Gatorade Player of the Year awards

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, Cooper Flagg and Sadie Engelhardt, received their awards at a special ceremony prior to The ESPY Awards.[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.

  1. ^ a b c d "A History of Honoring the Future". Gatorade Player of the Year. Stokely-Van Camp, Inc. Archived from the original on November 15, 2017. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  2. ^ "Gatorade Player of the Year Award". ESPN High School SPORTS. ESPN. Archived from the original on October 31, 2011. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  3. ^ a b c d "Gatorade State High School Players of the Year". Gatorade Player of the Year. Stokely-Van Camp, Inc. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  4. ^ "Gatorade Player of the Year All-Time National Winners". Gatorade Player of the Year. Stokely-Van Camp, Inc. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Athlete was invoked but never defined (see the help page).