Vitor Robazza (11) and the Grace Rams took on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the TSSAA Division II-A state championship game at Richard Siegel Soccer Complex on Friday, May 21, 2026, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Grace won 3-1. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY DAVE LINK
Grace Christian Academy soccer will have the 2025 and ’26 seasons etched in history books for winning boys’ state championships.
Those will always be special seasons for the school.
And it took some special players to make those seasons happen.
Vitor Robazza, a senior forward, was one of those players and the leader of the 2026 team. He was one of several international students on Grace’s 2026 team, including six from Brazil.
“He’s definitely a special player,” Grace Christian coach Isaac Brooks said of Robazza. “He didn’t surprise anybody. Everybody knew he was good, but that’s what makes him so special. Even though people knew he was good and tried to shut him down, he was still able to get out there and really impose his will on the field. He was a phenomenal player for us this year.”
Robazza, the 5Star Preps Boys’ Soccer Player of the Year, was the Rams’ leading scorer with 35 goals and 25 assists in the spring. Brooks said Robazza’s 95 points in 18 games ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 18 in the nation among high school players.
Garza Law is the proud sponsor of All-5Star Preps soccer teams.
Grace Christian (16-1-1) defeated Chattanooga Notre Dame 3-1 in the Division II-A state championship match, and Robazza was selected as GCA’s Athlete of the Year.
The Rams went 4-0 in state Final Fours the past two seasons, their only years reaching the state soccer tournaments.
Robazza didn’t just show up for state, either; he was a standout all season for the Rams, including matches against Hardin Valley Academy (5-2 victory), West High (2-2 draw), and Catholic (2-0 victory).
“It didn’t matter who we played,” Brooks said, “what you saw him do at the state tournament, he did against every single team we played. My assistant (Dylan Halliburton) and I would laugh if they tried to mark him with one guy. It just wasn’t going to happen.”
Notre Dame marked Robazza with several defenders at the same time in the state championship, a rematch of a May 7 region tournament match that ended with a 2-2 tie.
And the Irish tested the composure of Robazza and his teammates with their physical play and verbal taunts. Notre Dame was called for 15 fouls and four Irish players were issued yellow cards during the state final.
“I was super proud of not just him, but all the guys,” Brooks said. “He did a phenomenal job. And it’s tough for a high school kid. As a high school player when I was his age, I don’t know if I could have done it. He stayed composed. He kept his eyes on the prize. He stayed focused. He stayed intense. He stayed confident. When you get into a tough game like that against a really tough opponent like Notre Dame, it takes an extra level to really stay focused, and he was able to do that.”
Brooks said Robazza graduated from Grace Christian and plans to attend Johnson University in South Knoxville this coming school year.
Vicenzo Barbosa, a senior attacking midfielder on Grace’s 2026 team, also plans to attend Johnson University and play soccer. Robazza and Barbosa will be reunited at Johnson University with 2025 GCA graduates Pedro Ungarello and Felipe Evans, Brazilians in the international program and former standout soccer players at Grace.
The Rams’ Pedro Salvador, MVP of the state championship game, is a junior defender from Sao Paulo, Brazil, and plans to attend GCA again in 2026-27.
“They come over and live on campus (at Grace Christian),” Brooks said of the international students. “It’s a great thing. The church sends out a lot of missionaries, but we also bring in individuals. On one hand, it’s great for those individuals.
“They get to come in and experience Grace and all the academic and spiritual life that we have to offer, but then on the other hand, you’ve got a small little school in Karns, Tennessee, and our student body gets to hang out with kids from Thailand, Brazil, and Africa, so even our traditional students are getting to experience a new culture that really has been eye opening for them.”
Brooks said Robazza has the talent and intangibles it takes to thrive in soccer at Johnson University.
“There are a few things that he’ll need to iron out for college, but he does have very good skill and he has enough to make an impact pretty quickly, at least in my opinion,” Brooks said. “The fact that he can go left or right very comfortably and the fact that he can run just as fast as he can dribble, and not many guys can do that, he’s just as fast with the ball, and he’s really fast.
“You’ve got these defenders who are used to seeing guys who are fast, but once they get the ball, they might slow down a little bit, but he’s just as fast with the ball. Especially at the high school level, he’s a guy that most players just haven’t seen before, which for us, is great.”