Sports Banquet 2025

• Parents – Time and support given the program (I know what it’s like to have a high school varsity athelete…I will be having a yard sale out of my trunk.)
• Mrs. Powell, Mr. Hankins – For their leadership and help make this program not only run but develop and be successful!
• Coach Taylor and Ken – for serving with me and investing in these young men. Taylor, without you, who else could record our post-game handshakes with meta glasses and record all the interesting things said to us? Ken, without you, who else would help the guys with their bloody noses all while having a can of biofreeze in each hand?
• Heidi – Probably made over a hundred Nutella sandwiches, mixed several dozen gallons of Gatorade, and sacrificed over a quarter of our garage for soccer equipment.

Before I talk about our season and give awards, I want to remind us what it means to play a varsity sport at a Christian school. What we do is not only about competition—it’s about success on the field but it’s also about students’ Christ-likeness.

This season, a verse we talked about several times was Proverbs 4:23—“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” If you win every game but don’t learn to keep your heart, you’ve not been successful. But if you learn to guard your heart in the face of adversity, you will find genuine success. Now, when you do both, that’s something special. And I believe we started to see that this year.

Last year we started building momentum in the middle of the season. Then adversity came:

• 160 days ago, a tornado hit our field and destroyed half our equipment.
• We lost 9 players.
• We faced several season ending injuries.
• And we ended our sectional run with one of the most questionable red cards I’ve ever seen – playing our final game with only 11 players.

Guys, you need to realize something. Adversity is where you learn to keep your heart—and adversity is what builds championship teams.

• Last year, you won 3 games—this year you won 9
• Last year, we scored 21 goals—this year you put in 47 (123% increase)

That’s not just improvement—it’s evidence of a team learning to keep its heart and I can’t wait to see what we can accomplish next year.

Most Improved/Rookie of the Year (Anthony Lautenbach)

• Has more passion than his body can contain.

• He excelled at his position immediately

• He’s also a freshman – this year’s Most Improved player is (NAME)

• Anthony – You’re a fiery little guy.

• You started out playing fullback but when Aiden was injured, you stepped up and filled the centerback position.
• You were always where you needed to be.

• When we played Edgewood, you put your chest in front of two shots from Kade (60+ mph)

• One of my favorite moments was in the last sectional game. I sent Caden to the front which left Anthony as the lone centerback. In the middle of the game Anthony turns to me and says “What are you doing? I can’t do this by myself.”

• Anthony, If you can learn to follow Christ with half of the passion I’ve seen in you, you’ll accomplish great things for Christ.

Golden Boot (Josh Wang)

• With 14 goals this year’s Golden Boot winner is (NAME)

• I’m proud of you. I’ve seen growth in you that is far more important than 14 goals.

• It was really unfortunate that you received a red card in the Shoals game.

• That’s all part of the story that makes you who you are today and who you will be for the rest of your life.

              -Josh was also nominated to be in the Indy Elite North vs. South Showcase.

MVP (Sebastian Gonzalez)

• Had 12 goals, 8 assists, 40 shots on goal, on average, the most completed passes per game.

• This year’s MVP is (NAME)

• Major part of our midfield and a major part of our goal scoring

• If you ever forget when you injured your foot, just look at our schedule.

• 3 out of 5 of our losses and 1 of 2 of our ties occurred after your injury

• Your leadership and concern for the morale and success of the team is something I value very much

• Two of my favorite moments came from you in the first sectional game.

              -Sebastian was also nominated to be in the Indy Elite, North vs. South Showcase

Coach’s Choice (Jeremy Yang)

• Could have been so many of you

• I chose someone who played a position that rarely gets any stats or points

• Someone with no mistakes that led to a goal

This year’s Coach’s Choice winner is… (NAME)

• You made me nervous when you said you didn’t want to play goalie this year, but I have to admit – you’re a better Rightback than a Goalie.

• You also bring a joy to the game.

• To show you how much I appreciate you, I brought you a gift…

Lions Pride/Ballon D’or (Caden Stewart)

• Lions Pride represents leadership through faith, courage, and team sportsmanship

• The Ballon D’or is for individual performance (decisiveness and impact), team achievements (how the team does as a whole) and fair play and good conduct.

The winner of the 2025 Lion’s Pride/Ballon D’or is (NAME)

• This year we lost 3 senior defenders and started a brand new goalie.

• So, I took Caden, stuck him at Centerback and told him to figure it out.

• It took you a few games and a few mistakes, but you figured it out (three other coaches who specifically noted your dominance.)

• Not only did you defend well, you also scored 6 goals

• You scored the first two in our first sectional game.

• And you scored two High IQ goals off direct kicks          

   

• Caden is a hard worker and put everything into this team

Caden was also nominated to be in the Indy Elite, North vs. South Showcase