Pedro Valladao

Classroom

Pedro Valladao is an accomplished student, maintaining a 3.99 grade-point average while majoring in mechanical engineering and minoring in mathematics. He’s a two-time Academic All-Horizon League honoree and was voted to the Google Cloud Academic All-District 5 Team his junior year. He’s been named to IUPUI’s Academic Advisor’s List all six semesters of his collegiate career and to the Horizon League Academic Honor Roll each semester as well.

He has worked at the IUPUI Mathematics Assistance Center as a tutor, aiding fellow students, and this summer, he completed his first internship, helping conduct energy audits to ensure energy conservation at businesses in Central Indiana.

Character

Valladao’s background is unique in that, coming from Brazil, he was faced with the choice of trying to continue playing at a professional level in his home country or moving to the United States to continue his studies and play collegiately. Knowing he wanted to advance his studies, he took advantage of the opportunity to come to the U.S. and study while continuing to play.

Despite the language barrier, he’s performed at a high level in all facets of being a student. He’s emerged as a leader within the soccer program and even helped navigate a coaching change in the program just prior to his freshman campaign. Now a senior, he’s a known commodity within the department, serving in leadership on the IUPUI Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and as one of the Jaguars’ team captains the past two seasons.

“He’s an incredibly mature, accountable and responsible person,” Head Coach Brian Barnett said. “He’s genuinely invested in terms of trying to assist his teammates in any way he can. He’s incredibly appreciative of his opportunity that’s provided here in the States, which is part of what drives him to be successful on the field and in the classroom.”

Community

Pedro has integrated himself in community initiatives since his arrival on campus, participating in the yearly Jags Reading Club. In that capacity, he has volunteered for weekly meetings at elementary schools, typically reading with kindergarten-aged students once a week. He and his teammates also formed a Real Men Read program with the Indianapolis Public School system, which enters its third year in 2019. As part of the partnership, they’ll visit seven different IPS schools and 16 fourth-grade classrooms, reading to students once a month, while later providing books to the individuals to help build home libraries for students dealing with challenging family conditions.

Valladao, in conjunction with the IUPUI SAAC, helped form an Amazing Grace Formal this past spring that raised money for young lady named Grace, who was fighting pediatric cancer.

Competition

Last season, Valladao helped IUPUI earn the program’s first postseason tournament berth since 2011 and the program’s first conference tournament win since 2007.

For his career, he’s appeared in 53 career matches and made 36 starts. He’s totaled three goals and four assists from his midfield spot in his career, including two game-winning goals. He tallied the game-winner in the Jaguars’ season ending win over Eastern Illinois on November 5, 2016, and also tallied a game-winner against Detroit Mercy on September 8, 2018. He also assisted on the Jaguars’ game-winning goal against Oakland last season, helping secure a spot in the league tournament.

(All stats as of nomination time.)