All-Boys Catholic High School
Aiden Gonzalez '24 Student-Athlete Named Gatorade Delaware Soccer Player of the Year
In its 39th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Aiden Gonzalez of Salesianum School is the 2023-24 Gatorade Delaware Boys Soccer Player of the Year. Gonzalez is the fourteenth Gatorade Delaware Boys Soccer Player of the Year to be chosen from Salesianum School and the third for the 2023-24 school year.
The award, which celebrates the nation’s top high school athletes for excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community, distinguishes Gonzalez as Delaware’s 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, 155-pound senior forward led the Sallies to a 14-3-1 record and a third-straight Division I state championship this past season. Gonzalez scored eight goals and passed for 15 assists, contributing five goals and two assists in Salesianum’s three-game postseason run to the title. A 2023 United Soccer Coaches High School All-American selection, he was the 2023 Delaware Soccer Coaches Association Player of the Year. A member of the All-State choir, Gonzalez completed a summer internship last year at the Kentmere Veterinary Hospital. He has volunteered locally as a teacher’s assistant at an elementary school and as a youth soccer coach. “Aiden Gonzalez is the guy,” said Patrick Kilby, head coach of Cape Henlopen High School. “He earned the award. When we saw them in the state championship, he was who we wanted to mark out of the game.”
Gonzalez has maintained a weighted 4.05 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a national letter of intent to play soccer on scholarship at Lehigh 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.
As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sports, 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.
Back
The award, which celebrates the nation’s top high school athletes for excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community, distinguishes Gonzalez as Delaware’s 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, 155-pound senior forward led the Sallies to a 14-3-1 record and a third-straight Division I state championship this past season. Gonzalez scored eight goals and passed for 15 assists, contributing five goals and two assists in Salesianum’s three-game postseason run to the title. A 2023 United Soccer Coaches High School All-American selection, he was the 2023 Delaware Soccer Coaches Association Player of the Year. A member of the All-State choir, Gonzalez completed a summer internship last year at the Kentmere Veterinary Hospital. He has volunteered locally as a teacher’s assistant at an elementary school and as a youth soccer coach. “Aiden Gonzalez is the guy,” said Patrick Kilby, head coach of Cape Henlopen High School. “He earned the award. When we saw them in the state championship, he was who we wanted to mark out of the game.”
Gonzalez has maintained a weighted 4.05 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a national letter of intent to play soccer on scholarship at Lehigh 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.
As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sports, 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.
ACCREDITED BY MIDDLE STATES ASSOCIATION