Perry junior Noah Charles accounted for nearly 50 percent of the Samurai's goals en route to an unbeaten season and the Far East Division II Tournament title. (Kevin Rossiter/Special to Stripes)
Most student-athletes listen to fast- or hard-paced music to get them psychologically ready to play.
Not Noah Charles. When Matthew C. Perry’s centerpiece junior soccer star dons his headphones or Bluetooth earbuds, he prefers to listen to Japanese romance songs.
“It makes me lock in and concentrate on the match ahead, and do what I have to do,” said Charles, who led the Samurai to an unbeaten campaign and the program’s seventh Far East boys Division II Tournament title.
“The other guys say his musical taste is interesting,” said Mark Lange, Perry’s outgoing coach who has been at the Samurai’s helm for 22 seasons.
So, one might think that Charles’ teammates might tease or rib him about his musical preferences?
No, Lange said. “The players don’t make fun of him.”
Instead, they showed deference and respect to a player who Lange said told him he was a center back, “but he can play anywhere. We put him in goal last year during penalty kicks and he stopped the penalties.”
Then there’s the matter of the 30 goals and 15 assists that Charles recorded in the just-completed 2026 season. Charles was also named Most Valuable Player of the D-II tournament.
The Samurai went 23-0-3 this spring, scoring 92 goals while allowing only 12 and recording 16 shutouts.
For Charles’ role in the 2026 championship run, he has been named Stars and Stripes’ Pacific high school boys soccer Athlete of the Year.
Charles just ended his second season in Samurai maroon and white after transferring from Yokosuka, where he lived most of his life and played for youth-level teams affiliated with Japan’s J-League Yokohama Marinos. Charles has played soccer for 11 years.
“He’s the complete package,” Lange said of Charles, who accounted for nearly half of Perry’s goals, either scoring or assisting.
“He has the ability to see the field and anticipate the game before other players can. As a coach, you don’t see that very often. He has the physical and mental ability to pick up things before they happen. The game is slow motion for him played at a fast pace,” Lange said.
What took some adjusting, Charles said, was playing for a DODEA team comprised mainly of American players. “It was my first year in an American system. It took awhile to get used to,” Charles said.
The genesis of Perry’s D-II championship happened last spring, when the Samurai lost the Far East final to E.J. King, their chief rival in southwestern Japan.
The team had but one goal from that point on, Charles said. “That we really have to win Far East. It became a goal. I think it made me more serious. After the season, I thought we could do this. Things became very clear after that,” he said.
Along came the 2026 campaign. The Samurai won their first Perry Cup in 10 years. A Western Japan Athletic Association tournament title followed a week later.
Now that the D-II title is in the books and the Samurai will press on with a new coach, Charles says he’s looking ahead and not planning to rest on his laurels.
“Next season is a new season. A new challenge,” Charles said. “But I like the challenge.”
Age — 18.
Place of birth — Misawa, Japan.
Favorite school subject — Algebra
Least favorite school subject — English.
Favorite athletes — Steven Gerrard (soccer player), Steph Curry.
Favorite forms of entertainment — Japanese romance music.
