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Jayden Bailey capped off his best season yet with the Callaway boys soccer team by being named Region 2-2A player of the year.

“Coach (Mike) Petite texted me one morning and was like ‘hey, did you check the All-Region list, you won Region Player of the Year’ and honestly I thought he was joking at first,” Bailey said. “It meant a lot to me, it shows that people are noticing all the hard work that I’m putting in.”

This was far from the only accolade that Bailey accumulated for his stellar junior season. The attacking midfielder was also named to the all-region team and earned GACA All-State honors, playing in the All-State game earlier this month. 

“I set these goals for myself before the season started, and I’ve put in a lot of work to get here, but you just never know how it will play out,” he explained. 

Bailey’s numbers stack up with the best from around the state in 2A in 2025. The rising senior led the Cavaliers with 22 goals and 14 assists.

“I feel like it was my best season yet, but I still have room for improvement,” he said. “I’ve really been working on some of the little things with my footwork and technique.”

Even with all the accolades coming his way, his proudest achievement for the 2025 season was helping the Cavaliers win their first playoff game in four years, marking his first playoff win in red and black when Callaway won a penalty kick shootout in the opening round against Hart County.

“It was the first playoff win since I got here, and I don’t even know how to describe the feeling,” Bailey said. “To celebrate with the baseball team and everybody here at home was something I am going to remember forever.”

Callaway will demand even more of Bailey next year. The expectation is that Bailey will be the vocal leader of the team, especially with the departure of Braidyn Morris.

“It helps that I’m not the only leader on the team, and for the most part, the guys are willing to listen,” Bailey said.

Bailey would love to win 2A Player of the Year in his final season with the Cavaliers, but his main goal lies elsewhere. With Callaway making just one Elite 8 appearance in its program history (over a decade ago), Bailey wants to match or better that to leave a new standard for the program going forward.

“We came close this year and really felt like we should have won in the Sweet 16, we scored first and felt like we could have played better,” Bailey said of the Cavaliers’ 3-1 loss to Crips County in the playoffs. “We have all the pieces to make a deep run next year.”

Soccer is truly year-round for Bailey, who plays with the Callaway 7v7 team in the summer as well as his club team, UMA FC, when he is not in the school season. 

In a little over a year’s time, Bailey hopes to be preparing for his freshman year on the soccer field in college, but his feet are firmly rooted in the present, working to get better for his senior season.