He walks onto the AstroTurf soccer field as the rubbery, wet smell fills his nose. The rain has just stopped and now it is  time to get serious about the game. Dressed in his black Nike cleats, high bright red socks with protective shin guards underneath, white mesh shorts, and his red #10 jersey, there is no way for him to predict how this game will turn out. Well, not until the very end at least.

Senior and four-year varsity soccer player Niko Mihalopoulos is one of the best players that Huntley High School has ever seen.  With his skills as a center forward, Mihalopoulos can easily help his team on to victory.

But it is hard to say that Mihalopoulos gets all of his talent from pure luck. His grandfather, uncle, and father all played soccer, or football,  back in Greece,  making Niko a first-generation Greek-American. George Mihalopoulos, his father, started playing collegiate football when he moved to the United States at  18. He then attended college at Roosevelt University.

When he was a only 5 years old, Niko’s parents put him in Huntleys Park District’s travel soccer team despite the fact he had asthma. After spending some time on that team, he joined a Barrington travel soccer team.

As time went on, Mihalopoulos got better, faster, and stronger. When freshman year arrived, he tried out for Huntley’s soccer team. During try-outs, he would never have thought he would make the varsity team, but he did. And for the next four years, he continued to be on varsity even without trying out.

“He’s about as electric as I’ve ever seen,” said varsity soccer coach Kristopher Grabner. “After 11 years of coaching, the other coaches and I agree that he is the best as they come.”

With a school record of 23 total goals this season, it is not hard to see the massive impact that Mihalopoulos has had on the team. That impact led to him being recruited by the VfR Aalen. Based in Aalen, Germany, the football academy offers several programs for its youth in gymnastics, table tennis, cheerleading, and of course, football.

On July 11, Mihalopoulos packed his bags and hopped on a plane to Germany to join his second division team at VfR. After an almost 13-hour flight, he landed in Stuttgart, Germany. He went to gather his luggage and then was greeted by his agent.  For the next few days, Mihalopoulos stayed with his agent and explored Germany. When it was time to meet his host family, they got into the car and drove about an hour to Aalen.

Each morning, he would wake up around 9 a.m. and head downstairs to the Greek family restaurant called Dionysos.  There, he would help the restaurant by setting up tables and chairs, folding and placing the table cloths, opening up the umbrellas, and meticulously placing plastic covers on the chairs.

“Everything was such a culture shock,” said Mihalopoulos explaining his experiences living in Germany. “I mostly just stayed to myself since I didn’t know much German. The trainers and some of the players would try to make an effort to speak English, but not many did. My only form of communication was when I spoke Greek to my host family.”

After helping open the restaurant, Mihalopoulos walked two miles to where VfR’s practice fields were. Every day for a month he walked up a steady hill, passed the local school, which then connected to a forest preserve. Just beyond that were the practice fields.

At VfR, he would spend hours upon hours with the team’s youth group for those under 19 years of age.  He would run drills, practice his skills, and play football games. For over a month, Mihalopoulos stayed in Germany building up his endurance, making connections, and getting scouted for other teams in Europe.

“He’s strong, smart about the game, and fast; he’s got legs like tree trunks,” said coach Grabner.

In his free time, he would walk around downtown and go into little shops around the town. On the weekends, he would go to a local café with a few of the friends he had made at the restaurant. Since he was fluent in Greek, he was able to communicate with them. While living there, he became extra fond of the food.

“My favorite food there would have to be the schnitzel,” said Mihalopoulos.

Everything was fun and games, until he got the bad news. In regulations with the German Football Association, he could not stay in Germany forever without having his pass. According to Mihalopoulos, one of his parents needed to live and work in Germany for over a year for him to stay since he is not of legal age.

“If it wasn’t for that regulation, I wouldn’t be here right now,” said Mihalopoulos. “I’d still be playing over in Germany.”

He would not have gone to Germany if he knew this tiny bit of information. In all of his time there, he never played a single game. Most of the games were on the weekend, but before a game that he could have played in, the coach told him why he could not play. Before Mihalopoulos decides if he wants to go back to Germany or any other part of Europe, he stays here at Huntley High to finish his senior year of high school. Until then, he plays on the varsity boys soccer team racking up goal after goal as he leads his team to victory.

“Nothing can be compared to the feeling I get after scoring a goal,” said Mihalopoulos. “It is such an adrenal rush, especially in overtime.”

With college not much more than a blink away, Mihalopoulos still is not quite sure about what he wants to do with his future, but he does have one option in mind.

“My ultimate dream is to go pro,” said Mihalopoulos.

And to achieve his dream, he aspires to be just like his favorite football players such as Lionel Messi from Barcelona, Mesut Ozil from Arsenal, and Gareth Bale from Real Madrid. Mihalopoulos wants to improve his endurance and increase his heading accuracy, and then he will  be ready to make it to his dream.

“He has so much potential after high school,” said varsity co-captain Jakub Rys.

With Huntley’s record right now being 17-2-1, there is no doubt that they could win sectionals and even win the Illinois State Championship. The boys varsity soccer team is doing so well, it has become a trend for girls now to wear soccer jerseys instead of football jerseys.

“When we practice, we work on our weaknesses,” said Rys. “I am very confident that we can go all the way to state finals.”

If they are able to make it to finals and win, boys soccer would be the first state championship title that the school has ever seen, and they are determined to make it happen.

“He’s a very good leader,” said Grabner. “He lifts his teammates up without even trying. It’s almost missed with athletes with that kind of leadership. He inspires others to be better by his sheer enthusiasm.”