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Miami Palmetto High School senior Juan Carlos (J.C.) Carrillo is being recruited by several colleges to play soccer. As of early March, he was still negotiating with schools and had not yet decided on which institution he will attend. He will major in Finance.
Carrillo has been playing soccer since he was five or six years old. He played both varsity and club soccer throughout high school, which includes playing for Palmer Trinity as one of the only two freshman playing varsity. He also played there in his sophomore year, before transferring to Palmetto as a junior. He sat out his junior year and returned to high school soccer for his senior year. The Palmetto boys had a good year, finishing their season in the district semi-finals.
Carrillo played for the Athletum MLS Next travel team and drew the attention of college scouts at MLS Showcase events.
His volunteer work has been tied to soccer. For two and a half weeks one summer, when he was at Palmer, he volunteered with a program that taught children and adults with Down’s Syndrome how to play soccer. They also taught the children track and field, teaching them how to throw the shot put and run track. The Palmer Trinity community then participated in helping the special needs participants at the Special Olympics.
He taught soccer.
“None of my friends know how to play soccer,” he says. “I was the most qualified person to teach the sport. We usually did a small drill and then two on twos, three on threes. Then we did a scrimmage and then we stretched right after.”
He enjoyed working with the special needs kids and adults.
Carrillo has earned more than 300 volunteer hours during his high school career, including hours earned by participating in a beach clean-up on Key Biscayne with friends.
He recently collaborated with his cousin to put together a toy drive for underprivileged children. Usually that drive would have been spearheaded by one of his uncles, but his uncle was in the hospital, so he helped make sure the children still received toys.
The summer going into junior year, he worked with his trainer to teach kids how to play soccer at Scott Top Soccer.
“In the mornings I took care of eight- to twelve-year-olds,” he says. “I taught them ball work. One on one drills and attacking and defending.”
In the afternoons, he would work with the older kids, 13 and up.
“With the older guys, we focused more on technique,” he says.
While he enjoyed training the younger kids, he also found it challenging because kids are kids and they don’t always listen.
He found the older kids were more focused, so they listened to his instructions.
At Palmetto, Carrillo is in the Breast Cancer Awareness Club, The Palmetto Pink Club.
“We talk about womens breast cancer in Nicaragua,” he says.
At a recent meeting they talked about sending letters to women undergoing treatment there to help brighten their days.
Carrillo has earned 44 college credits through dual enrollment with a GPA of 3,981. He’s ranked second in the Class of 2026 in total dual enrollment courses completed.
Outside of school he has completed 10 self-guided courses from the Harvard Business School Online in Capital Markets, Private Equity, Pricing Strategy, and Impact-Weighted Accounts.
He has also earned certifications in Hootsuite and Social Media Marketing through Miami-Dade College.
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
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