Dallas ISD student makes history with first-ever international soccer scholarship
The first student-athlete in the history of the Dallas Independent School District to earn an international soccer scholarship is the pride of the South Side.
As excitement for the FIFA World Cup matches in North Texas builds, there is one Dallas teenager who's not only hoping to see a match, but he dreams of playing in one someday. He's on that path, becoming a first in soccer excellence for the Dallas school district.
The number two academically ranked student in his senior class, 18-year-old Joe Gonzalez, shoots his shot on the soccer pitch and in the classroom.
The combination creates a first for Lincoln High School and the school district.
"I'm going to get my bachelor's in the UK, to the University of Central Lancashire, and it's all new, all great," Gonzalez said. "It's all glory to God."
Gonzalez will play for FC Macclesfield, a team in the English football league, and attend Lancashire University in England on a full scholarship.
He is the first Dallas ISD student-athlete to earn an international soccer scholarship.
"The goal is to do the best I can," he said. "To make my mother proud, my family proud, I'm the first generation to go to college, try to make a name for myself. And dedicate it to God."
"If you opened Webster's dictionary and looked up student athlete, it would be a picture of Joe," said Lincoln soccer coach Stanley Haines.
Haines knows Lincoln's legacy. NBA Hall of Famer Chris Bosh is the school's most famous student-athlete, where basketball is king, though maybe not for much longer.
"Joe is going to play pro," Haines said. "I call him ESPN, because we will see him on ESPN."
Seven years ago, there was no soccer team for Lincoln High School. Gonzalez has changed that and his path to football in the UK is a path he hopes other "Pride of the South" Dallas kids will follow.
