In its 35th year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, the Gatorade Company announced Montverde Academy SIMA athlete Santa Ihara as its 2019-20 Gatorade Florida Boys Soccer Player of the Year. Ihara is the fourth Gatorade Florida Boys Soccer Player of the Year to be chosen from MVA following SIMA alumni Esteban Calvo '16, Diego Campos '14, and Thales Moreno '13. Ihara will also be attending Duke University in the fall of 2020.
"We are extremely proud of Santa and all of his accomplishments. He has worked extremely hard throughout his time with us at Montverde Academy and the SIMA Program and he is a true product of our philosophy," said Head Coach Mike Potempa. "He is a beautiful person, and outstanding student academically, and tremendous talent in the sport of soccer. Duke University is fortunate to have such an amazing young man and we look forward to only great things to come for Santa in the future."
The Gatorade award recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence but also high standards of academic achievement as well as exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field. From volunteering with the Central Florida Dreamplex, an organization that services children with special needs, maintaining a cumulative 3.87 GPA in the classroom, to scoring six goals and passed for 10 assists this past season, Ihara exemplifies what it means to be the ideal student-athlete.
"Santa Ihara exemplifies everything we look for in a SIMA student-athlete. Santa came to Montverde Academy 4 years ago from Japan and has spent the past 4 years perfecting his English, studying, and training every day in the SIMA Program," said Potempa. "Santa always has a great attitude, is an intelligent person, and a truly wonderful young man on and off the field."
Ihara had to overcome many obstacles throughout his four years at the Academy to achieve his dream goal; attend Duke University and play in the ACC after graduation from MVA. At the beginning of the season, Duke's Head Soccer Coach John Kerr informed Ihara that in order to play at Duke University, he had to increase his SAT score and take additional AP courses in order to be considered and accepted into Duke. Through perseverance and determination, Ihara attempted the SAT 4 times and took two AP courses while competing in the SIMA program to finally get accepted in March of 2020 to Duke University.
Ihara joins recent Gatorade Florida Boys Soccer Players of the Year Leo Perez (2018-19, Mariner High School), Reed Davis (2017-18 & 2016-17, Fleming Island High School), Esteban Calvo (2015-16, Montverde Academy), Trey Langlois (2014-15, Bishop Kenny High School), and Diego Campos (2013-14, Montverde Academy) among the state's list of former award winners. Since the program's inception in 1985, most of the Gatorade Player of the Year award recipients have won hundreds of professional and college championships while becoming coaches, business owners, educators, etc.
Montverde Academy wishes the best of luck to Santa Ihara and his future endeavors.
