Caddo Magnet’s Baltov makes Shreveport area history with Gatorade POY

Nairavoice | Jun 30, 2026 1h ago 63 0 3 min read

Caddo Magnet’s Baltov makes Shreveport area history with Gatorade POY

Recent Caddo Magnet graduate Isabella Baltov made Shreveport-area history Tuesday, June 30, when she was named the 2025-26 Gatorade Louisiana Girls Soccer Player of the Year.

She becomes the first soccer player from Shreveport and Bossier City to earn the postseason award in the 41 years Gatorade has been handing them out.

The 2025-26 Shreveport Times/Coaches All-Metro girls soccer team overall MVP was impressive throughout her career, setting the Caddo Parish record for career goals with 174 while averaging three in the net per game. Baltov is Magnet’s inaugural 3-year captain and has been an all-state selection every year. She also posted 74 career assists.

The Gatorade recognition is one of the highest honors in high school sports as it celebrates the nation’s best high school athletes for their excellence in sport, academics and community. Baltov joins Calvary’s Kynzee Anderson (softball), Cedar Creek’s Kade Luker and Ruston’s Ahmad Hudson (boys basketball) as 2025-26 Gatorade recipients from Northwest Louisiana.

“Isabella Baltov is a nightmare for opposing teams to deal with,” said Captain Shreve coach Erik Lane. “She has the ability to chop up defenders, unbalance teams and unleash rockets from 30 yards with either foot. But what sets her apart is her ability to scan the field while under pressure and find the player who should receive the ball, which leaves opponents unable to over-play her.”

A four-time Times All-Metro and LHSAA All-State first team selection and two-time Times All-Metro MVP, she was named the All-State MVP as a senior.

Baltov co-founded the Red Cross Club of Shreveport, which has helped raise funds for vaccination and post-natural disaster needs. She has volunteered locally by helping to install smoke detectors in impoverished neighborhoods.

Baltov has maintained a 4.19 weighted GPA in the classroom and has signed scholarship papers to play soccer at McNeese State this fall.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one state winner from each of the 50 states and Washington D.C., in 12 different sports. In total, 610 high school athletes are honored each year. From the pool of state winners, one national winner is selected in each of the 12 sports. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee.

Baltov joins an elite legacy that spans professional athletes and coaches to CEOs, such as Mallory Swanson (2014-15, Mountain Vista High School, Colorado), Riley Jackson (2021-22, Blessed Trinity Catholic High School, Georgia) and Addison Halpern (2024-25, Rutgers Preparatory School, New Jersey).