With nothing but athletic tape to support his now-broken arm, Mason Kutch plays through the pain to help his team secure the soccer state championship. Kutch’s willpower to finish the match strong and dedicate all his efforts to soccer played a huge role when he was chosen to receive one of the most prestigious sports awards in the state of Texas, and continues to serve as an influential leader on the team.
Kutch is the center attacking midfielder and is one of two team captains on the Varsity Boys Soccer team. Kutch not only won the Gatorade Texas Player of the year, but other achievements like the United Soccer Coaches High School All-American Award. Kutch committed to DePaul University, a division one college in Illinois, and will start in the fall. Kutch and his team will play over the next few months, but one of the most important district games will be hosted at Children’s Health Stadium in Prosper, TX, against Lovejoy on Feb. 24.
“I ended the 2025 season with 37 goals and 21 assists,” Kutch said. “I thought that was going to be the biggest thing, but then I got the Gatorade Player of the Year for high school soccer, and that was even bigger.”
Kutch was one out of two juniors to receive the award for their respective states. However, Kutch has had to work through a lot to get to this point in his soccer career.
“Three years ago, I wasn’t playing a lot, and my confidence was low,” Kutch said. “There were times I was thinking about quitting soccer.”
For a few years because other players started growing more athletic faster, he sat a full season on the bench after switching club teams, was constantly doubted, and he lost self-confidence in his playing abilities. Him and his dad would discuss how to take care of the things you can control and keep improving one moment at a time.
“His confidence started to rise,” head boys soccer coach and Mason’s father, Trenton Kutch said. “He started to realize he could do these things physically as well. Since then, it’s just been the sky’s limit.”
Kutch rapidly improved his technical playing abilities, and when he and his dad moved to the school for the head coaching opportunity, that was yet another challenge that Kutch had to work through.
“There have been some heated discussions over the last four years,” Coach Kutch said. “Learning to separate the field and school from your home life is challenging.”
His father is one of Kutch’s biggest supporters, but as he is the son of the head coach, there is a lot of pressure. Both say it was hard when they would argue on the field, and unlike other players, bring that argument home.
“If it was not him, and it was some other kid on the team, I would be talking him up like crazy,” Coach Kutch said. “But because he’s my son, and because of everything he’s accomplished, it’s kind of hard to go out there and boast about it.”
There have been those who make jokes and think that Kutch’s success is due to his dad’s role as coach. They have not seen the early mornings and late nights spent training to become better every day.
“A lot of the jokes aren’t real,” team co-captain Quinn Shelton said. “Most of the time, he’s held more accountable than the rest of the team and has worked extremely hard for the position he has now.”
Kutch follows an intense, daily routine that sets him apart from others. He wakes up at 5:30 a.m, goes to the gym, goes to school, practices soccer during school, goes to club practice, and plays in club tournaments and school matches. His hard work has paid off as he is going to play soccer at the division one level in college.
“My dad always says that if you act like the rest, you’re gonna be like the rest,” Kutch said. “So I cannot act like everyone else.”
As Kutch has been a key player on the team for the past 3 years due to his consistent hard work, he has become a leader to others and has earned his spot as team captain.
“Physically, it’s nothing much more than a band on your arm,” Kutch said. “There is a responsibility that comes with it, and you need to make sure they’re doing the right things consistently without tearing your teammates down. It’s a balance you have to learn how to do.”
As the team is playoff bound and have yet to lose a match, Kutch continues to work hard and hopes to achieve what he and the team before him accomplished.
“I don’t want to be satisfied with just a tie,” Kutch said. “I want to make history.”
