“Nano" Concludes Brilliant Career as Lely's Best Ever

The adage “it takes a village to raise a child” could easily be Lely High School's mantra. Not every student at the East Naples school was born with privilege. Many need an occasional hug or word of encouragement or a point in the right direction. Lely’s All-State soccer star, Johnathan Garcia, is a shining example of how caring adult role models can shape a diamond in the rough into something akin to the Hope Diamond.

You know you’re loved when you’re better known by your nickname - or nicknames in Garcia’s case. He is usually called Nano at Lely. Head coach Robbie Schank calls Garcia “my JG.”

But if adult role models hadn’t stepped up to guide Garcia, he may not have been named All-State or recognized as the top soccer player in the region, regardless of classification. Or be in line for the Florida Dairy Farmers Player of the Year award. Or be heading to Holy Family University in Philadelphia on an athletic scholarship.

Garcia admits that he was not on the right path as a sixth grader at Manatee Middle School, a feeder school to Lely. Fortunately, a male role model was there in the person of his teacher and soccer coach Matt Huneke.

“I was a lot of trouble in middle school,” Garcia said. "I would say it wasn't until my ninth-grade year that I stopped getting myself in trouble. Coach Huneke really helped me a lot. He kept me out of trouble. He really kept up with me. Made sure I was always doing okay. One thing I’ll never forget, my sixth-grade year, we won this little league that’s here in the county. There was a newspaper article on it. He actually found it and hung it up in his classroom - and he actually took it home and hung it up in his own room. Ever since then he’s become a really close person to me. He’s helped me a lot in life. I was happy when coach Schank told me he was going to become our new assistant coach at Lely. When he told me coach Huneke was coming I couldn’t think of anyone better to fill that position.” 

Huneke recalls Garcia as a bit of a class clown in sixth grade. He was surprised when the youngster, who already had a reputation as a talented soccer player, didn’t try out for the school team.

"I taught JG in sixth grade and coached him in soccer in seventh and eighth grade,” Huneke said. "He did some growing up between sixth grade and seventh grade. But in sixth grade he was a little bit of a knucklehead. And he didn’t come out for the soccer team, which was shocking. Because I kept hearing stories about him from all of his friends. ‘Oh, you’ve gotta get Nano out on the team. Get him to try out.'  He didn’t come out in sixth grade, but he came out in seventh grade. I told him, ‘you’re one of the best players I’ve ever coached. Why didn’t you come out in sixth grade?’  Sixth graders are just intimidated. They don’t think they’re going to make the team going up against seventh and eighth graders.”

Huneke remembers Garcia as mischievous as a youngster.

“Nothing was malicious,” Huneke said. "It was just messing around. For me, he was a jokester. He liked to joke around a lot in sixth grade. He was always fun loving. Always had a smile. Kind of the class clown, but in a good way. On the soccer field, it was the same thing in middle school. Just out there having a good time. As if he was playing soccer with his buddies."

Garcia recalls spending time serving in-school suspensions (ISS) during his middle school career.

 “I was always in ISS, lunch detentions,” Garcia said. "It was never like fighting with other people. It was just me finding trouble. It was just like young, dumb kid stuff. You live and learn. I lived a lot of trouble and I learned a lot about it. I’ve never seen the ISS room in high school. Coach Huneke was always making sure that I wasn’t getting into trouble. He was always making sure that I was okay, not just in school but in my personal life. Always checking up with me. It showed that somebody cared for me. I would always go and talk with him when I needed something, or if something was wrong. And he just really helped me figure out everything. He would get on me, too, if I ever got in trouble. He would be like, ‘don’t do that.’  And he’d explain the consequences and everything. That really helped me a lot.”

Huneke saw Garcia’s special soccer ability at an early age.

“JG showed some really good leadership skills at an early age,” Huneke recalls. "He just stood out as a soccer player. You could just watch a game and point out, ‘yeah, he’s the best player on the field right now.’”

Legendary Lely high school soccer coach Robbie Schank, who’s been at the helm for 28 years and has racked up numerous district championships and a pair of Final Four appearances, remembers Garcia as a cocky youngster joining his program as a freshman.

“My JG, as I always call him,” Schank said, "he came in all goofy. A little cocky, yes. He thought he was the man. We had to put him in his place. He realized there were actually some bigger fish in the sea when he arrived at Lely High School. Which was good. He had some really good mentors as well as teammates like David Gomez, Rob Petronzio, Ludyn Garcia - guys like that. So he realized that he was the freshman. He was grounded real quick.”

It didn’t take Schank long to realize he was dealing with a special talent in Garcia.

"I saw something special in that kid,” Schank said, "and I went for it. It paid off tremendously. Major dividends for the Lely soccer program. I saw a little bit of disaster as well. So we had to get that fixed right away. Mentoring him and guiding him. And showing him the right way. And what was expected of him. How he will be successful if he follows my lead. He did that. There were always a few speed bumps in the road, but we got over those. He bought in and basically became the greatest of all time in Lely history. He’s the only player in school history to make it into four straight district championships.”

"When Nano came up his freshman year,” Huneke said, “Coach Schank knew this kid was built different. He had varsity speed. The talent was at the varsity level. I don’t think he thought twice about starting him at the varsity level. He threw him right onto the varsity and he just thrived.”

Garcia remembers joining the Lely program.

"Coach Schank was like, ‘You’re going to start off on JV and I'm going to bring you up with me for pre-season,’” Garcia said. "Then I was going to go down to JV and play varsity when there were no JV games. So, I went on play varsity in pre-season, and I played really excellent. After that, coach realized he wanted to keep me on varsity. I worked really hard. I ran the middle. And ever since then I got a starting spot and made sure I’d never lose it. The harder you work, the more coach Schank sees in you. You don’t have to be the greatest, but if you put in a lot of work and effort into his program then you’ll have your chance to shine for him."

But while Garcia was shining on the soccer field, he was struggling academically. Enter Lely guidance counselor Beth Colman, who would play a profound role in Garcia’s high school career.

“Miss Colman,” Garcia said, "if it wasn’t for her, I honestly don’t think I would be here right now. I don’t think I would have even played another soccer season at Lely after my freshman year because of my grades. I would probably just be playing for fun or in the league that’s around here. I don’t think that I’d be heading toward college if it wasn’t for her helping me out. She really was a big part of helping me succeed in my high school career and helping me get to college. She made sure I was always, always on top of my grades. She would print out a grade worksheet for me, and it really made me understand how our grades work. And I understood it. And I kept pushing myself to get my grades up higher and higher. She made sure I was always okay in my normal life. She would give me a hug when I needed one. She would always give me an ‘I love you’ when I needed an I love you. She was always there for everything. It was really a big blessing to be able to meet Miss Colman and be loved by her. And it wasn’t only me. She’s there for the entire school—the entire Lely community.”

Colman recalls being called on to help Garcia.

 “When I met Johnathan,” Colman reflects, "we were dealing with a couple of grade issues. And we had to get him on track. And for the first time, probably in my career, he listened to everything that I told him to do. And he actually did it. It is not always something that I’m used to. In the past four years he has lifted his grades. He has realized every quarter what he’s needed to pull out the semester grade that’s needed to keep him eligible and to improve his grades to keep his dream alive to go to college and play soccer at the collegiate level. Which just this week he decided to do. He’s just such a great kid. Watching him turn into a leader and give pre-game and post-game speeches. That kid is beyond his years in maturity. He can lead a team better than most kids I’ve seen in high school on any of the sports teams I’ve been involved with. He’s exactly what a head coach would want as far as a captain on a team."  

Garcia credits Schank with teaching him to be a leader.

“It was really coach Schank who shaped me and helped me become a leader on this team,” Garcia said. "He taught me how to face adversity, which was the biggest thing. I wasn’t always going to have the same teammates every year. And I wasn’t always going to have the same skills from those past teammates. And nothing was going to be the same. He taught me how to face adversity. It went into me. What people really see when you’re playing is your character. If you’re breaking down, yelling, losing your temper in the game, that’s not the way to lead. Because then the entire team loses its form. If you lead, you take charge, and control your team when you’re down or up, it really helps your team stay together and just continue to succeed. I would say my leadership really came from coach Schank helping me out.”

Schank beams with prides when he thinks of the leader Garcia has become.

"His speeches before the games and after the games,” Schank said, "I didn’t even have to speak anymore because he was leading that program. And the kids bought in and followed him. Like I always told him, ‘if you always speak from the heart, you can never go wrong.’ That kid always spoke from the heart. I would listen in and it would always make me smile, because a lot of times he was reciting what I had taught him from the past. It was really cool that he was passing that on through his voice and through his way. I couldn’t be more proud. It made me cry. I would always reaffirm what he was saying.”

Garcia is a product of good parenting: a father who was his first soccer coach and a supportive mother.

"It started with my dad when I was little,” Garcia said. "He always took me to Eagle Lakes Park to train from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. He is the main reason I play like I play and I’m the player that I am. It started when I was four years old. He did some of the best training that could possibly be done for a little kid to shape me into a great player.”

"Nano’s mom is an amazing woman,” Colman said. "I respect the heck out of her. Because she has raised a kid that is well adjusted and a leader.”

Colman is proud of the young man Garcia has become. 

“We are so proud of him,” Colman said. "He is one of the most humble young men that I’ve been around. He’s one of the best kids I’ve been around. My secretary will always tell me, ‘You know that one young man who always walks in, he’s done more for you than probably half the kids in this building have.'  And she’s always talking about Johnathan. He will bring me things. I have a nice large picture of the two of us in my office. It’s almost life size.”

Garcia overhears Colman and chimes in.

“I have one in my room, too,” Garcia smiled.

Colman is impressed with the kindness Garcia has shown her.

"He’s been better to me than a lot of the other kids,” Colman said. "He’s always bringing me little things. A cup of coffee. A lot of my other kids don’t do that - which is totally fine. I walked into my office one day and that huge picture was sitting in there. I was like, ‘Whoa.’ At the soccer banquet coach Schank had Nano present me with a dozen red roses. Just little things like that. It’s always Johnathan who’s there making sure that I feel special. He’s always there to thank me. And to write things on Facebook. To make me feel appreciated when others don’t necessarily feel the need to do that. They think it goes without saying. He knows the importance of us hearing that. It’s just very important to me. I love this kid. I don’t know what I’m going to do without him in a few months. Looks like I’ll probably be taking a trip to Philadelphia.”

You don’t normally hear fans calling out a player’s name during high school sporting events. But Lely fans call out “Nano” frequently during every home game.

“I don’t want to say he’s a celebrity,” Colman said carefully, “but Nano is definitely a well-liked kid on campus. Everybody knows him. Everybody likes him. He is not just a soccer player on our campus. He is definitely a leader on campus. Yet he is also kind of a quiet kid at times. He just has kind of an energetic personality at times that makes people gravitate toward him. He’s fun to watch play. You will hear a lot of people supporting him. They want to be around him. He’s got good energy.”

Schank was humbled by the respect his star player received at the recent All-State meeting, held at Canterbury School in Ft. Myers.

"There was total, absolute respect from all the coaches,” Schank said, “from Class 1A to 7A. They actually retracted their players' names because they knew they couldn’t compete with the accolades that JG had accomplished, not just this season but in seasons prior. It was really cool. That’s basically the highest honor. And he’s the only player in Lely soccer history to be nominated for the Florida Dairy Farmers Player of the Year award. That group will compare stats of all of the players. Two years ago, a kid from Mariner got it, and I’d say JG’s just as good as him, in a different way. I’d say he has just as good a chance to win the award as anybody else.”

Schank says Garcia is special.

“What makes JG special is he’s one of my favorites,” Schank said with a laugh. "He’s become like a son to me. He can play anywhere on the field. Wherever I need him, he can play. He could even play goal for me if I asked him. He’s done it in practice. He’s not just a one-dimensional player. He can do it all. He has all the school records for single season assists, career assists. Third all-time school leader in goals. His throw-ins are basically a goal scoring opportunity every time that kid throws the ball in. He can throw the ball 30 to 40 yards. That’s basically a 50/50 chance we’re going to score every time he throws the ball in. There’s nothing that he can’t do. That’s why I’m really going to miss him. He’s the most versatile player I’ve ever coached.”

Huneke sees future success for Garcia.

“He’s got a great opportunity at Holy Family to play some good Division II soccer,” Huneke said. "If he can stick with it, and grow, and continue to mature, I could see him playing at a professional level. There’s nothing stopping him. I played, and I have teammates from high school who have gone on to the professional ranks, and they were nowhere near as talented as Nano. The sky’s the limit, really. If he can embrace the college structure of the game and really take advantage of what a university has to offer, with weight training, nutrition, the game itself. Yeah, there’s a good chance by his senior year he’s got scouts looking at him.”

“Holy Family should be very, very, excited,” Colman adds, "because they could have their best leader in front of them.”