Editor’s Note: For 20 days in April, the Deseret News will profile 20 elite high school athletes from the 2020 graduating class and how they’re coping with the premature end of senior life on and off the field.
LAYTON — Layton’s Eli Nixon loves to compete. It’s why he’s emerged as one of the best senior soccer players in the state and earned himself a scholarship to play at UVU this fall.
Without high school sports to get that adrenaline rush though, Nixon found other ways to compete while stuck at home over the past five weeks. He’s filled the gap with “a lot of board games and a lot of video games.”
Board games have been a great way the family has tried to stay connected when any of the five older siblings are home. There’s no family favorite either, Nixon said they like them all.
Video games are how Nixon is keeping in touch with his Layton soccer buddies. He said upwards of 10 teammates get on Xbox’s Party Chat and hang out whenever they can, and Nixon’s preferred game is Call of Duty.
When asked who the best Call of Duty player on Layton’s soccer team is, he said, “of course it’s me.”
His teammates may debate and argue that fact in future Party Chats, but on the soccer field there’s little doubt who one of the top 2020 players in Utah is.
When Nixon signed at UVU last November, where he’ll join older brother Aaron Nixon, UVU coach Greg Maas said this about the younger Nixon in the school press release.
“Eli has all of the characteristics necessary to be a very successful striker at the collegiate level. He’s technically sound, has an exceptional change of pace, is explosive, and is a finisher,” said Maas.
As a junior for Layton last year he was named a Deseret News first team all-stater after recording 13 goals and four assists.
Similar production hadn’t been there yet this season as Layton got off to a slow start this spring with an 0-3-1 record and just one goal score. Nixon fully believed his team would eventually get things figured out and be contender in Region 1 and 6A.
“I feel like after a couple games we would’ve picked it back up because a lot of us haven’t even played with each other. There’s probably one or two kids at most that are on the same (club) team, so our chemistry was kind of off, we just had to start working that out, so I feel the more we play the better we would’ve gotten,” said Nixon.
The Lancers, like the rest of the state, will never get that chance now as the season was canceled last week because of COVID-19.
Layton’s last game was a 1-0 loss to Clearfield on Thursday, March 12, the same day the UHSAA announced that it was suspending high school sports for two weeks. Layton coach Rick Talamantez told his players of the suspension at the end of the match, and Nixon just had a hunch that was going to be the end of the season even though technically it was just a two-week suspension.
“There’s no way they’re going to start it up again if they canceled it,” said Nixon.
Despite the lack of practices and matches, Nixon has tried to keep in shape by lifting weights and running a couple miles each day so he’s ready to complete for playing time at UVU this fall.
That bright future has helped him cope with the disappointment of his lost senior high school season.
“High school senior season is a huge thing for everybody, it’s a huge bummer, but I’ll get another senior night in college. It keeps pushing me to keep getting better so when I have another senior night I’ll be ready,” said Nixon.
For now, he’ll keep trash talking his current teammates on Xbox until an opportunity arises when everyone can get together again even if it’s just for a fun pick-up soccer game in the park somewhere.