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U.S. U-20 WNT Midfielder Morgan Brian Named Gatorade National Girls' Soccer Player of the Year
One of USA’s Top Scorers at the U.S. U-17 Level is Key Player in Current U.S. U-20 Cycle
U-20 WNT
May 25, 2011
CHICAGO (May 25, 2011) – In its 26th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, Gatorade, in collaboration with ESPN RISE, today announced Morgan Brian of Frederica Academy (St. Simons, Ga.) as its 2010-11 Gatorade National Girls’ Soccer Player of the Year.
As the recipient of the 230th Gatorade National Player of the Year trophy to be awarded since 1985 in all sports, Brian becomes the first student-athlete from the state of Georgia to receive this award.
The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Brian as the nation’s best high school girls’ soccer player. A national advisory panel comprised of sport-specific experts and sports journalists helped select Brian from more than 356,000 girls’ soccer players nationwide. Brian is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade Female High School Athlete of the Year award, to be presented at a special ceremony prior to The ESPY Awards in July.
The 5-foot-7-inch senior midfielder led the Frederica Academy Knights to a 17-2-1 record and a fourth straight Georgia Independent School Association Class AA state title. Brian scored 71 goals and passed for 30 assists this season. A two-time Gatorade Georgia Girls’ Soccer Player of the Year, she was the 2010 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Youth Player of the Year for club competition and the 2010 PARADE National Player of the Year. She recorded 186 goals and 95 assists in her prep soccer career, which began as an eighth grader, helping the Knights to five consecutive state finals.
Brian has been a regular call-up to U.S. Soccer’s youth national teams, playing in the 2008 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand and captaining the U.S. U-17s squad in 2010. She is currently a key player in the U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team program that is in the early stages of preparing for qualification for the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup to be held in Uzbekistan.
Brian has maintained a 3.81 GPA in the classroom, served as class president from 2008-10 and class secretary from 2006-08. She is also a co-founder, along with U.S. U-17 and U-20 goalkeeper Bryane Heaberlin, and one of the lead fundraisers for the Many Hearts, One Goal Foundation, which won a National Sportsmanship Award in 2011 for the work done to benefit the Haitian Under-17 Women’s National Team following that country’s 2010 earthquake.
Brian has also volunteered locally on behalf of Habitat for Humanity, the Relay for Life and the Manna House, providing meals for the needy. A member of her local Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter and Sevenoseven Ministries, a faith-based youth mentoring group, she is also a licensed youth soccer coach, donating her time as an instructor for Florida’s Clay County Soccer Club.
Brian has signed a National Letter of Intent to play soccer on scholarship at Virginia this fall.
“Without question, Morgan is deserving of recognition as the nation’s best high school girls soccer player based on her statistics on the field and the impact her accomplishments have had on Frederica Academy’s success,” said Gatorade Senior Vice President of Sports Marketing Jennifer Storms. “But she is also a shining example to peers and aspiring young athletes of what a leader and a student-athlete should be. She represents everything we hope for in a Gatorade Player of the Year recipient.”
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls’ volleyball, boys’ and girls’ cross country, boys’ and girls’ basketball, boys’ and girls’ soccer, baseball, softball, and boys’ and girls’ track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by ESPN RISE and the Gatorade high school sports leadership team, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.
For more information on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a complete list of former winners, and future announcement dates, visit the Gatorade Player of the Year website at http://playeroftheyear.gatorade.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY or follow on Twitter at twitter.com/Gatorade.
ALL-TIME GATORADE NATIONAL GIRLS SOCCER PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
As the recipient of the 230th Gatorade National Player of the Year trophy to be awarded since 1985 in all sports, Brian becomes the first student-athlete from the state of Georgia to receive this award.
The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Brian as the nation’s best high school girls’ soccer player. A national advisory panel comprised of sport-specific experts and sports journalists helped select Brian from more than 356,000 girls’ soccer players nationwide. Brian is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade Female High School Athlete of the Year award, to be presented at a special ceremony prior to The ESPY Awards in July.
The 5-foot-7-inch senior midfielder led the Frederica Academy Knights to a 17-2-1 record and a fourth straight Georgia Independent School Association Class AA state title. Brian scored 71 goals and passed for 30 assists this season. A two-time Gatorade Georgia Girls’ Soccer Player of the Year, she was the 2010 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Youth Player of the Year for club competition and the 2010 PARADE National Player of the Year. She recorded 186 goals and 95 assists in her prep soccer career, which began as an eighth grader, helping the Knights to five consecutive state finals.
Brian has been a regular call-up to U.S. Soccer’s youth national teams, playing in the 2008 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand and captaining the U.S. U-17s squad in 2010. She is currently a key player in the U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team program that is in the early stages of preparing for qualification for the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup to be held in Uzbekistan.
Brian has maintained a 3.81 GPA in the classroom, served as class president from 2008-10 and class secretary from 2006-08. She is also a co-founder, along with U.S. U-17 and U-20 goalkeeper Bryane Heaberlin, and one of the lead fundraisers for the Many Hearts, One Goal Foundation, which won a National Sportsmanship Award in 2011 for the work done to benefit the Haitian Under-17 Women’s National Team following that country’s 2010 earthquake.
Brian has also volunteered locally on behalf of Habitat for Humanity, the Relay for Life and the Manna House, providing meals for the needy. A member of her local Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter and Sevenoseven Ministries, a faith-based youth mentoring group, she is also a licensed youth soccer coach, donating her time as an instructor for Florida’s Clay County Soccer Club.
Brian has signed a National Letter of Intent to play soccer on scholarship at Virginia this fall.
“Without question, Morgan is deserving of recognition as the nation’s best high school girls soccer player based on her statistics on the field and the impact her accomplishments have had on Frederica Academy’s success,” said Gatorade Senior Vice President of Sports Marketing Jennifer Storms. “But she is also a shining example to peers and aspiring young athletes of what a leader and a student-athlete should be. She represents everything we hope for in a Gatorade Player of the Year recipient.”
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls’ volleyball, boys’ and girls’ cross country, boys’ and girls’ basketball, boys’ and girls’ soccer, baseball, softball, and boys’ and girls’ track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by ESPN RISE and the Gatorade high school sports leadership team, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.
For more information on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a complete list of former winners, and future announcement dates, visit the Gatorade Player of the Year website at http://playeroftheyear.gatorade.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY or follow on Twitter at twitter.com/Gatorade.
ALL-TIME GATORADE NATIONAL GIRLS SOCCER PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
| Year | Name | High School | Status |
| 2010-11 | Morgan Brian | Frederica Academy, St. Simons, Ga. | Virginia |
| 2009-10 | Mollie Pathman | Durham Academy, Durham, N.C. | Duke |
| 2008-09 | Rachel Quon | Lake Forest, Lake Forest, Ill. | Stanford |
| 2007-08 | Teresa Noyola | Palo Alto, Palo Alto, Calif. | Stanford |
| 2006-07 | Melissa Henderson | Berkner, Richardson, Texas | Notre Dame |
| 2005-06 | Lauren Cheney | Ben Davis, Indianapolis, Ind. | Boston Breakers/U.S. WNT |
| 2004-05 | Amy Rodriguez | Santa Margarita, Lake Forest, Calif. | Philadelphia Independence/U.S. WNT |
| 2003-04 | Ashlyn Harris | Satellite, Satellite Beach, Fla. | Western NY Flash/U.S. WNT |
| 2002-03 | Heather O’Reilly | East Brunswick, East Brunswick, N.J. | Sky Blue FC/U.S. WNT |
| 2001-02 | Jill Oakes | Harvard Westlake, N. Hollywood, Calif. | Retired/UCLA graduate |
| 2000-01 | Mary McDowell | Wheat Ridge, Wheat Ridge, Colo. | Retired/North Carolina graduate |
| 1999-00 | Aleisha Cramer-Rose | Green Mountain, Lakewood, Colo. | Retired/Former U.S. WNT |
| 1998-99 | Christie Welsh | Massapequa, Massapequa, N.Y. | Retired/Former U.S. WNT |
| 1997-98 | Aly Wagner | Presentation, San Jose, Calif. | Retired/Former U.S. WNT |
