Caleb Gottry attends Chandler Preparatory Academy and is a member of the AIA’s Student SID program.

This year the Chandler Prep Titans say goodbye to four seniors. Four leaders. Four mentors. Four talents. Four friends. Four Titans. These seniors include one of the team’s leading scorers and one of their top defenders. Valuable for Chandler Prep on all parts of the field, the Titans benefit from these young men’s commitment and hard work and they will be missed. The Titans celebrated their seniors after the home game victory against the Benjamin Franklin Chargers on February 23rd. Read aloud were their responses to four questions about past memories and influences as well as words of wisdom for the team and future plans after graduation. The following are some of the responses that stood out. Titan Up.

Question: What are some of your favorite memories or moments from playing Chandler Prep soccer?

Andrei Sheydayi: One of my favorite memories from playing Chandler Prep soccer was when we went to the Prescott tournament when I was a sophomore. As a junior there were many memorable experiences that included the bus breaking down coming back from Thatcher, my shirt being ripped by Thatcher near the start of the season and never being replaced, somehow beating Gilbert Christian 3-2, and Efrain’s first goal from a toe-poke PK.

Ben Richey: My favorite memory from CPA soccer was the first game of the Prescott tournament during my sophomore year. We were playing late at night in 30-degree weather. The wind, the rain, and the terrible field alone were enough to make it memorable, but on top of that in the first half I scored my first varsity goal. Celebrating with my team in those miserable conditions was something I’ll never forget. We went on to win the game 2-1 against a 6A team, and you’d better believe there was a big celebration back at the hotel!

Question: Who were some of your biggest influences at Chandler Prep as a soccer player and scholar athlete?

Efrain Canizales: I would like to thank the coaches for putting in the time to train us during COVID and all that stuff. I would also like to thank my teammates for trying to teach me how to kick a ball off the ground and Andrei for mentoring me before scoring my ultimate game winning penalty kick.

AS: I would like to thank Morgan, the trainer, for helping me get through this season while having injuries. I would like to thank all my teammates, past and present, for making my high school soccer experience a great one. I would like to thank Coach Josh and Coach Micah for doing a great job and also Coach Lytle for hiring them. Most of all, I would like to thank my parents and sister for trying to come to every game and putting me through many years of soccer and always supporting and helping me out in any way they could.

Question: What advice do you leave with next year’s returning players?

BR: The best advice I could give to returning players would be the same advice many seniors from the past have given me: to enjoy the time you have to play while you can. You only get up to four years and you can’t take any of it for granted. You never know when a pandemic might hit and your season gets cancelled.

Reese Vilaboy:. I would tell next year’s returning players to always stay dedicated because dedication is the most important thing to any sport. So always buy into your teammates and coaches and enjoy the times playing the sport. And always remember, stand ‘em up, show ‘em the line, and when you’re in front of the net, you’ve just got to plaster it.

Question: What are your plans for next year – post CPA?

AS: As for college, I am still undecided but am hoping to hear from some schools in California, and will being going into a STEM-related field.

BR: I plan on attending ASU and studying aerospace engineering.

EC: Next year, I plan to study aerospace engineering at ASU’s Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering and will be selling cars part time at Tempe Honda if any of you parents need a car hit my line. I’ll throw in that air freshener for free.

RV: I plan to go to ASU to study Materials Science and Engineering.