In its 28th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, today announced Chelsea Drennan of T.L. Hanna High School as its 2012-13 Gatorade South Carolina Girls Soccer Player of the Year. Drennan is the first Gatorade South Carolina Girls Soccer Player of the Year to be chosen from T.L. Hanna 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 Drennan as South Carolina’s best high school girls soccer player.

The 5-foot-9 senior midfielder recorded 39 goals and 16 assists this past season, leading the Rams (17-4) to the Class 4A state quarterfinals. A two-time South Carolina Coaches Association of Women’s Sports Class 4A state Player of the Year, Drennan is a three-time Class 4A First Team All-State honoree and a 2012 All-American selection by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. She concluded her prep soccer career with 115 goals and 55 assists.

Drennan has maintained a weighted 4.8 GPA in the classroom. A member of the Mu Alpha Theta math honor society, she has volunteered locally as a peer tutor, youth soccer coach and as part of multiple community service initiatives in association with her church youth group.

“Chelsea Drennan can take a game over,” said Kevin Czar, head coach of Mauldin High. “She can control the middle of the field and is dangerous in the air. She is a presence on any set piece both offensive and defensive. She is a complete player.”

Drennan has signed a National Letter of Intent to play soccer on an athletic scholarship at the University of South Carolina 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 high school sports leadership team in partnership with USA TODAY High School Sports, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

Drennan joins recent Gatorade South Carolina Girls Soccer Players of the Year Stephanie DeVita (2011-12, 2010 – 11 & 2009-10, Hillcrest High School), Sarah Schaidle (2008–09 Mauldin), and Kira Campbell (2007-08 & 2006-2007, Lexington), among the state’s list of former award winners.

Well Deserved Chelsea!!!!

A beautiful young lady! And a darn good soccer player too. Congratulations Chelsea!

Seen many players in R3PL, ENCL over the years and nearly all the best players in SC this year...none better than Drennan. Simply amazing...scary good. Congrats to her.

Is it Rams or Yellow Jackets? Is that a Westsidian slip?

Have to state the obvious, all of the Gatorade Players of the Year listed above played for CESA.
Without taking anything away from these wonderful players, I would like to ask why players from Wando are not listed? They have won several state championships during the years posted. There are many other clubs in SC that produce tremendously skilled players. There are female soccer players who play club in NC and GA that live in SC and play high school soccer in SC and who do quite a bit of community service and post excellent stats. I would like to challenge those who nominate these players, to consider ones who play for other clubs, too. This is supposed to be a high school award...

A few years ago, my daughter was in the mix for player of the year. I was told that the research for player of the year goes through CESA- CESA recommends to the Gatorade POY folks who should be player of the year due to their knowledge of women players in the state. So the short answer is, I doubt there will be a Gatorade POY that does not play for CESA- and this is in no way a reflection of their particular deserving selection

Good grief.

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Good grief. [/quote)

The girls who have won it are all outstanding, but it is odd all winners have been CESA players.

Maybe the award should be called the Hyslop Player of the Year Award.

I believe he coached them all.

Observer, I don't follow girls soccer anymore, but the girl from Hanna's credentials look unbeatable, I'd vote for her. I do get where your coming from though. A "Club Director" and a Club that's not big fans of High School soccer (at least when my daughter played for that club they were not) in charge of the Gatorade "High School" POY? If no other players are looked at in SC over the years it looks more like CESA is just trying to improve their brand. Maybe the SCHSL should be overseeing this.

Maybe look at strength of schedule too.

Sounds like a deserving, smart,atheltic student. I missed the games she was scary good.

For what it's worth Drennan is fully deserving of the award. Strange that it has been a Greenville player every year since 2009 season though. Perhaps, as coaches, we should send out some e-mails and figure out what their criteria is for selecting these players. I don't mean to take anything away from the past winners. They were all great players.

Drennan absolutely deserving award, no doubt. The Gatorade POY is not just a high school award- it also includes club play, ODP (as well as citizenship, academics, etc), per their website criteria and conversations I have had. So that is where the clubs become involved

She's the hands down winner of this award. Also this is from the Gatorade POY website. It's recognizing High School Athletic participation and academics. Doesn't say anything about Club.

"The gatorade player of the year award was established in 1985 to recognize and celebrate the nation's most outstanding high school talents for their athletic achievement, academic excellence and exemplary character. Now in its third decade, the Gatorade Player of the Year award has become one of the most prestigious accolades in high school sports"

Could not agree more. Ridiculous this award selection goes through CESA. Taints the whole thing. After saying, still want to acknowledge Drennan was the right choice.

If you look at the Gatorade site, you will see that anyone can nominate a player...anyone.