DTSMA's Ellison Haynes Named Gatorade Soccer Player of Year

LAFAYETTE, La. — Ellison Haynes has been named the 2025-26 Gatorade Louisiana Boys Soccer Player of the Year, the top individual honor in high school sports, after a senior season that left the David Thibodaux STEM Magnet Academy record book rewritten in his name.

The 6-foot, 155-pound forward scored 39 goals and added 11 assists this past season, leading the Bulldogs to a 14-7-1 record and a Division II regional final appearance. Both marks broke Thibodaux program records: 39 goals in a single season, and 64 for his career.

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A Record-Breaking Senior Season

Haynes closed out his high school career the way he spent most of it, in the middle of the action. He scored a goal and added an assist in his final game, a 4-2 loss to Central Lafourche in the regional final. He graduates as a three-time All-State selection and the Division II All-State Offensive MVP.

His head coach, Derek Menard, called Haynes a "tremendous player."

"He's big, strong, and fast with a great first touch and no weak foot," the coach said. "But his humility is his most impressive quality. He's a great teammate who always put team goals over his own. I can think of no more deserving winner."

The Path to Germany

Haynes earned varsity minutes as an eighth grader at DTSMA and, as a freshman, collected All-State and Freshman All-State honors. His coach saw the talent early.

“Even when he was just a 6th grader, I knew he was eventually going to become one of the best players our school has ever seen,” Menard said in 2023 when Haynes was invited to play overseas. “He has that rare blend of extraordinary physical gifts and an unrelenting work ethic.”

Heading into his sophomore year, that track record helped land him one of 18 spots nationwide, and the only one from Louisiana, in the FC Bayern Munich Global Academy through the International Soccer Academy program. Haynes said he found the opportunity scrolling through Instagram and applied on his own after reading about it, submitting an application, two coach recommendation letters and a highlight reel his sister put together.

Credit: Derek Menard, David Thibodaux Soccer

Haynes and his family launched a fundraising push through the Cajun Rush Soccer Club to help cover the cost of the program, which began September 1, 2023, and carried him through portions of both his sophomore and junior years before he returned to Thibodaux for his senior season.

In an interview with Lafayette Parish School System ahead of his departure, Haynes and his mother, Erika Haynes, described the moment they learned he’d made the academy. “I genuinely couldn’t believe it at first,” Haynes said. “I thought I was dreaming. But yeah, I was really excited.”

Haynes trained roughly two hours every weekday in Germany while completing coursework online for four to five hours each afternoon, a schedule his family worked out with LPSS administrators before he left. He also told the district that aviation, not soccer, was his first love growing up. Before soccer took over, his plan was the Air Force and eventually a career as a commercial pilot.

On To Xavier University

Haynes has signed a letter of athletic aid to play college soccer at Xavier University of Louisiana this fall, continuing his career in New Orleans after wrapping up a 3.53 GPA in the classroom at Thibodaux.

“Being signed to Xavier is a privilege,” Haynes told local station KLFY, which covered his signing in May. “I’m happy to be blessed with the opportunity like that. Being offered from them, that’s very exciting considering that I get to continue my soccer journey into college.”

Giving Back Off The Field

Away from the pitch, Haynes has volunteered with Catholic Charities of Acadiana at the St. Joseph’s Diner soup kitchen and served as a guest speaker and ambassador for the Positively Affirmed Youth Mental Health Summit, an organization working to destigmatize youth mental health.

Lafayette Parish School System celebrated the honor, saying Haynes continues to show what it means to “Experience the Difference” at LPSS.

As part of the award, Haynes also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner of his choosing, a tradition of the Gatorade Player of the Year program that has provided more than $6.4 million to organizations nationwide since its inception.

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