CHICAGO (June 18, 2025) —
In its 40th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Sydney Hopper of Bentonville High School is the 2024-25 Gatorade Arkansas Girls Soccer Player of the Year.
Gatorade Player of the Year is the top honor in high school sports, celebrating the nation’s best high school
athletes for their success on the field, in the classroom and in the community. The award distinguishes Hopper as Arkansas' best high school girls soccer player, and she joins an impressive group of alumni that spans CEOs, coaches and star athletes such as Morgan Gautrat (2010-11, Frederica Academy, Ga.), Mallory Swanson (2014-15, Mountain Vista High School, Colo.), Kennedy Fuller (2022-23 & 2021-22, Southlake Carroll High School, Texas). The 5-foot-8 senior midfielder led the Tigers to a 19-3 record and a third straight Class 6A state championship this past season. Hopper scored 15 goals and passed for 11 assists on the year. The Most Valuable Player of the state
championship game—a 1-0 win over Fayetteville High School—she is a member of the Indonesian Women’s National Team and was the Class 6A West Conference Player of the Year. Hopper has volunteered locally as a youth soccer coach and referee. “Sydney is one of the more athletic kids out there,” said Chase Cook, head coach of Rogers Heritage High School. “She’s great with both feet, distributes around the field and has a scary shot.”
Hopper has maintained a 3.90 weighted GPA in the classroom. She has signed a written letter of athletic aid to play soccer at Dallas Baptist University this fall.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each ofthe 50 states across 12 different high school sports – 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 the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport.
As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner. To date, the Gatorade Player of the Year program has provided more than $5.6 million in grants to winners across more than 2,000 organizations.
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate studentathletes, visit playeroftheyear... Click here to read full article
ARTICLE SOURCE:
