Saavedra signs with Guilford College

Saeed Saavedra wasn’t quite ready to hang up his cleats when his time as a Granite Bear came to an end.

Saavedra committed to playing soccer at Guilford College at the end of Mount Airy’s 2023 season, then recently made things official by signing his NCAA National Letter of Intent.

“It feels good knowing that all my hard work and effort paid off,” Saavedra said. “I want to thank my family, especially my mom, for pushing me to be better and helping me through all the tough times I had. I want to thank my friends and my coaches at Mount Airy, and also my coach Tom Paschal; he always saw something in me, and I will always be grateful for him.”

Saavedra began playing organized soccer at age 7 and instantly fell in love. He said he knew from the very beginning that he wanted to continue playing the sport as long as possible, and when he learned collegiate soccer was an option that became his main goal.

He began playing travel soccer with Paschal Academy at age 10 and stayed with the team until 2021. Saavedra joined NC Fusion following his freshman year of high school and competed for the club through the end of his senior year.

Saavedra also played youth soccer at Reeves Community Center and with Mount Airy Middle School before joining the high school program.

Cody Atkins took over as Mount Airy High School’s head soccer coach ahead of Saavedra’s senior year, but that wasn’t his first experience coaching the future Guilford Quaker.

“I coached Saeed one year when he was younger in rec league, so I never imagined I would have the opportunity to coach him as a senior,” Atkins said. “I enjoyed coaching him and always got along great with him when he was younger. As a senior it was even better because I could see how much he had grown as a player over all those years.

“I truly enjoyed coaching him during his last high school season and watching him play. I wish I would’ve had the opportunity to coach him from freshman to senior year.”

Saavedra was part of Mount Airy’s Class of 2024 that graduated with the highest four-year winning percentage in school history, 88.5%, by posting an overall record of 77-4-6. The 2024 graduates’ total of 77 wins ranks third in school history.

The Class of 2024 only lost one match per season; two of the program’s losses came against the eventual state champion (Fall 2021, 2023) and the other two were against the eventual 1A West Regional Runner-up (Spring 2021, 2022). The Class of 2024 also won four-consecutive conference championships without losing a match in league play.

Saavedra’s first exposure to high school soccer was the shortened COVID season that began in January 2021. The team only competed in 13 matches that season, but Saavedra saw the field in all 13.

Mount Airy made a huge leap that fall and set numerous school records including single season wins, consecutive wins, home victories and goals scored. The Granite Bears started the season 26-0 before dropping a 1-0 match to the eventual state champions in the 1A West Regional Championship.

Saavedra said external forces hindered his confidence on the field as an underclassman, but he worked to restore it in order to reach his full potential.

“My last two years, especially my senior year, I started getting a lot of that confidence back and played how I knew I could play,” he said.

Saavedra’s role continued to grow as Mount Airy ran it back in 2022. The Bears reached the third round of the state playoffs and finished 22-1-1.

Saavedra made the biggest jump of his career between his junior and senior years after the Class of 2023 graduated 10 players. He and Carter Bray served as the captains of a team filled with young talent — Saavedra on offense and Bray on defense.

“I put a lot of pressure on my two captains this year,” Atkins said. “The players were still trying to get accustomed to a new coaching staff and a new formation. We came in and practically changed everything. I wanted to start fresh, and Saeed and Carter bought into what we were trying to achieve. It was a lot of responsibility, but he and Carter stepped up and both did an unbelievable job leading the team to a successful season.

“They were two of the best captains I have had in any sport over all my years of coaching.”

Saavedra earned all-conference honors by recording 11 goals and 14 assists. Mount Airy finished with a 20-1-2 overall record and won the Northwest 1A Conference Championship with a 12-0 record. The Granite Bears reached the 1A West Regional Semifinal before falling to the eventual state champions.

“My best memories would probably be from my senior year,” Saavedra said. “The best one would be just being the captain of such an amazing young team and proving people wrong.”

Atkins said the signing not only benefited Saavedra’s career, but that it also set the example for younger players looking to do the same.

“I really look forward to watching Saeed play in college,” Atkins said. “I would love to take the team to one of his games to show support and get the experience of watching college soccer. He has a bright future ahead of him, and I think he will continue to have success at the next level. He’s a great young man.”