Jack Harrison '15 was named the 2014-2015 Gatorade National Boys Soccer Player of the Year on Tuesday.

Harrison, of Lancashire, England, received the honor during a surprise ceremony at Berkshire. Former MLS MVP Taylor Twellman presented Harrison with the award.

“I’m pretty speechless right now,” Harrison said before thanking his teammates, coaches, and his family. “There are a lot of people that go unrecognized behind this award. It’s not just about me. It’s about you guys as well.”

The award recognizes outstanding athletic excellence, high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, according to Gatorade.

Harrison was chosen from more than 400,000 high school boys soccer players nationwide, the company said. He is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade Male High School Athlete of the Year award, to be presented at a special ceremony prior to the ESPY Awards on July 15 in Los Angeles.

A two-time Massachusetts Gatorade Boys Soccer Player of the Year (2013-2014, 2014-2015), the 5-foot-10, 155-pound senior midfielder led the Bears to a 19-2-1 record last fall and a third-straight New England Prep School Athletic Council Class A Championship.

Harrison scored 16 goals and recorded 27 assists as a senior. In his four years at Berkshire, he finished with 44 goals and 65 assists.
 
“I have a feeling that this is going to be the start of something special for Jack Harrison,” said Twellman.

Harrison will attend Wake Forest this fall on a soccer scholarship. In addition to Tuesday’s award, Harrison 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 was also chosen as the 2014 Boston Globe All-Scholastic Prep School Offensive Player of the Year.

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

Harrison, an honor student at Berkshire, serves as a school ambassador, tour guide and has volunteered locally as a youth soccer coach. He also contributes to multiple community service initiatives through the School’s Helping Hands organization.
 
“He is humble, purposeful, engaging and sincere,” said Athletic Director Dan Driscoll. “His willingness to do what is best for his team, class or school has made our school community a better place, one where students celebrate each other’s commitment and each other’s success.”
 
Head of School Pieter Mulder said Harrison’s ability to make others around him immediately better might be his greatest quality.

"Perhaps the highest accolade that I can share about Jack is that he is universally respected and admired by everyone at Berkshire," Mulder said, "By all of our students, by our faculty and staff, by parents and alumni, and by the younger student-athletes on campus who spend much of their day simply wanting to 'be like Jack.'”

Former notable Gatorade National Players of the Year include:
 
• Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Peyton Manning
• WNBA all-time leading scorer and rebounder Lisa Leslie
• NFL all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith
• Three-time beach volleyball gold medalist Kerri Walsh
• Four-time track & field gold medalist Allyson Felix

For more information on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a complete list of former winners, and future announcement dates, visit the Gatorade Player of the Year Web site at http://www.gatorade.com/poy, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GatoradePOY or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Gatorade.