Soccer star named top player in U.S.

SHEFFIELD — Berkshire School senior Jack Harrison was named the 2014-15 Gatorade National Boys Soccer Player of the Year during a ceremony at the school on Tuesday, May 12.

Former Major League Soccer MVP and ESPN soccer analyst Taylor Twellman, along with officials from Gatorade, USA Today High School Sports and Berkshire Soccer Head Coach Jon Moodey surprised Harrison with the award just minutes before the official ceremony. 

Moodey had previously told Harrison he was doing an interview for a pretend newspaper; while waiting for the “interview” to start, he was surprised by Twellman with the trophy. Harrison was then joined by his Berkshire teammates and eventually the entire school for the celebration and ceremony.

Harrison was chosen for the national award for his athletic excellence, academic achievement and exemplary character through a selection process  administered by the Gatorade high school sports leadership team in partnership with USA TODAY High School Sports, according to a press release.

The winners were chosen by a panel of experts in specific sports and by a media advisory board of high school sports journalists. They chose contenders for the state and national award from about 400,000 high school soccer players throughout the country. 

Harrison is now in the running for Male Athlete of the Year, which will be awarded to one male athlete from the pool of national winners for soccer, baseball, track and field, football, cross country and basketball. The winner will be announced at a ceremony in Los Angeles in August. 

He is one of 277 athletes to be named National Player of the Year in any sport since the award was started by Gatorade in 1985. Previous winners have included Peyton Manning, Emmitt Smith, Kerri Walsh and Lebron James.

Harrison, a native of Lancashire, England, grew up with a soccer ball at his feet. At the age of 6, he was recruited to play at Manchester United Academy, one of England’s premier youth training academies. 

As he grew older, he began to find it difficult to balance school and soccer, and his mother began to worry about his academics. She began looking for schools where he could receive a top education while also playing high level soccer. 

She discovered Berkshire and when her son was admitted, sent him alone to Sheffield to spend a week on the campus to see if it was the right fit for him. 

He said it was hard to leave Manchester, where he got top-level training and also got to see players from the Manchester United professional team, many of whom were his idols. But he fell in love with Berkshire and was happy to make the move.

In his four years there, Harrison has led the Berkshire boys soccer team to back-to-back-to-back New England Class A Championships in 2012, 2013 and 2014 as well as the distinguished title of Number One Ranked Prep Soccer Program in the U.S. in each of those years. 

He has scored  44 goals and 65 assists, including 16 goals and 27 assists in his senior season. 

Along with the athletic success, Harrison maintained a B average and is described as the ultimate student athlete by his teachers. 

“I think of how lucky Berkshire is to have had such a remarkable young man for the past four years,” said Moodey during the ceremony. “We are a better school today because of Jack Harrison and all that he’s brought to our community.”

Harrison will attend Wake Forest University next fall on a full scholarship for soccer.  Along with the National Boys Soccer Player of the Year, he was named the 2013-14 and 2014-15 Massachusetts Gatorade Boys Soccer Player of the Year and is  one of only two players nationally to be chosen as an All-American by the  National Soccer Coaches Association of America for both high school and club soccer play. 

He also won 2014 Boston Globe All-Scholastic Prep School Offensive Player of the Year honors.