17 minutes into a 2018 season game, within the span of a mere two minutes, ‘16 Striker Amir Bashti scored two goals for the Stanford Cardinal, putting them in a 2-0 lead against the Delaware Blue Hens. 

As a child, Bashti dreamed of playing at the professional level, looking up to players like Lionel Messi and his older brother, Malek Basxhti, who played for MVHS. Despite having tried a variety of sports, such as basketball and tennis, Bashti says his true passion lies in soccer. 

This passion and talent led him to a diverse professional career, starting from playing for the San Jose Earthquakes Academy in high school, then the Stanford Cardinal in college, after which he was drafted in the MLS Super Draft by Atlanta United FC in 2019. However, after failing to sign the contract, he decided to move back to California to play with the San Francisco Glens. Soon, he went to train overseas in the German league 2. Bundesliga, until he returned to the U.S. to play for Atlanta United 2, where he retired in 2020. 

“I loved being with the under-18 national team in high school, going on trips, playing against Manchester United, Liverpool, Real Madrid and competing with players like Marcus Rashford,” Bashti said. “I was getting exposed to that level and at the same time understanding that I want to have the balance of pursuing what I’m intellectually and athletically most passionate about.”

James Thomas Marcinkowski, the goalkeeper for the Los Angeles Galaxy, grew up playing soccer with Bashti. He says that Bashti’s charisma and flexibility enabled him to mesh well with the others on the under-18 national soccer team and earn a crucial role. Marcinkowski spent time with Bashti on the San Jose Earthquakes Academy and on the national team, which helped him become familiar with how Bashti contributed to team dynamics.

“He was a very creative player,” Marcinkowski said. “He was willing to be in these spaces that people don’t normally get to. For a lot of teams that we were on, he was the heartbeat of the team. Once he was committed to the team and really put his full effort into it, he was an amazing player. I think he was somebody who, regardless of the team that he stepped into, made a difference on the field.”

Marcinkowski says that Bashti’s work ethic extended beyond soccer and into his schoolwork. French 4 honors teacher Sarah Finck echoes this idea and shares how Bashti was able to learn French and Spanish faster because he attended the Silicon Valley International School at a young age, which exposed him to many different cultures and languages. Finck noticed even back in Bashti’s high school days that he was talented in many fields due to the multitude of high-level subjects he was in, such as AP Calculus, AP Biology and AP Chemistry. 

“It requires discipline and organization to be able to manage a high-level soccer career while also attending high school, specifically at MVHS,” Finck said. “So, I think one shouldn’t underestimate how much work he was putting into everything and how talented he is.”

Marcinkowski further adds that the strengths Bashti displays on the field can be easily applied even when he isn’t playing soccer.

“Amir is a very dedicated person, and he was able to apply that to soccer for so long, but I think his dedication will carry on with him for the rest of his life,” Marcinkowski said.“Amir, as a soccer player, is just somebody who I always thought would see the game differently. He was brave and he was daring, and all those things can probably be applied to his off-the-field life as well.”

Bashti says even though it was always his dream to play professional soccer, the COVID-19 shutdowns made him aware of avenues where he can do more. This led him to switch lanes and delve into the world of artificial intelligence at his current job as an Executive Enterprise Director at Snorkel AI. 

“It puts into perspective that at the end of the day, soccer, as beautiful as it is, made me realize that there are other things that I can become the best at and can help me have a more direct influence on people’s quality of life,” Bashti said. “Soccer still guides how I think and it’s an interconnected community that’s amazing to be a part of. But I want to pursue my professional focus and I found artificial intelligence to be super fascinating and an area where I can impact the community at large.”