DAILY PILOT HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK:

Unlike most athletes, Kyra Graham’s bodily sacrifice wasn’t bumps, bruises, or sore muscles.

It was ugly red splotches on her arms, and glares from her mother.

Last summer, after five years, Graham decided to quit playing for the Newport Beach-based Slammers Futbol Club. The training, the high-stakes competition, the seriousness of it all was just too much for bubbly, wisecracking Graham.

Eschewing the alter of soccer, Graham chose to sacrifice her skin, and, temporarily, her mother’s good graces, to care for animals.

The time she’d been spending in cleats could be dedicated to something else.

Something like breaking out in hives every time she neared one of the greyhounds at the Hemopet rescue and adoption center.

Something like incurring her mother’s irritation when she brought home Ginger to a three-cat household after she was forbidden to do so.

Ginger, by the way, was a mouse. A cute, little brown-and-white one, with a twitchy pink nose.

Ginger lasted for about a week in the Graham household before Kyra’s mother set her cage beside a Dumpster with a sign that read, “Take me home.”

After seeing a television show about mice and their underappreciated intelligence, Graham wanted one of her own.

“I thought I could teach a mouse tricks, and bring it everywhere, so I decided I wanted to get one,” she said earnestly. “I made a poster to prove to her I could get one and she still said no, but I was really mad, so I went out and got one anyway.”

It didn’t take long for Graham, who is allergic to dog saliva, to discover she was more interested in dedicating time to animals than she was to club soccer. She began volunteering at Hemopet even though she’d been playing soccer since she was 6.

Recently, Graham adopted a Weimaraner puppy, Bella, with her mother’s blessing. (Weimaraners are the docile, chocolate-colored dogs that essentially made the career of photographer William Wegman.)

“My mom was fully against it, then she changed her mind randomly and let me get one,” Graham said. “She said it’s my responsibility, and I knew that. I’ve been taking care of her ever since.”

Graham said her allergies have subsided since Bella’s December adoption.

Though she dropped club, Graham still plays soccer for Costa Mesa High, and helped the Mustangs win their sixth straight league title this year. They will face Bonita today at 3 p.m. at Orange Coast College in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division III playoffs.

“The level was too high and it was never any fun,” said Graham, who led the Orange Coast League in scoring. “That’s one of the reasons I love high school soccer. It’s laid back, and it’s more fun, and club wasn’t like that, so I wasn’t into that. I was with [the Slammers] for so long. It was kind of hard to just walk away, but it was something that I wanted.”

The same steely determination that led to Graham’s — albeit short-lived — mouse-parent status, translates to goals on the pitch.

As a junior, Graham scored 10 goals against league opponents and scored 15 goals during the regular season. She also has had six assists.

Last week, she scored a goal in each of the Mustangs’ two wins, the latter coming in a 3-1 victory over Calvary Chapel that secured the Orange Coast League title.

Despite being regularly double- or triple-marked, Graham would still find a way to shoot past opponents.

“Eventually she wore them down, and she still got her scores,” Costa Mesa coach Dan Johnston said. “When they’re spending that much man-power on one player, it opens things up for everyone else.”

Her speed has been confounding.

“She’s always had more speed than even she knows about,” Johnston said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen her run full speed. She always seems to have an extra gear, and that’s just totally disconcerting to defenders. They think they might have her, and then they take one more step and all of a sudden, she’s gone.”

When the soccer team does full-scale scrimmages in practice, Graham and sweeper Kristina Roche are usually on the same team. But in instances where they’re facing off, Roche knows eventually Graham will find a way to zoom by her.

“It’s ridiculous how fast she is,” Roche said. “She can beat anyone. She’s so fast, and she’s so good, it’d be really hard to defend her. I’m glad I’m not on anyone else’s team.”

Even without the clockwork regimen of practice, sleep, and better-than-normal nutrition that club can demand, Graham’s talent has seen her through her third year as a starter for the Mustangs.

According to Johnston, she has what it takes to play college soccer, but Graham’s opting for a different route.

“I wasn’t planning on playing college,” said Graham, though she will play for Costa Mesa next season. “I’m not really as into it anymore as I was when I was younger. I really want to do something with animals when I get older because I love them. I think I’ll really enjoy working with them when I get out of high school. I would never want to operate on them. I’ll probably be a veterinary assistant. But helping animals, that’s what I want to do.”

SORAYA NADIA McDONALD may be reached at (714) 966-4613 or at [email protected].