December’s Athlete of the Month honor was awarded to senior Ryan Miao, the captain of the boy’s varsity soccer team.

Miao is extremely dedicated to soccer and always tries his best. “He is the type of player that will not tell me he’s injured because he knows the role he plays…[instead, he will] keep his mouth shut in order to help the team,” boys’ soccer head Coach Fred Martinez said.

Additionally, one of Miao’s strengths is communication. “He’s always communicating with us on and off the field…Especially on the field, he’s really loud,” varsity soccer player Christian Yu said. 

Communication in sports is the backbone that allows a team to work together and succeed.

According to Yu, Miao is a leader who is always driving the team to be better. Miao also always keeps them thinking positively and doesn’t dwell on the negative.

To stay motivated during a loss, Miao talks about the importance of learning from mistakes. “When you lose, it’s really a win because you’re learning how to play better for the next one,” Miao said.

The biggest lesson that Miao has learned through soccer is about hard work. “The hardest thing about being an athlete is that…no matter how much work you put in, if you don’t get results, you’re not working hard enough,” Miao said.

Therefore, according to Miao, if you put in actual hard work, you are bound to see results.

So what inspires Miao to be the best player he can be? His teammates. They make sure Miao is always working hard and make him want to be the best player he can be.

Furthermore, Miao’s younger self also motivates him. The passion he had growing up motivates him to keep playing and makes his younger self his biggest inspiration.

Moreover, according to Martinez, Miao deserves the title of Athlete of the Month because he is very responsible and a true leader. “He doesn’t need the captain’s band for the boys to respond to him, he commands attention just by his presence,” Martinez said.

Miao is also very dedicated to his team. He always puts in 100% effort both on and off the field.

According to Yu, Miao plays a key role on the team. “He’s a big part of our team, not only as a player, kind of like one of those players on the team that connect us…Ryan is like a keystone in our team,” Yu said. 

Additionally, Miao is one of the players Yu looks up to and sees doing the work behind the scenes.  

Miao’s favorite part about soccer is the team aspect. He has grown really close to his teammates and playing with them makes soccer much more fun, as is true for any sport.

Miao is going to keep playing soccer to the best of his abilities and help lead his team until he graduates from Woodbridge High next semester.