Being a coach’s kid is never easy.

Being the daughter of one of the most prominent sports figures in Pocatello is another thing entirely.

Peyton Looney knows this all too well. She is the daughter of Idaho State men’s basketball coach Ryan Looney, who is heading into his eighth season at the helm. But that didn’t stop Peyton from making her own name around town.

The recent Highland High School graduate was a three-year starter and two-time first-team All-6A High Country Conference selection for the girls soccer team. The Rams went 56-17-8 (.741), won four league titles and made state every year with her on the roster.

“She definitely does want to make a name for herself,” said Marli Berg, the Utah Avalanche’s ECNL U18 head coach. “For her, it was just like she’s always kind of just put her head down and gone to work.”

Now she’s heading across the Pacific to continue her career at NCAA Division II Hawaii Hilo.

“I’m really happy that I have,” Peyton said of carving her own path. “If people come and watch me play, it’s because of me — not my dad.”

But he did plant the seed — unknowingly.

Ten years ago, Ryan was invited to speak at a coaching clinic in Hawaii. Instead of pocketing the $500 honorarium, he asked for something different — a second plane ticket. He brought along his then 8-year-old daughter.

She never forgot it.

“I’ve always told all my friends and family since I was in middle school that I really wanted to move to Hawaii someday,” Peyton said. “So when they reached out, I really wanted to go.”

But not right away.

Peyton did entertain other offers — Northern Colorado, North Dakota State, Campbell and of course, Idaho State. She even made the short trip across town for a visit with the Bengals. There’s even a photo of her sporting the orange and black alongside her dad. It sits on the desk inside Ryan’s office.

“Sometimes it breaks my heart that she’s going so far away to college,” Ryan said.

But he gets it.

“Just imagine if you were in college still, and everyone on campus feels like they have a direct line to your dad,” he said.

He can laugh about it now.

“It’s my own fault,” Ryan said with a laugh. “It kind of felt destined.”

Peyton fulfilled that by signing with the Vulcans last November.

“If I did go there, people would have been like, ‘Oh, that’s just because your dad,’” she said. “I kind of want to just do this on my own.”

Even with her dad’s career taking her and the family up and down the West Coast.

One of those stops was San Diego, which surprisingly didn’t have a lot of options for basketball during Ryan’s tenure as head coach at Point Loma from 2016-19. He had to create an informal club for Peyton and her younger brother Micah just for them to be able to play.

Soccer, meanwhile, was everywhere.

Peyton started kicking a soccer ball around age 3 — started playing basketball around the same time too. One of her earliest memories is a muddy, chaotic rec league game in Seattle.

“I just remember having fun and loving it,” she said.

That love followed her through every move.

She started playing club soccer in third grade, working her way through state leagues before eventually catching the attention of a Girls Academy (GA) League team in Utah during her freshman year. By the end of that season she had stepped up to the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) — the highest level of youth club soccer in the country — with the Utah Avalanche, a program based in Salt Lake City.

So Peyton quit basketball at the end of her freshman year to focus on soccer full-time.

“She decided a while ago that soccer was her passion,” Ryan said. “It’s been fun to sit back and watch her fully invest every ounce of herself into it.”

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

“She would hate for me to say this,” Ryan said, “but she’s exactly like her dad in almost every way. She has a competitive spirit. She can get a little bit nasty at times. She’s driven to do the best she can in everything she does.”

Even while dealing with some personal struggles — ones she didn’t want to get into. It go so that by the end of her sophomore season, she felt done.

Ryan never thought she’d quit. But he saw the toll it took. Peyton played sparingly her freshman year and out of position the next at Highland.

“I think as a young athlete, those are some of the things she had to work through,” he said.

And she did.

Peyton was a first-team all-conference selection the very next season as a junior. She then repeated that feat this past season with 10 goals and five assists —all while carrying a 4.2 grade-point average.

“I think she got her confidence back and realized to just have fun and play her own game,” said incoming Highland senior Ashlyn Hale. “When she started doing that, she played amazing.”

But that was only the half of it.

Peyton anchored a defense that allowed just 0.90 goals per game — third-best in the 6A classification. Over the three seasons she started, the Rams gave up less than a goal per game.

“If I could have 11 of her all over the field,” Berg said, “I think that’s every coach’s dream come true.”

That was evident at state.

Peyton was battling a fever and the cold had settled into her chest. But she lined up for a penalty kick in overtime of the Class 6A state consolation final against Mountain View.

Her shot was blocked after bouncing off the hands of the Maverick keeper. She raced for the rebound and took another shot. Peyton didn’t miss this time. It was her first-ever goal at state and delivered the Rams their first state trophy since 2020 and just the third in program history.

Not a bad way to go out.

“I didn’t even realize that if I scored, the game was over,” she said. “I just was like, I need to make this. When it came back at me, I just got it back in. I just am so grateful that I was the one that got to take that shot.”

Ryan watched it all unfold on his computer.

“I always joke around with my teams — rebounding should be our single greatest goal,” he said. “No more fitting finale for a child of mine to essentially get a rebound putback to end her high school career.”

While he may have missed that one in person, there were plenty of others he was there for.

When Peyton’s Portneuf Valley Soccer Club (PVSC) team qualified for the state cup during their first year in Pocatello, Ryan cleared his schedule and threw one change of clothes in a bag. He figured the team wasn’t long for the tournament.

Five days later, he was watching the championship game.

“I’m watching out on the field like, ‘Damn, my daughter’s pretty good,”’ he said.

Shortly after, Peyton made Idaho’s Olympic Development team, which opened the door to the Utah Avalanche and the ECNL. It required driving to Salt Lake City several times a week for practice, with fly-outs most weekends for games.

“There’s not very many kids that would be willing to do that,” Berg said.

Ryan made it to as many as he could.

“Those moments are awesome,” he said. “Whether it’s the drive just her and I, there’s been nights in hotels just her and I. It’s been awesome to spend that time with her one on one.”

Seeing her soon join a Hawaii Hilo team coming off two of the best seasons in program history, including the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament victory, well, that’s even better.

“She wants to create her own identity and establish a clear path for herself,” Ryan said. “I have a lot of respect for that.”