BG’s Matendo named Gatorade Player of the Year
Published 10:47 am Monday, June 15, 2026
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Bowling Green senior Byaombe Matendo (24) passes the ball to senior Joram Valle (9) in the Purples’ 4-1 win over the Dragons at The Pit at BGJHS on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS (Grace McDowell)
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Bowling Green’s Byaombe Matendo (24) attempts to move around St. Xavier’s Luke Petter (25) during St. Xavier’s 1-0 win over Bowling Green in the KHSAA state quarterfinals on Saturday, October, 25, 2025 at Bowling Green Junior High School.. (Caleb Lowndes / Daily News)
Bowling Green’s Byaombe Matendo has been named the 2025-26 Gatorade Kentucky Boys’ Soccer Player of the Year.
A 6-foot, 170-pound senior this past season, Matendo led the Purples to a 17-2 record and KHSAA state tournament quarterfinals in his final high school season. As a defensive midfielder, Matendo helped protect a backline that tallied 13 shutouts and surrendered only six goals in 19 games. He also scored eight goals and tallied four assists.
“Byaombe is one of the most deserving players for this award I have ever coached,” said former Bowling Green coach Craig Widener, who worked with Matendo all three seasons he played for the Purples before stepping down as BG’s coach after the season. “One the field he was the center of everything we did. He was instrumental in shutting down the other team going forward and then starting our attack and he did it all with a smile on his face.
“As our captain, he led by example. Always positive, always keeping the big picture in mind, always making sure to celebrate everyone else’s accomplishments. I’ve always heard good things happen to good people, but I’ve rarely seen it. Byaombe is an excellent player, but an even better person. He deserves all the recognition he can get for both of those traits.”
Matendo was also named the Kentucky High School Coaches Association’s Defensive Player of the Year and was selected as a 2025-26 United Soccer Coaches All-American.
“Byaombe was by far the best (defensive) center midfielder we saw all season,” South Warren boys’ soccer coach Tom Alexander said in a news release. “He’s such a smart player who rarely loses the ball in possession. He’s also always in the correct spots defensively, winning challenges, intercepting passes and then starting so many of their counter attacks. On set pieces, he was dangerous with his timing of runs and size as well.”
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Matendo is a student ambassador for English language-learner peers and has donated his time mentoring a second grade student who immigrated from Tanzania. He also serves as a tutor for elementary students and as a youth soccer coach.
In the classroom, Matendo maintained a 3.89 GPA. He has signed a letter of athletic aide to play soccer on scholarship at Transylvania this fall.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one state winner from each of the 50 states and Washington D.C., in 12 different sports: football, girls’ volleyball, boys’ and girls’ cross country, boys’ and girls’ basketball, baseball, softball, boys’ and girls’ soccer, and boys’ and girls’ track & field. In total, 610 high school athletes are honored each year.
From the pool of state winners, one national winner is selected in each of the 12 sports. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which utilizes experts including coaches, scouts,
media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the winners in each sport.
As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner. To date, the Gatorade Player of the Year program has provided more than $6.4 million in grants to winners across more than 2,200 organizations.
