Abraham Leyva wants all the goals. All of them. (John Fisken and Dan d’Almeida photos)
Abraham Leyva is the very definition of laid-back.
I swear, before every Coupeville High School boys’ soccer game last year, the same question was always asked, with the very same answer.
“It’s almost game time, where’s Abraham? Where’s Abraaaaaaahaaaaammm!?!?”
“He’s taking a nap, man. He’ll be here…”
And then, sure enough, the most efficient goal-scoring machine in Wolf soccer history would come ambling across the field at the last second, not a single moment of concern or nerves on his relaxed face.
Flip a switch and he would pound home a goal or two (or three), smile spreading slowly across his face, and you would realize not everyone needs to get stressed out in pre-game warm-ups.
When you’re the man, you’re the man, and you just need some Z’s to prep for battle on the pitch.
As Abraham celebrates a birthday today, several months away from his final season of gracefully punching home goals for Coupeville, we should take a moment to celebrate all he’s done.
From the moment he stepped on the pitch at CHS, he has been, as I said previously, a goal-scoring machine.
In his first game as a sophomore, he knocked in a pair of scores in a 3-0 win over Friday Harbor, and he hasn’t stopped finding the back of the net since.
Leyva has 25 goals in two seasons, 11 as a freshman and a school-record 14 last year as a junior.
The one unifying factor about almost all of his goals? They’re pretty.
Abraham plays with flair, gliding across the pitch, and rarely seems to be out of place. He can beat you 10,001 different ways and has repeatedly embarrassed rival defenders and goalies at every level he’s played at.
He’s also a very smart, well-spoken guy, who in between teaching the finer points of the game to his successor, younger brother Aram, is already preparing for the next stage in his life.
After graduation from CHS, Leyva plans to return to his native Mexico and become a doctor and I have little doubt he will just as successful at that as he is operating on the pitch.
So happy birthday, Abraham, enjoy your day and the rest of your senior year.
I look forward to seeing you tear up the pitch one last time, and, like all your fans, simply want to say thank you — for the player you are, and the man you are.
