Kalum Gillet ‘17 was a staple on Jesuit High School’s Junior Varsity soccer team during his Freshman and Sophomore years. Then, during his Junior year, he was absent for tryouts.

That’s because during his Junior year , Kalum was living in Cadiz, a beach city on the Southwest Coast of Spain, living with a foster family and going to school there.  

“I played soccer in Spain because they are one of the best soccer-playing countries and I wanted to experience how they play,” Kalum said.

In Spain, Kalum was training almost daily. The local club team in Cadiz took Kalum in and let him practice with them. Unfortunately, due to FIFA’s rules, Kalum was not allowed to play full games unless his parents were living in the country with him at the time.

This fall marked Kalum’s first semester back at Jesuit since returning from Spain. With Kalum’s smiling face, abundant enthusiasm, and great skill, everyone on Jesuit’s team is excited to have him back and playing again.

This year, the San Joaquin Section moved the men’s soccer season from Fall to Winter, but the team was ready to take on the competition.

“We [had] solid returning players and a solid group of Juniors,” said Head Jesuit Varsity Soccer Coach Paul Rose.

Returning players, such as Tyler Moss ‘17, one of the current Varsity captains, are coming off a very strong showing last season. Last year, Jesuit won the Division One San Joaquin Section Championship with a late goal from the head of Jared Alameida ‘16.

Unfortunately, Jesuit lost many of last year’s Seniors, such as Mathew Glass ‘16, who currently is starting on Harvard University’s Soccer Team. Even so, Kalum and the rest of the team have already had a great season, coming third in the regular season and making it to the second round of playoffs.

The Varsity team has their semi-final game today, February 28th at Jesuit (18-4-5) vs Turlock High School (17-7-2) at 3 PM.