CHICAGO (June 20, 2024) — In its 39th year of honoring the nation’s most elite High School athletes, Gatorade today announced Addy Hess of Freedom High School in South Riding is the 2023-24 Gatorade Virginia Girls Soccer Player of the Year. Hess is the first Gatorade Virginia Girls Soccer Player of the Year to be chosen from Freedom 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 Hess as Virginia’s best High School girls soccer player.

From CEO's 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 Aly Wagner (1997-98, Presentation High School, Calif.), Mallory Swanson (2014-15, Mountain Vista High School, Colo.) and Kennedy Fuller (2022-23 & 2021-22, Southlake Carroll High School, Texas).

The 5-foot-6 senior forward led the Eagles to a 23-0 record and the Class 6 State Championship this past season. Hess scored 43 goals and passed for 19 assists with 15 multi-goal games, including seven hat tricks. The unanimous pick as the Class 6 Player of the Year, she was also a 2023 Washington Post First Team All-Met selection. She concluded her prep soccer career with 83 goals and 33 assists.

Hess has volunteered locally with Loudoun Hunger Relief and as a youth soccer coach. She has also donated her time to multiple community service initiatives through her church.

“They do not win a state title and go undefeated if Addy is not on the team,” said Kevin Hilton, Head Coach of Battlefield High School. “If you give her the smallest window, she can finish from 35 yards and in. And if you put two or three players around her, she will pick you apart with her distribution.”

In the classroom, Hess has maintained a weighted 4.05 GPA. She has signed a national letter of intent to play soccer on scholarship at Pennsylvania State University 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.

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.

Hess joins recent Gatorade Virginia Girls Soccer Players of the Year Kami Winger (2022-23, Colgan High School), Shay Montgomery (2021-22 & 2020-21, Yorktown High School) and Aria Nagai (2019-20, Chantilly 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/GatoradePOY, Instagram at instagram.com/Gatorade and X(Twitter) at x.com/Gatorade. ***