With the South Medford boys soccer team rising up the ranks, senior Kyle Denn has spearheaded the attack. Despite playing competitive soccer in Oregon for years, he may be a bit of an unknown commodity to some.

After choosing a nontraditional soccer path by training in Europe and primarily playing club ball, Denn has had little exposure to Oregon high school sports and is yet to play in a playoff game.

In 2019, after being a part of the Rogue Valley Timbers and Portland Timbers Development Academy, Denn chose to spend a three-month residency at the TOVO Academy in Barcelona, Spain, at just 13 years old.

“It was gonna be a new experience and something different that I could tackle as a player,” Denn said about the decision to attend TOVO Academy. “It was a new challenge, so that’s why I went to Spain and kept going back.”

TOVO Academy is designed to help soccer players grow their skills and their character. Alumni from the program have played at Division I colleges and even made it to the MLS.

Denn, 17, is outspoken about the positive effect that the program has had on his life.

“Fortunately, I was able to experience it at a young age and it changed my view of soccer, the world and how I think for the better,” said Denn about his time overseas. “Unique is a good word to describe it, because not a lot of players get that opportunity.”

After returning the first time from Spain, he played his freshman year at South Medford in the spring of 2021.

With COVID-19 casting uncertainty at the time, Denn skipped his sophomore and junior seasons to return to Spain for two more residencies to further hone his skills.

Despite the nine-hour time difference, Denn remained a member of the Panthers from afar as he watched as many games as possible and kept in contact with his teammates.

After contemplating going to Spain for a fourth time, he decided to play in his final year of high school and bring the invaluable poise that the European style has taught him.

“Coming back here, the game slows down a little bit and you’re able to play it out more to find better looks,” he said about the pace of American soccer. “Being in a harder environment in Spain, it’s just harder over there because the players are faster and they are bigger, stronger than here.”

For the No. 6-ranked Panthers (8-1-1, 6-1-1 Southwest Conference), Denn has boosted the offense by netting a team-leading 10 goals and tallying four assists to place them second in the conference.

Even with his scoring, the midfielder’s intangibles have been the missing piece on the field that has helped glue everything together.

“He brings the leadership ability and the calmness that the team needs on the field,” South Medford coach Matt Soper said. “It helps us coaches having somebody out there, who is talking all the time and communicating.”

“He helped bring in that maturity and that level of play to the team” he added. “We have a few other good seniors that it molds very well together with.”

From Denn’s perspective, the good vibes from the team has made this transition seamless.

“I think it’s a combination of just a good group of guys,” he said about the culture. “And with that you’re able to do more and you’re able to make more big plays.”

He believes that this year can be special by pushing his teammates to reach their highest potential and take nothing for granted.

“My goal every day is to push my fellow teammates and myself to be better every day,” Denn said. “If we can improve and get better every day, then we’ll be able to go far as a team.”

“Every game matters and we can’t take days off,” he added. “We have to go in and compete with every team like they are the best in the state. We’ve got to go in and work our butts off so that we can compete at the highest level.”