Grand Junction High School’s very own Abram Sanchez signed his National Letter of Intent Wednesday, February 8, 2018, to continue his soccer career and education at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, Colorado. Sanchez is no stranger to GJHS. In the 2018 season as striker, he scored a standout total of 15 goals accompanied by 9 assists. He would then help lead his team to a quarterfinals appearance in the 2017 Colorado 5A Boy’s Soccer State Playoffs where they would suffer a devastating 1-0 loss to Denver East High School.

All the great competitors have to start somewhere, winning and losing some.

“I started playing when I was 6 or 7,” said Sanchez. After years of enduring the grind, it was time for Sanchez to open a new chapter in his life. Staying close to home, Sanchez fell in love with what Mesa had to offer academically and athletically.

“I didn’t consider any other school, just Mesa. I’ll be studying mechanical engineering, and I like how it’s really close to home. It’s a small campus with really good programs, and overall their soccer program is very talented as well,” Sanchez said.

Because Sanchez is headed off to Mesa, it really exposes his love for the game and what he’ll bring to the program.

“I love a lot of the team play, being close with your teammates, and working together to win games and win big things with each other. I’ll also bring a lot of determination and hard work to make myself great for what the team needs to the program,” Sanchez said.

 At the same time, Sanchez has a very bold goal set. “I would like to be a starting forward or anywhere in my position and make an impact on the team,” Sanchez said. To reach his goal he must be aware of his strengths and his areas of improvement. “My biggest strength is goal scoring because I like to score. My biggest improvements I need to make are reading the game and trying to play make more. Also working with teammates and especially helping the team on the defensive side as well.”

After a chapter in life is closed, a new one is always opened. For Sanchez, there are big future plans after CMU.

“We’ll see what the future holds. If I could even go on to play after college, that would be awesome, but other than that I’ll just find a nice career in engineering,” Sanchez said.