 | Brayan Martinez has not turned the American game on its head, but he has added his own strikes of electricity to the normal brand. Andrea Fischman/RISE |
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By Chad Konecky, Special to SI.com, RISE
It's a bit of a paradox, but the way Brayan Martinez of West Orange (N.J.) plays the game is the antithesis of American-style soccer at the highest levels. Be that as it may, he's now the American high school game's brightest star -- today the recipient of Gatorade National Player of the Year honors.
Adore it or abhor it, U.S. soccer is about ball possession and athleticism deployed within an industrious, deliberate system from goal mouth to goal mouth. As sensible and unassuming as the family car. By comparison, Martinez's game is as electric as it is unbridled. More thoroughbred than mere horsepower. An artist as opposed to an artisan, a humbled and momentarily contemplative Martinez accepted the award at a ceremony in West Orange, New Jersey, today with the class and grace that helped him stand out from 49 competing Gatorade Boys' Soccer Player of the Year state winners in 2006-07.
"I can't believe I'm being awarded this honor -- it's hard to really accept that it's happened," said the 5-foot-9 and 150-pound midfielder, who pronounces his first name 'Brian.' "I'm so thankful. I'm thankful for my teammates and my family and my friends, who've all made this possible."
Martinez is the fourth New Jersey player to win Gatorade National Soccer Player of the Year honors, joining former U.S. Men's National Team captain Claudio Renya (1990-91, St. Benedict's Prep (Newark, N.J.), former MLS All-Star Alecko Eskandarian (1999-2000, Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.) and Olympic gold medalist and two-time collegiate national champion Heather O'Reilly (2002-03, East Brunswick (N.J).
Martinez, who turns 19 this December, was chosen from more than 358,000 high school boys soccer players, nationwide. He is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade Male High School Athlete of the Year Award, to be presented at a special Hollywood ceremony the afternoon prior to The ESPY Awards in July.
The ambitious, flamboyant playmaker scored 21 goals and 21 assists this season in leading West Orange to a 24-1 record, their first-ever Group IV state championship and first-ever national ranking (No. 17 in National Soccer Coaches Association of America/adidas Top 25). Despite missing eight games this past fall with a knee injury, Martinez returned to record eight goals and five assists in the Mountaineers' postseason run to the state title, including two goals in the 3-0 victory over Manalapan in the title game. He scored 26 goals and passed for 30 assists as a junior, and was named a NSCAA/adidas All-American and Newark Star Ledger Player of the Year in both 2005 and 2006.
After scoring 10 goals and passing for 15 assists in his freshman season at neighboring Orange High, Martinez finished his three-year career at West Orange with 85 goals and 90 assists and led the team to a 65-6 record in his tenure -- winning three conference titles, one county title and two state sectional titles as well this past season's state championship. He also competes in club soccer ranks for the prestigious Player Development Academy's (PDA) Under-18 Vieira squad.
"He plays with joy and his love for the game is contagious," said PDA Director Gerry McKeown. "He's willing to try special things in really good, really close games. Most elite guys will push the envelope during training or during a blowout, but Brayan isn't afraid to go for it when the game is on the line. He scores important goals, but more importantly, he makes the guys around him better. He's willing to take people on and break down defenses by himself. That's a special player in U.S. soccer."
Born in Uruguay, Martinez has maintained a B average in the classroom despite beginning to learn the English language in his freshman year of high school, where he was quickly promoted out of the ESL curriculum. He serves as a volunteer coach at area youth soccer camps and tournaments, and also squeezes two part-time jobs into his jam-packed schedule. Martinez will attend Seton Hall University on a soccer scholarship this fall.
National winners are selected not only for their outstanding athletic performance, but also for meeting high academic-achievement standards while demonstrating exemplary personal character on and off the field. The selection process is administered by RISE, which works with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport, from which the national winner is chosen. U.S. Youth Soccer, the United States Soccer Federation's affiliated national governing body for the sport at the youth level, served as the sport-specific chair of RISE's 2006-07 soccer selection.
Gatorade's five previous national boys' soccer winners?Michigan's Eric Alexander (Indiana University), Texas's Lee Nguyen (PSV Eindhoven, The Netherlands), Massachusetts's Patrick Phelan (Wake Forest University), California's Greg Dalby (Colorado Rapids) and California's Jordan Harvey (Colorado Rapids) -- are playing the game at either the highest levels of collegiate Division I competition or professionally, stateside in the MLS and abroad.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program recognizes one winner in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia that sanction high school football, girls' volleyball, boys' and girls' soccer, boys' and girls' basketball, baseball, softball, and boys' and girls' track & field.
