Sofia Mendes named ABC7 Athlete of the Month for August

BRADENTON, Fla. (WWSB) - This week we present to you our ABC7 Athlete of the Month for August. The honor goes to Southeast High School’s (SEHS) Sofia Mendes.

She’s a senior and volleyball player for Southeast High School. Their 2026 season is underway, and Mendes is the team’s setter. volleyball is not her only extra curricular activity with the Seminoles though.

She’s involved with a number of other organization’s at the school and Mendes said it’s all about getting the most out of her high school experience.

“I just want to make my team shine,” Mendes said. “As a setter, it’s in your hands to run the offense. I want to be able to showcase to everyone what my hitters can do.”

For all of that hard work, we have some something special for her. ABC7 partnered with Carl Reynolds Law to gift Mendes with a check of $500 for being a prime example of what a student-athlete is supposed to be. The surprised happened in one of her classes where classmates serenaded her with applause.

“It feels really great,” Mendes said. “I’m glad I’m being seen for more than just the athletics. It’s for being involved at my school and having good grades.”

Mendes’s head coach tells ABC7 Sports that this team would not be who they are or where they are with Mendez being apart of this.

“Sofia doesn’t let anything get in her head,” Rodriguez said. “So, when things are going a little bit south, she keeps a leveled head. She’s always uplifting her teammates.”

As much as she appreciates this moment, Mendes said that she hopes this is something that will inspire others to always do their best at whatever they do too.

“I think that it’s going to show them that they can do whatever they want to do,” Mendes said. “It shows that you can do many things at once and succeed at all of them.”