star Neto Corona is showing his courage in his battle against cancer
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SportStars™
February 24, 2011
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By matt smith | Contributor
or the Liberty High boys soccer team, the season may have ended sooner than they wanted, or expected it to. The Lions were looking to follow up their first North Coast Section Division I playoff appearance last season, with another one this time around. The playoff dream did not happen. But for one Liberty player in particular, the season ended much more prematurely, and abruptly. As a member of the Lions playoff team a year ago, Jose “Neto” Corona was voted the Bay Valley Athletic League’s Offensive Player of the Year — the first time a freshman had taken home the award. His ability, and his passionate approach to soccer, had many figuring Corona to be the Liberty High leader this winter, and a frontrunner for the BVAL MVP award. But before any of that could come to fruition, something wasn’t quite right, and Corona could tell something was wrong. Very wrong. “He was getting tired easily and he didn’t know why,” Liberty High coach Alfredo Zamora said. “We didn’t even know when the whole thing started, he was keeping it pretty quiet, and then all of a sudden we found out.” Corona, who turned 15 on Feb. 9, finally went to the doctor in November of last year. He was diagnosed with Stage 2 testicular cancer. And suddenly it wasn’t just soccer that was
in jeopardy. “I was feeling fatigued all the time so I went to the doctor,” Corona said. “I knew when I had it, and I was scared that I couldn’t play soccer anymore.” For Corona, not being able to play soccer anymore is like telling many people they can’t walk, talk or breathe anymore. It’s something that is as much a part of him as anything else. And his love for the game is only overshadowed by his ability. The diminutive but fiery forward has been standing out since he started playing club soccer at East Diablo five years ago, which is when the current U16 head coach, Keoni Clifford, started to get to know him. “He has a no-holds-barred approach, with soccer, and in life,” Clifford said. “He won’t beat around the bush with you on the field or off the field. You always know where you stand with him.” Praise of Corona by his coaches goes a lot deeper than just his passion and talent for the game. “He’s a good kid and he’s very polite,” Zamora said. “If you tell him to do something, he’d go out and do it, and he played with a lot of passion.” A small, but very quick player, Corona was very hard to mark in his first year at Liberty. And where most 14-year-olds are playing freshman or junior varsity soccer, he was scoring Upload photos and team stats! www.SportStarsMag.com