Just before the new year, Latu Kayira '27 was named to the inaugural High School on SI Prep School All-America boys soccer team that “recognizes the very best players from a prep school landscape that represents one of the highest concentrations of elite talent in the U.S.,” according to the Sports Illustrated site.

“I’m very excited,” he said on Friday. “It was a great surprise. I actually did not know until yesterday!”

What was the first thing the midfielder from Lilongwe, Malawi did upon hearing the news? “I called my mom,” Kayira said. “Just because they're so far away.”

“Obviously coming so far from home and achieving stuff like this, there are a lot of kids back home who I want to like be a role model for,” he added. “So, it's a great achievement and I'm very, very proud of it.”

One of the 12 players named to the third team, the Ascent Soccer Club star still has another year at Brooks before he heads to Duke University, which is, of course, great for Brooks boys soccer, according to head coach Matt Carroll.

“Latu has an innate ability to galvanize a group of players by just infusing energy and confidence and patience,” said Carroll. “If he brings the same energy to a practice that he does to a game, because of his ability, players will see that and say, ‘Well, shoot, I can't not rise to the occasion and provide the same amount of commitment that he has.’ [This year] we as a team benefited immensely because of his ability to play to that occasion and set the standard for what the players should provide.”

For Kayira’s play this fall — including 11 goals and nine assists — he earned All ISL First Team recognition, along with teammates Jax Cloutier ’28 and Fernando Rivas-Lora ’27, and was honored with All-NEPSAC and NEPSAC JR All Star status, along with Rivas-Lora ’27 (who was recognized in the High School on SI Prep School All-America list, too, with an honorable mention).

Carroll noted that the fifth-former’s “tremendous amount of growth off the field” as a leader made a real impact this season, which ended in a heartbreaking loss to Vermont Academy that came down to penalty kicks in the NEPSAC Class B quarterfinals at home.

“From his affect with younger players, to gaining the respect of seniors, it allowed him to play freely and maximize his talent to the best of his ability,” said the coach. “I mean, there are goals that he scored this season that I don't think I've seen a high school player score in my 17 years of coaching. It was unbelievable.”

Learn more about athletics at Brooks on brooksschool.org.