Amidst the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jason Weides passed the time by scrolling through the many recruiting emails in his inbox. Normally, the Concordia University, Nebraska Head Men’s Soccer Coach would struggle to sift through every one of these types of emails. But time is something most people had plenty of during the spring and summer of 2020. One particular email led to Weides pulling up video of Mexico City native Iker Casanova.
Weides was intrigued by what he saw. The recruiting agency that represented Casanova had cast a wide net in spraying a branded email to coaches across the United States. Inevitably, only a small percentage of those coaches will find the time to closely examine such emails and corresponding player film. In this case, it was meant to be.
“It was pretty quick,” says Casanova in explaining the timeline from first contact with Weides until the day he pledged his commitment. “When I was in the process of looking for a school in the U.S., COVID happened. There was a lot of uncertainty. A lot of universities I was speaking to changed their offer or told me they had no idea whether they were going to have a season or have classes. I was already planning on doing something else like going back to Mexico and studying there. I had a lot of uncertainties in my life. Out of nowhere, Coach Weides contacted me. I liked Concordia and one of the main factors was that Nebraska wasn’t as strict with COVID stuff.”
Little did Casanova know at the time, but Seward, Neb., would become his home for five years and for five mostly full seasons of collegiate soccer. Along the way, Casanova has built close friendships and experienced the high of winning a GPAC championship and playing at the national tournament while studying Business/Applied Communication. When faced with the opportunity to use a COVID exemption and play for the Bulldogs in 2024, Casanova did not hesitate.
Casanova felt a sense of unfinished business and loyalty towards a place he had never even visited upon enrolling for the fall semester of 2020. Four seasons later, Casanova reached another mountaintop. This past November 18, Casanova was named the GPAC Defensive Player of the Year. Only one other player in the program’s history has been chosen as a GPAC Player of the Year. It’s an honor Casanova hadn’t seen coming, especially since he missed the nonconference portion of the 2024 schedule. He referred to the award as a “beautiful surprise.”
Weides knew he deserved it. Said the 17-year head coach, “It’s definitely fitting for him. He had a great career. This year he was really instrumental to us. He was injured coming into the season and missed the first seven games. It was an immediate impact once he was back. His leadership, his organization and his play – he was really playing at a great level for us this year. It was really fun to see him honored like that.”
The award put a cap on five seasons that saw Casanova play in 79 games and earn three GPAC All-Conference honors. In the disjointed 2020 season split between the fall and spring, Casanova proved to be an immediate anchor along the back line while earning Second Team All-GPAC accolades. The highs would get higher as the Bulldogs won a dramatic GPAC tournament title game in 2022 and then rose as high as No. 18 in the NAIA coaches’ poll in 2023. The ’22 and ’23 seasons represented two of the best in program history.
These were the moments that Casanova sought and dreamed of while growing up in Mexico City. The son of Ezequiel and Sonia, Iker took an early interest in soccer. With two sisters considerably older than him, Iker played soccer on a daily basis with his neighbors. He also developed close relationships with classmates as he attended the same school from two years of age all the way to 17. His parents were extremely supportive of his passion for soccer. Iker tried other sports, but nothing captivated him the way that soccer did.
Says Iker, “I never played any other sport competitively. I went to some tennis classes and some for swimming and taekwondo, but since eight or nine, I knew that soccer was my thing. Every day I would go to a different club to train.”
When Casanova reached the age of 18, he was ready for a new experience. The sport took him to Spain, where he played soccer and worked a job all while living with other young men seeking the same adventure. Iker lived in a house with other soccer players from places like the U.S., Japan and Cuba. Casanova remained in Spain during the spring of 2020 when COVID-19 restrictions reached their peak. As Iker recalls, he needed government permission to simply leave his house.
So when Concordia of Nebraska came calling, Iker saw it as something of an oasis. The opportunity to play soccer and to live the college experience in the U.S. appealed to him greatly. Socially and academically, Iker was prepared for this next move. Since the age of seven, Iker had taken classes that were largely in English. (He did however have to learn new terms and Midwest jargon spoken in Nebraska).
The dynamics brought about by COVID-19 made a visit to the Concordia campus a bit tricky, but Casanova agreed to take a leap of faith, sight unseen. Said Casanova of his recruiting conversation with Weides, “He told me, ‘You’re going to have in-person classes, we’re going to have a season and we’re going to train normally.’ I liked Coach Weides – he told me he wanted me. He told me I’d have a normal college experience here.”
Weides wasn’t lying. The Bulldogs played a full 18-game schedule (10-5-3 record) during the 2020-21 academic year. Casanova enjoyed his freshman year. He just didn’t love how it ended – with Concordia falling in a PK shootout at Northwestern in the GPAC quarterfinals. Casanova had been the only Bulldog to miss his PK attempt. He never forgot. The years that followed felt like redemption for Casanova.
Two seasons later, Casanova and his teammates dogpiled at Lloyd Wilson Field after Federico Simonetti denied a Hastings PK and clinched the GPAC championship trophy for the Bulldogs. A close friend of Simonetti, Iker will always look back at that as one of his cherished soccer memories. Another one came this past 2024 season when Iker drilled a PK as Concordia got past Briar Cliff in the conference quarterfinals.
Frustrations that came from Iker’s disappointing postseason moment as a freshman and the injury (quad and hip) to begin his fifth season melted away in that instant. The ’24 season continued with a 3-2 GPAC semifinal win over Northwestern, giving the Bulldogs the right to host the GPAC tournament final for the first time ever. Unfortunately, the story ended with a 1-0 defeat at the hands of the rival Broncos.
Heartache is just part of the deal when it comes to sports. Wins and losses aside, Iker is a better and stronger man because of the past five years. The respect he earned from his teammates was exemplified in him being voted a team captain.
“This year was probably my favorite one even though we didn’t accomplish what we wanted,” Casanova said. “I was proud of the growth I had as a person, being patient at the beginning and knowing my moment was going to come. As a fifth year, I had to be a leader off the field because I couldn’t be with my teammates practicing. I also realized how hard it was for guys who don’t get as much playing time. I realized how hard it was for them. I saw things from a different perspective.”
Iker will take that perspective into his next endeavor. He’s not quite sure what’s in store following his Concordia career. He plans to graduate in May with the hopes of continuing his soccer career in some capacity. God’s plan could keep him in the U.S., bring him back to Mexico City or land him somewhere else across the globe.
Says Iker, “I know that when I graduate I’m going to be 25. I know it’s important for me to find a good opportunity. I would love to play soccer as long as my body lets me. At the same time, I have to find a good opportunity living and working-wise.”
It all fell into place in the spring of 2020 when uncertainty filled Casanova’s thoughts. He had not fathomed that an LCMS institution in Nebraska would be the place for him to fulfill the college experience he sought. “It’s crazy, yes,” Iker says in reflection. A literal world of possibilities awaits.