Jayson Tatum
and Nneka Ogwumike Present Most Prestigious Award in High School
Sports to Nation's Top Athletes
LOS
ANGELES, July 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Tonight at
the Gatorade Player of the Year Awards, Ava
Brown was named the 2022-23 Gatorade Best Female Player of
the Year and Max Clark was named the
2022-23 Gatorade Best Male Player of the Year. Brown, who went
undefeated in her prep career, is the second softball athlete to
take home the honor in the award's 20-year history, and Clark, who
has a robust community and academic resume, etches his name on the
trophy following his third overall selection in the 2023 MLB
Draft.
The Gatorade Player of the Year Awards celebrates the next
generation of great athletes for their incredible accomplishments
on and off the playing field. Each year, Gatorade brings together
its 12 National Players of the Year, the best of the best in high
school sports, to recognize their accomplishments and celebrate
their bright futures alongside professional athletes and industry
tastemakers. This year, the 12 National Players of the Year were
joined by:
- Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
forward and 2015-16 Gatorade Best Male Player of the Year
- Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Olympic champion, world-record
holder and 2016-17 & 2015-16 Gatorade Best Female Player of the
Year
- Sam Mewis, Kansas City Current midfielder and two-time
Massachusetts Girls Soccer Player of the Year (2010-2011 &
2009-10)
- Nneka Ogwumike, Los Angeles
Sparks forward and 2007-08 Gatorade National Player of the
Year
- D.K. Metcalf, Seattle Seahawks wide receiver
- April Ross, Three-time Olympic
medalist and 1999-00 Gatorade National Girls Volleyball Player of
the Year
Because the Gatorade Player of the Year program recognizes
excellence on and off the field of play, awards were also presented
in categories across academics, athletics and community impact.
Selected from all of the state Player of the Year winners,
Alexa Pino (2022-23 Gatorade
Connecticut Girls Soccer Player of the Year) won the Highlight of
the Year award. Myah Selland
(2016-17 Gatorade South Dakota Girls Basketball Player of the Year)
took home the Community Grant Award for her commitment to
sportsmanship, character and community, while Edric Zhang (2022-23 Gatorade Virginia Boys
Soccer Player of the Year) was awarded the Academic Achievement
Awards for his efforts in the classroom.
"Each year, we're thrilled to bring the 12 Gatorade National
Players of the Year to Los Angeles for a truly special,
one-of-a-kind experience to celebrate their amazing accomplishments
on and off the field," said Gatorade Portfolio president and
general manager Michael Del Pozzo.
"The star-studded event is a glimpse into their undoubtably
successful careers and futures as they join previous winners of the
prestigious Gatorade Player of the Year award."
The Player of the Year Awards are the culmination of an
unparalleled three-day journey for the Gatorade National Players of
the Year, who get to experience Los Angeles like a professional
athlete with 5-star accommodations, educational opportunities, a
trip to the ESPYs and more. As part of the experience, Gatorade and
its national winners stopped by First Break Academy, an
award-winning community tennis program empowering Los Angeles youth
to excel in tennis, academics and life, to play tennis and answer
questions on what it takes to reach the next level. Gatorade's Head
of Athlete Intelligence and Community Impact Tommy Adams also
presented a check on behalf of Gatorade to cover the organization's
travel, rental and tournament fees to provide athletes with an
equitable and safe place to play.
Additionally, all Gatorade State Players of the Year have the
opportunity to give back, each awarding a $1,000 grant to a local or national organization
of their choosing that helps young athletes realize the benefits of
playing sports. Gatorade also awards one spotlight grant of
$10,000 for each of the 12 sports
recognized by the program. To date, Gatorade Player of the Year
winners' grants have totaled more than $4.4
million across more than 1,800 organizations. Gatorade also
gave an additional $25,000 grant to
the second-annual Gatorade Community Grant Award winner, presented
at the Gatorade Player of the Year Awards.
2022-23 GATORADE PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD
WINNERS
Ava
Brown: Texas' returning Gatorade Player of the
Year, Brown led the Lake Creek Lions to a 44-1 record and second
straight Conference 5A state championship this past season, ranked
the nation's No. 3 recruit in the Class of 2023 by Extra Inning
Softball. At the plate, the 2022 MaxPreps First Team All-American
batted .462 with nine home runs, 17 doubles, 65 RBI and a .888
slugging percentage. Below are additional facts about Brown:
- Struck out 292 batters while walking just 30 in 172
innings.
- Concluded her prep softball career with a 81-0 record and 830
strikeouts in the circle.
- Volunteered with her local chapter of the Fellowship of
Christian Athletes and as a youth softball coach.
- Brown has maintained a 3.55 GPA in the classroom.
- Signed a national letter of intent to play softball on
scholarship at the University of
Florida this fall.
Max Clark: Indiana's
returning Gatorade Player of the Year, Clark batted .646 with six
home runs, 33 RBI and 45 runs scored this past season, leading the
Grizzly Cubs (14-14-1) to the Class 4A sectional semifinals. Clark
is the nation's No. 1 draft prospect in the Class of 2023 as rated
by Prep Baseball Report.
- In addition to an .808 on-base percentage and a 1.215 slugging
percentage, stole 35 bases and made just two errors in the outfield
this spring.
- A basketball and football standout and member of the Fellowship
of Christian Athletes, for which he has served as president, Clark
has volunteered locally on behalf of his church youth group and has
donated his time as a youth baseball coach.
- Launched a GoFundMe campaign that raised over $13,000 in honor of University of Illinois baseball recruit
Ryan Jefferson, who took his own
life in 2021
- Maintained a 3.97 GPA in the classroom.
- Signed a National Letter of Intent to play baseball on
scholarship at Vanderbilt University
this fall but was recently selected third overall in the 2023 Major
League Baseball draft.
Edric Zhang: Committed to
attend Princeton University after
finishing high school with a 4.66 weighted GPA in the classroom.
Zhang is also a National Honors Society member, a research intern
at the Virginia Tech College of Engineering and was selected to
participate in NASA-sponsored Virginia Aerospace Science and
Technology Scholars Summer Camp at the NASA Langley Research
Center.
Myah Selland: Co-founded
Her Turn in 2022, a non-profit organization designed to create
more equitable sporting opportunities for girls and young women in
the Brookings, South Dakota
community. Her Turn provides scholarships for recipients to attend
an overnight, SDSU sport camp at no cost, in addition to equipment
and transportation.
Alexa Pino: Pino's winning
clip showcased her executing a rainbow to move past a defender
before scoring a goal from the top of the 18-yard box, helping her
team to a 2-1 victory in the conference semi-final. The sophomore
forward went on to lead the St. Joseph Cadets to the Class L state
championship.
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year Awards and
Gatorade Player of the Year program, visit
playeroftheyear.gatorade.com or follow us on social media on
Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY, Instagram at
instagram.com/Gatorade and Twitter at
twitter.com/Gatorade.
About The Gatorade Portfolio
The Gatorade
Portfolio, a division of PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP), is a connected
performance and wellness ecosystem built to fuel all athletes and
exercisers. Bringing together Gatorade, Fast Twitch, Propel, Evolve
and Muscle Milk, the Gatorade Portfolio is the most complete
offering in the category today, with a broad range of personalized
solutions at every stage of the athlete journey. This
integrated system of brands is built on Gatorade's 57-year history
of studying athletes and is fueling the future of athletic
performance and wellness by delivering solutions across hydration,
protein, energy and all-day nutrition to fuel consumers, no matter
how or why they sweat. For more information and a full list of
product offerings, please visit www.gatorade.com.
About PepsiCo
PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion
times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the
world. PepsiCo generated more than $86
billion in net revenue in 2022, driven by a complementary
beverage and convenient foods portfolio that includes Lay's,
Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker, and
SodaStream. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of
enjoyable foods and beverages, including many iconic brands that
generate more than $1 billion each in
estimated annual retail sales.
Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in
Beverages and Convenient Foods by Winning with pep+ (PepsiCo
Positive). pep+ is our strategic end-to-end transformation that
puts sustainability and human capital at the center of how we will
create value and growth by operating within planetary boundaries
and inspiring positive change for planet and people. For more
information, visit www.pepsico.com, and follow on Twitter,
Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn @PepsiCo.
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ava-brown-and-max-clark-named-gatorade-best-players-of-the-year-301875100.html
SOURCE The Gatorade Company