Former Sporting Kansas City Academy member Jony Munoz was named the 2019-20 Gatorade National Boys Soccer Player of the Year today, landing the prestigious award for his standout accomplishments on and off the field at Olathe West High School in Olathe, Kansas.
Munoz is the first Gatorade National Player of the Year from the Kansas City area in any sport in the award's 35-year history. He joins a heralded group of former Gatorade National Boys Soccer Player of the Year winners that includes Sporting Kansas City greats Chris Henderson (1988-89), Matt McKeon (1991-92) and Nick Garcia (1996-97) as well as forward Soony Saad (2009-10), who had two separate stints with the club last decade.
A national advisory panel comprised of soccer-specific experts and sports journalists helped select Munoz from nearly half a million high school boys soccer players nationwide. He is now a finalist for the most prestigious award in high school sports, the Gatorade Male High School Athlete of the Year award, which will be announced in July.
Munoz, who graduated from Olathe West this spring, led the Owls to a 20-1 record and the 2019 Class 6A state championship last fall. The forward amassed 36 goals and 19 assists as a senior, including a goal and assist in the team’s 2-1 win over Blue Valley West in the state final. Named the Most Valuable Player of the High School All-American Game in December, Munoz is a former member of the United States U-16 Men’s National Team. Ranked as the No. 135 recruit in the Class of 2020 by TopDrawerSoccer.com, he concluded his two-year prep soccer career with 53 goals and 28 assists.
Away from the soccer field, Munoz participated in a service-mission trip to Mexico last summer to assist underprivileged youth. A guitar player in his church’s worship band, he spearheaded a food drive that collected over 1,000 canned goods for those in need. Also a member of his school’s OWLS student-leadership organization, he won the Olathe Noon Optimist Club’s community leader award.
In the classroom, Munoz has maintained a weighted 3.97 GPA. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to play soccer on scholarship at Liberty University in Virginia.
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate student-athletes, visit www.Gatorade.com/POY.
