FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE GatoradePOYQuestions@Fleishman.com CONWAY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT-ATHLETE NAMED GATORADE ARKANSAS BOYS SOCCER PLAYER OF THE YEAR CHICAGO (June 14, 2024) — In its 39th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Ian Booy of Conway High School is the 2023-24 Gatorade Arkansas Boys Soccer Player of the Year. Booy is the eighth Gatorade Arkansas Boys Soccer Player of the Year to be chosen from Conway High School. The award, which celebrates the nation’s top high school athletes for excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community, distinguishes Booy as Arkansas’ best high school boys soccer player. From CEOs and coaches to star athletes, Gatorade Player of the Year winners showcase the power of sport, touting an all-star group of alumni that includes Lyle Yorks (1987-88, E.O. Smith High School, Conn.), Alecko Eskandarian (1999-00, Bergen Catholic High School, N.J.) and Ben Bender (2019-20, Calvert Hall College High School, Md.). The 6-foot-4, 205-pound senior defender led the Wampus Cats to a 19-1-2 record and a third-straight Class 6A state championship this past season. Booy scored 14 goals and passed for two assists while leading a defense that conceded just 13 goals and recorded 14 shutouts. He scored both goals in Conway’s 2-0 win over Bryant High School in the state semifinals and had the lone assist in the team’s 1-0 win over Little Rock Catholic High School in the title game. He is a two-time First Team All-State selection. A member of the Conway High School student council and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Booy has volunteered locally as a private soccer trainer and he has donated his time to multiple community service initiatives through his church youth group. “The fear with playing Conway is that they will score anytime they get a set piece,” said Andrew Cash, head coach of Little Rock Central High School. “Ian was that player you had to worry about getting on the end of any long throw-in, free kick or corner. He was clinical in the big moments.” Booy has maintained a weighted 4.28 GPA in the classroom. He will attend the University of Arkansas this fall, but will not continue his competitive soccer career there. 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. 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. Booy joins recent Gatorade Arkansas Boys Soccer Players of the Year Will Childers (2022-23, Conway High School), Fernando Castro (2021-22, Russellville High School), Jacob Chalk (2020-21, Conway High School) and Dylan Rice (2019-20, Russellville High School), among the state’s list of former award winners. 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 $4.9 million in grants to winners across more than 1,900 organizations. To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate student athletes, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com or follow us on social media on Facebook at facebook.com/Gatorade POY, Instagram at instagram.com/Gatorade and X(Twitter) at x.com/Gatorade. ### ... Click here to read full article

ARTICLE SOURCE: