Fairview High School student-athlete named Gatorade Tennessee Boys Soccer Player of the Year

In its 34th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company recently announced Brandon Parrish of Fairview High School as its 2018-19 Gatorade Tennessee Boys Soccer Player of the Year. Parrish is the first Gatorade Tennessee Boys Soccer Player of the Year to be chosen from Fairview High School.

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 Parrish as Tennessee’s best high school boys soccer player.

Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Soccer Player of the Year award to be announced in June, Parrish joins an elite alumni association of past state soccer award-winners, including Alexi Lalas (1987-88, Cranbrook High School, Mich.), Steve Cherundolo (1996-97, Mt. Carmel High School, Calif.), Abby Wambach (1997-98, Our Lady of Mercy School of Young Women, N.Y.), Heather O’Reilly (2001-02, 2002-03, East Brunswick High School, N.J.), Matt Besler (2004-04, Blue Valley West High School, Kans.), Jack Harrison (2013-14, Berkshire High School, Mass.) and Mallory Pugh (2014-15, Mountain Vista High School, Colo.).

The 5-foot-9, 152-pound junior midfielder scored 38 goals and passed for 11 assists this past season, leading the Yellow Jackets (17-4-1) to the Class AA state semifinals. Parrish recorded 11 multi-goal games, including six hat tricks. A two-time District 12-AA Player of the Year, Parrish was selected to compete in July’s Allstate Cup in Orlando. He concluded his junior year with 68 goals and 40 assists in his prep soccer career.

Parrish has volunteered locally with the Special Olympics and as a youth soccer coach. “Brandon creates a lot offensively which puts pressure on your defense,” said Robin Dieterich, head coach of Father Ryan High. “He is dangerous going forward, and his restarts are dangerous as well.”

Parrish has maintained a weighted 3.27 GPA in the classroom. He has made a verbal commitment to play soccer on scholarship at Clemson University beginning in the fall of 2020.

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. From the 12 national winners, one male and one female athlete are each named Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year. In all, 607 athletes are honored each year.

Parrish joins recent Gatorade Tennessee Boys Soccer Players of the Year Atakelti Gebregzabher (2017-18, Station Camp High School), Drew Viscomi (2016-17, McCallie School), Lucas Altman (2015-16, Science Hill High School), Johnny Heckman (2014-15, Centennial High School) and Brad Ross (2013-14, Franklin High School) among the state’s list of former award winners.

As a part of Gatorade’s cause marketing platform “Play it Forward,” Parrish also has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local or national youth sports organization of his choosing. He is also eligible to submit an essay to win one of twelve $10,000 spotlight grants for the organization of choice, which will be announced throughout the year.

Since the program’s inception in 1985, Gatorade Player of the Year award recipients have won hundreds of professional and college championships, and many have also turned into pillars in their communities, becoming coaches, business owners and educators.

To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate student-athletes, visit www.Gatorade.com/POY.