Grayson's Stevens Named National Player of the Year

GRAYSON, GA -- Grayson High School's Ella Stevens is the national girls soccer player of the year.

Just over a week after taking state honors, Stevens, a senior who scored 25 goals and passed for 11 assists this past season, received the 2015-16 Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year award on Thursday.

Stevens was surprised with the news at school by ESPN analyst and former Major League Soccer MVP Taylor Twellman.

"Ella really deserves to be this year’s Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year because she symbolizes everything the award stands for," said Twellman. "Not only has Ella 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 at Duke and see what she will accomplish in the future."

Stevens has signed a letter of intent to play soccer for Duke University in the fall.

She maintained a weighted 3.62 grade-point average, is a self-taught guitarist and pianist and volunteered as a youth soccer coach and with multiple community initiatives through her church youth group.

She was a member of the U.S. Soccer Under-20 Women's team during its successful World Cup qualifying run in December and is a two-time Gwinnett Daily Post All-County selection.

A national advisory panel comprised of sport-specific experts and sports journalists helped select Stevens from nearly 375,000 high school girls soccer players nationwide.

She 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-9 senior midfielder and forward concluded her prep soccer career with 74 goals and 84 assists.

"It would be difficult to imagine a more simultaneously versatile and creative central midfielder in the country than Ella Stevens," said Will Parchman, a writer and editor for TopDrawerSoccer.com. "The superstar prospect possesses preternatural vision, and her passing ability makes her one of the top midfield distributors poised to hit college soccer this fall."

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.