By Ray Hamill — The game of soccer isn’t the only thing on Rylee Collart’s mind as he gets set for the next exciting chapter in his life and his career, although he’s also quick to point out that it’s a still a big part of it all.

Last week, in front of a large gathering of family, friends, teammates and coaches, the Panthers standout announced his college choice and signed a letter of intent to play for Lake Tahoe Community College after graduation this year.

But while speaking to the gathering, Collart made a point to thank one group of people who have had just as big an impact on his journey as any coach he’s ever played for.

“As much as we’re up here for my commitment to the soccer team, this is also about the next step in my education,” he said.

“For all the teachers that I’ve had in high school through middle school, through elementary school I really appreciate all the work that you gets were willing to give me. 

“Every single one of you guys stayed with me and made sure I’d put that extra work in to get me to a point where I had the opportunity to be top of my class.”

Collart certainly left his mark on the McKinleyville High soccer fields.

As a senior, he helped lead the Panthers to the North Coast Section semifinals, the furthest the program has ever gone in the postseason.

That run included a big victory over H-DNL champion Fortuna in the quarterfinals, a game the senior will not forget any time soon.

“Soccer wise, (what I’ll remember the most is) the 3-0 win against Fortuna during the playoffs,” said Collart, who scored twice in that win. “That was just a really big moment and that’s the farthest we’ve ever gone.

“How everyone felt, the energy behind it … that was the best moment.”

Collart says he considered other college options, including Chico State and College of the Redwoods, but felt Lake Tahoe was the right choice for him for multiple reasons, including one particularly important reason.

His girlfriend, Addi Day, will join him there.

“She picked out Lake Tahoe and said ‘I’d really like to go there,’ and I said, ‘yeah me too, I’d like to go there as well,’” he said with a chuckle, while adding that Chico and CR “both are amazing schools.”

“I just wanted to kind of get out of the area and just experience new things,” he added.

Collart also ran track for the Panthers as a freshman, but he admits soccer holds a special place in his heart.

“I’ve been in soccer cleats ever since I was probably like four years old, ever since I was allowed to play,” he said. “And it wasn’t, I guess, my favorite sport for a long time, but it slowly grew on me and now it’s where I’m going to school and why I’m going to school. So it became my life.”

He also hopes that Lake Tahoe is just the next step in his soccer journey and wants to continue playing the game for as long as possible, including joining a four-year program after his time with the Coyotes.

“The plan is to go from Lake Tahoe college and move on to hopefully a high level D-I school, and then get my bachelor’s degree and compete there and see what happens,” he said. 

“Hopefully the best thing that ever happens (for me) is to be able to go pro and sign a contract. That’s the final goal.”

Putting in the work towards achieving that goal shouldn’t be a problem for a student-athlete that has earned the respect of his teachers as much as they have earned his respect.

“It’s very evident that the work Rylee has put in has paid dividends and will continue to pay dividends for him in the future,” McKinleyville High principal and athletic director Dustin Dutra said.

Collart says he wants to major in statistics and that “if soccer doest work out, I want to stay around the sports world” and do “stats maybe for a big corporation like NBA or NFL.”