Two-Time Olympic Gold Medalist Abby Wambach Surprises Winner with Honor

NEWS PROVIDED BY
The Gatorade Company
21 Jun, 2017, 17:30 ET

CERRITOS, Calif., June 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In its 32nd year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company today announced Kennedy Wesley of Valley Christian High School, Cerritos, Calif. as its 2016-17 Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year. Wesley was surprised with the news by two-time Olympic gold medalist and FIFA Women's World Cup champion Abby Wambach.

Check out the surprise video here.

"Kennedy really deserves to be this year's Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year because she symbolizes everything the award stands for," said Wambach. "Not only has Kennedy impressed on the field, but she's also a good student and is a positive influence in the community. I'm excited to follow her career and see what she will accomplish in the future."

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 Wesley as the nation's best high school girls soccer player. A national advisory panel comprised of sport-specific experts and sports journalists helped select Wesley from nearly 375,000 high school girls soccer players nationwide. Wesley 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-6 sophomore midfielder scored 22 goals and passed for nine assists this past season, leading the Valley Christian Crusaders to a 25-3-3 record and both the Southern Section Division 6 and the Southern California Division V Regional tournament championships. Rated as the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2019 by TopDrawerSoccer.com, Wesley is a member of the U.S. Soccer Under-17 Women's National Team and was the Southern Section Division 6 Player of the Year.

A violinist and former gymnast, Wesley has volunteered locally collecting and supplying goods to the homeless, and she has donated her time as a youth camp counselor. Wesley has maintained a weighted 4.02 GPA in the classroom.

"Kennedy Wesley is a rare talent on the soccer field," says TopDrawerSoccer Rankings Expert J.R. Eskilson. "She can play anywhere on defense to any spot in the midfield. That versatility requires a unique skillset and she's expert at controlling the ball with close, composed touches. She passes with excellent technique and superb awareness of her surroundings. Her greatest attribute is her competitive drive, which has allowed her to enjoy unparalleled success at the club, high school, and international level."

Wesley has made a verbal commitment to play soccer on scholarship at Stanford University beginning in the fall of 2019.

"Kennedy embodies everything we look for in a Gatorade Player of the Year recipient," said Gatorade Senior Vice President and General Manager Brett O'Brien. "In addition to being one of the best high school girls soccer players in the country, Kennedy has excelled in the classroom and been a positive influence in her community. She is a role model for younger student-athletes to look up to and we are excited to see all the things she will accomplish in the future."

February 15, 2017

When it comes to playing in the 2008/U9 age group where the games are 7v7, one might think that it’s simple to count on a complete team. However, So Cal Blues Girls 2008 Coach Rob Rennie didn’t quite have it this way.

As the Blues entered the final knockout stage of the 2017 Cal South State Cup Presidents Girls 2008 Division, coach Rennie was unsure of whether he would be able to count on all girls for the final championship match on Sunday afternoon at the SilverLakes Sports Complex. Two were confirmed to not attend, but anything can happen between the semifinal and final.

Luckily, exactly seven girls showed up to the match against CDA Slammers FC. Coach Rennie had been preparing them all year, focusing on four elements – working hard on defense, battle, play good soccer and drive the game forward to score. But most of all, Coach Rennie taught the girls to overcome adversity. “It’s tough to become a champion, but champions overcome adversity and they don’t turn their back and say they can’t do it, they problem-solve and they make it happen,” Coach Rennie said after the game. “Fortunately, on the field, [the girls] turned out that way.

“We were down one-nil with 25 minutes to go and they could’ve folded, but they fought back, pushed on and they got the bounce of the ball and they get a bonus ice cream on the way home,” he added. For the girls, the payout for this year’s hard work and dedication came in a championship. But for Coach Rennie, the payout for his 15 years as coach comes at a long-term scale when he sees his group of girls develop into quality collegiate players.

“I’ve been coaching at the Blues for like 15 years now, so I’ve seen several of these teams come through and it’s exciting to watch them as they grow, they’re like little embryos right now and you see that within them,” the Blues coach said. “It’s a wonderful journey and this team definitely has the mark of going a long way. It’s topping up, next year we go 7v7, then 9v9, then it’s 11v11. It’s a wonderful journey and sharing it with them as they go into quality players and then going to college to play.”

CHICAGO (Dec. 13, 2016) Ashley Sanchez have been voted the 2016 U.S. Soccer Youth Female Player of the Year

Sanchez, who hails from Monrovia, Calif., played in two Women’s World Cup tournaments in 2016. She captained the USA at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Jordan, and was the youngest player and the only one born in 1999 at the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Papua New Guinea. Playing forward and attacking midfielder, the 17-year-old Sanchez became the first U.S. Youth Women’s National Team player to score in both a FIFA U-17 and U-20 Women’s World Cup in the same year and was one of the USA’s top players at both World Cups.

At the U-17 Women’s World Cup, Sanchez scored three goals, one against Paraguay and two against eventual runner-up Japan. She played every minute of all three games in Jordan and finished her U-17 career averaging a goal a game with 21 goals in 21 caps. Sanchez started all six games at the U-20 Women’s World Cup and played all but two minutes, scoring one goal and dishing two assists. She finished this U-20 cycle with five goals in 16 U-20 international matches.

Sanchez won the Golden Ball as the best player in the tournament at the 2016 CONCACAF U-17 Women’s Championship in Grenada, starting all five games while scoring a team-leading five goals as she helped the USA to the regional title and a berth at the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. She was also named to the 2016 CONCACAF U-17 Women’s Championship Best XI.

In 2016, Sanchez also trained briefly with the full U.S. Women’s National Team during an April camp in Orlando, Fla. She has verbally committed to attend UCLA next fall.

“It was a memorable year for sure, and even though we fell short at both World Cups, I know the experiences that me and my teammates had will last a lifetime,” Sanchez said. “It’s a huge honor to win this award and I’m really appreciative of everyone who voted for me. I also want to thank all of my teammates and coaches on the U-17s and the U-20s. They are great players and great friends and hopefully a bunch of us will reach our goals of playing for the full team one day.”

A new voting process was put into place in 2014. Votes are collected from respective National Team coaches, National Team players who have earned a cap in 2016, American soccer league (MLS, NASL and NWSL) head coaches, select media members, former players and administrators.

The Young Female Player of the Year honor was first awarded in 1998, with Cindy Parlow earning the honor.

Congratulations Girls! Your hard work and dedication have brought you this far. Your family, friends, teammates, and Blues Fans everywhere are so excited for you. We love and support you no matter what...remember we always got your back! Now go and do what you do. Compete with your hearts and minds out there; bring back the cup!

The FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup will begin on September 30th and goes to October 21, 2016. These girls will be far away in Jordan, what an extraordinary and life changing experience for our girls to be part of. If any of you out there want to support the girls here is the schedule of games.