Jony Muñoz
Jony Muñoz (born 2001 or 2002) is an American college soccer player who plays for Liberty University. Muñoz is the 2020 recipient of the Gatorade Boys' Soccer Player of the Year Award, a national honor recognizing the best high school soccer player in the United States. Prior to joining Liberty's soccer team, Muñoz played high school soccer for Olathe West High School and for the youth academy teams of Toca FC and Sporting Kansas City.
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Jony Muñoz | ||
Date of birth | February 4, 2002 | ||
Place of birth | Olathe, Kansas | ||
Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Liberty Flames | ||
Youth career | |||
Years | Team | ||
2015–2018 | Sporting Kansas City | ||
2018–2020 | Toca FC | ||
2018–2020 | Olathe West Owls | ||
College career | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2020– | Liberty Flames | 0 | (0) |
Career
High school and academy
Muñoz played club soccer for Sporting Kansas City's Academy during his freshman and sophomore years of high school, before playing high school soccer for Olathe West during his junior and senior years.[1] Muñoz, a devout Christian, said the choice was "a God-led decision", which helped him have a more balanced life.[1] During his senior year of high school, Muñoz lead the Owls to a 20–1–0 record, and Kansas Class 6A State Championship, Olathe West's first ever state championship in a team sport.[1] Muñoz played in all 21 matches, scoring 36 goals and dishing out 19 assists his senior year of high school.[1] While in high school, Munoz also played club soccer for Toca FC in the Kansas City metropolitan area.[2]
On June 17, 2020, Muñoz was awarded Gatorade Boys' Soccer Player of the Year Award for the top boys' soccer player in the country.[3][4] He is the first soccer player from the state of Kansas to win the honor.[5][6] He was also named the Gatorade Kansas Player of the Year (2020).[7]
College
Pending developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, Muñoz will begin playing college soccer for Liberty University ahead of the 2020 NCAA Division I men's soccer season.[7]
Personal life
Muñoz is a devout Christian and plays guitar in his church's worship band.[8] With his church, he went on a week-long mission trip to Mexico.[8]
Honors
Individual
- Gatorade Boys' Soccer National Player of the Year Award: 2020
- Gatorade Kansas Player of the Year Award: 2020
Team
- Olathe West High School
- Kansas 6A Boys State High School Soccer Champions: 2019
References
- Clark, Travis (June 22, 2020). "Step of faith leads Munoz to PotY". TopDrawer Soccer. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
- "Current Toca FC Player, Jony Munoz, Named Gatorade National Player of the Year". tocafc.org. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
- Coleman, Madeline (June 23, 2020). "Jony Muñoz Named Gatorade National Boys Soccer Player of the Year". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
- "Munoz named Gatorade Player of the Year". TopDrawer Soccer. June 18, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
- Kovzan, Sam (June 18, 2020). "Former Sporting KC Academy member Jony Munoz named Gatorade National Player of the Year". SportingKC.com. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
- Goodwin, Shaun (June 19, 2020). "Surprise! Olathe West soccer star receives elite national award via secret presentation". Kansas City Star. kansascity.com. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
- Oberholtz, Chris (June 18, 2020). "Olathe West's Jony Munoz named National Gatorade Player of the Year". Retrieved June 28, 2020.
- @DMVSoccer96 (June 26, 2020). "@jonymunozz (53 career goals and 28 assists) helped @MattTrumpp (20-1) win the 6A Kansas State Championship with a goal and assist in the final, a 2-1 win! Munoz was also named the MVP of the High School All-American game this past December" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
External links
- Jony Munoz at TopDrawer Soccer