The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. [1] [2] They are given for boys baseball, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls cross country, boys football, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls track & field, girls softball, and girls volleyball. [1]
A "State Player of the Year" award is given to the best student-athlete in each of the twelve sports in the District of Columbia and each of the fifty states, where each sport is recognized as an interscholastic sport. [3] Selection is based on three criteria: athletic achievement, academic excellence, and exemplary character (including sportsmanship, and participation in community and other activities). [3] Twelve "National Player of the Year" awards are then given, to the best student-athlete in each of the twelve sports, chosen from the state winners in the respective sport. [4]
Finally, one male Athlete of the Year and one female Athlete of the Year are selected from the twelve National Player of the Year recipients. [5] The two winners are voted on by a national panel with about 400 sports journalists, coaches, and others. [3] The two athletes of the year(Ethan Range and Micheal Swiney) receive their awards at a special ceremony prior to The ESPY Awards in Los Angeles. [3]
The Gatorade Company established the awards in 1986. [1] The selection process was administered by ESPN RISE which was ESPN's division for high-school sports. The selection process is currently run by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee. [1]
Past national winners include Peyton Manning and Emmitt Smith for football, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant for basketball, Allyson Felix for track and field, and Kerri Walsh for volleyball.
Awards include: [note 1]
Awards include: [note 2]
Year | Winner | Hometown | College |
---|---|---|---|
1986 | Gary Sheffield | Tampa, FL | Did not attend |
1987 | Willie Banks | Jersey City, NJ | |
1988 | Mark Lewis | Hamilton, OH | |
1989 | Jeff Jackson | Chicago, IL | |
1990 | Todd Van Poppel | Arlington, TX | |
1991 | Brian Barber | Orlando, FL | |
1992 | A. J. Hinch | Midwest City, OK | Stanford |
1993 | Alex Rodriguez | Miami, FL | Did not attend |
1994 | Doug Million | Sarasota, FL | Miami |
1995 | Chad Hutchinson | San Diego, CA | Stanford (football) |
1996 | Matt White | Waynesboro, PA | Did not attend |
1997 | Darnell McDonald | Englewood, CO | |
1998 | Drew Henson | Brighton, MI | Michigan (football) |
1999 | B. J. Garbe | Moses Lake, WA | Did not attend |
2000 | Jason Stokes | Coppell, TX | |
2001 | Casey Kotchman | Seminole, FL | |
2002 | Zack Greinke | Apopka, FL | |
2003 | Chris Lubanski | Collegeville, PA | |
2004 | Mark Rogers | Topsham, ME | |
2005 | Justin Upton | Chesapeake, VA | |
2006 | Clayton Kershaw | Dallas, TX | |
2007 | Rick Porcello | West Orange, NJ | |
2008 | Kyle Skipworth | Riverside, CA | |
2009 | Matt Hobgood | Norco, CA | |
2010 | Kaleb Cowart | Adel, GA | |
2011 | Dylan Bundy | Owasso, OK | |
2012 | Lance McCullers Jr. | Tampa, FL | |
2013 | Clint Frazier | Loganville, GA | |
2014 | Justus Sheffield | Tullahoma, TN | |
2015 | Luken Baker | Conroe, TX | TCU |
2016 | Kyle Muller | Dallas, TX | Did not attend |
2017 | MacKenzie Gore | Whiteville, NC | |
2018 | Ryan Weathers | Loretto, TN | |
2019 | Bobby Witt Jr. | Colleyville, TX | |
2020 | Jared Kelley | Refugio, TX | |
2021 | Dylan Lesko | Buford, GA | |
2022 | Brock Porter | Orchard Lake Village, MI | |
2023 | Max Clark | Franklin, IN |
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Year | Winner | Hometown | College |
---|---|---|---|
1986 | Jeff George | Indianapolis, IN | Purdue / Illinois |
1987 | Emmitt Smith | Pensacola, FL | Florida |
1988 | Curtis Bray | Monroeville, PA | Pittsburgh |
1989 | Terry Kirby | Tabb, VA | Virginia |
1990 | Robert Smith | Euclid, OH | Ohio State |
1991 | Marquette Smith | Winter Park, FL | Florida State / Central Florida |
1992 | Chris Walsh | St. Paul, MN | Miami (FL) / Minnesota |
1993 | Ron Powlus | Berwick, PA | Notre Dame |
1994 | Peyton Manning | New Orleans, LA | Tennessee |
1995 | Brock Huard | Puyallup, WA | Washington |
1996 | Tim Couch | Hyden, KY | Kentucky |
1997 | Travis Minor | Baton Rouge, LA | Florida State |
1998 | Ronald Curry | Hampton, VA | North Carolina (football and basketball) |
1999 | Chris Lewis | Long Beach, CA | Stanford |
2000 | Brock Berlin | Shreveport, LA | Florida / Miami (FL) |
2001 | Joe Mauer | St. Paul, MN | Did not attend |
2002 | Lorenzo Booker | Oxnard, CA | Florida State |
2003 | Kyle Wright | Danville, CA | Miami (FL) |
2004 | Jeff Byers | Fort Collins, CO | USC |
2005 | Greg Paulus | Syracuse, NY | Duke (basketball) / Syracuse |
2006 | Mitch Mustain | Springdale, AR | Arkansas / USC |
2007 | John Brantley | Ocala, FL | Florida |
2008 | Matt Barkley | Santa Ana, CA | USC |
2009 | Garrett Gilbert | Austin, TX | Texas / SMU |
2010 | Malcolm Jones | Westlake Village, CA | UCLA |
2011 | Justin Worley | Rock Hill, SC | Tennessee |
2012 | Johnathan Gray | Aledo, TX | Texas |
2013 | Max Browne | Sammamish, WA | USC / Pittsburgh |
2014 | Andrew Brown | Chesapeake, VA | Virginia |
2015 | Kyler Murray | Allen, TX | Texas A&M / Oklahoma |
2016 | Jacob Eason | Lake Stevens, WA | Georgia / Washington |
2017 | Tate Martell | Las Vegas, NV | Ohio State / Miami (FL) / UNLV |
2018 | J. T. Daniels | Santa Ana, CA | USC / Georgia / West Virginia / Rice |
2019 | Jake Smith | Scottsdale, AZ | Texas / USC / Arizona State |
2020 | Arik Gilbert | Marietta, GA | LSU / Georgia / Nebraska |
2021 | Jaxson Dart | Draper, UT | USC / Ole Miss |
2022 | Nick Singleton | Shillington, PA | Penn State |
2023 | Jackson Arnold | Denton, TX | Oklahoma |
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Year | Winner | Hometown | College |
---|---|---|---|
1998 | Amanda Freed | Cypress, CA | UCLA |
1999 | Maureen LeCocq | West Hills, CA | Stanford |
2000 | Tia Bollinger [17] | Santa Ana, CA | Washington |
2001 | Cat Osterman | Cypress, TX | Texas |
2002 | Alicia Hollowell | Fairfield, CA | Arizona |
2003 | Lisa Dodd | San Diego, CA | UCLA |
2004 | Anjelica Selden | Fairfield, CA | |
2005 | Dani Hofer | Palm Harbor, FL | LSU |
2006 | Kirsten Shortridge | Keller, TX | Baylor |
2007 | Ashley Brignac | River Ridge, LA | Louisiana-Lafayette |
2008 | Kenzie Fowler | Oro Valley, AZ | Arizona |
2009 | |||
2010 | Kasey Fagan | Dunnellon, FL | Florida/Arkansas |
2011 | Paige McDuffee | The Woodlands, TX | UCLA |
2012 | Geri Ann Glasco | Watkinsville, GA | Georgia/Oregon |
2013 | Carley Hoover | Central, SC | Stanford/LSU |
2014 | Taylor McQuillin | Mission Viejo, CA | Arizona |
2015 | Rachel Garcia | Palmdale, CA | UCLA |
2016 | Bubba Nickles | Merced, CA | |
2017 | Taylor Dockins | Norco, CA | Cal State Fullerton |
2018 | Megan Faraimo | San Diego, CA | UCLA |
2019 | Kelley Lynch [6] | Sharpsburg, GA | Washington |
2020 | Jayda Coleman | The Colony, TX | Oklahoma |
2021 | Jordy Bahl | Papillion, NE | |
2022 | Keagan Rothrock | Indianapolis, IN | Florida |
2023 | Ava Brown | Montgomery, TX |
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Year | Winner | Hometown | College |
---|---|---|---|
1996 | Kerri Walsh | San Jose, CA | Stanford |
1997 | Denise Boylan [22] | Lisle, IL | Notre Dame |
1998 | Sara Sandrik [23] | Pelham, AL | Stanford |
1999 | Logan Tom | Salt Lake City, UT | Stanford |
2000 | April Ross | Newport Beach, CA | USC |
2001 | Ogonna Nnamani | Bloomington, IL | Stanford |
2002 | Bre Ladd [24] | Tucson, AZ | Arizona |
2003 | Kristin Richards [25] | Orem, UT | Stanford |
2004 | Cynthia Barboza | Long Beach, CA | Stanford |
2005 | Cynthia Barboza | Long Beach, CA | Stanford |
2006 | Megan Hodge | Durham, NC | Penn State |
2007 | Alix Klineman [26] | Manhattan Beach, CA | Stanford |
2008 | Kelly Murphy [27] | Wilmington, IL | Florida |
2009 | Gina Mancuso | Papillion, NE | Nebraska |
2010 | Ashley Wittman | Shakopee, MN | Minnesota |
2011 | Krista Vansant | Redlands, CA | Washington |
2012 | Jordan Burgess | Tampa, FL | Stanford |
2013 | Lauren Carlini | Aurora, IL | Wisconsin |
2014 | Alexa Filley | Louisville, KY | Auburn |
2015 | Mikaela Foecke | West Point, IA | Nebraska |
2016 | Khalia Lanier | Phoenix, AZ | USC |
2017 | Lexi Sun | Solana Beach, CA | Texas/Nebraska |
2018 | Thayer Hall | Roebuck, SC | Florida |
2019 | Ellie Holzman | New Orleans, LA | Illinois |
2020 | Jess Mruzik | Livonia, MI | Michigan/Penn State |
2021 | Ally Batenhorst | Katy, TX | Nebraska |
2022 | Averi Carlson | Lucas, TX | Baylor/Texas |
2023 | Harper Murray | Ann Arbor, MI | Nebraska |
2024 | Ayden Ames | Prosper, TX | Texas |
See [note 3]
Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. The drink is currently manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was first developed in 1965 by a team of researchers led by Robert Cade. It was originally made for the Gators at the University of Florida to replenish the carbohydrates that the school's student-athletes burned and the combination of water and electrolytes that they lost in sweat during vigorous sports activities.
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