Gatorade today announced Homewood’s Will Jackson as the Gatorade state boys soccer Player of the Year.

Jackson is the first Gatorade state boys soccer Player of the Year to be chosen from Homewood.

The 5-foot-10, 160-pound senior midfielder and forward led the Patriots to a 23-2-3 record and the Class 6A state championship this past season. Jackson scored 26 goals and passed for 21 assists, netting a pair of goals in Homewood’s 3-1 win over Spanish Fort in the state final to earn tournament MVP. Selected Class 6A first team all-state and as a member of the Super All-State team, Jackson concluded his prep soccer career with 63 goals and 37 assists.

“When Will got the ball he was creative and gave us problems,” said Briarwood coach Mike Bautista. “He was smart in where he attacked, roaming to find a better angle to be more dangerous. Will has been pivotal for Homewood for years and is vital to their success.”

A long-time pianist and an accomplished creative writer, Jackson has volunteered locally as a youth mentor. He has also donated his time to multiple community service initiatives through his church.

Jackson has maintained a weighted 4.02 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a national letter of intent to play soccer on scholarship at Wake Forest this fall.

Jackson joins recent Gatorade state boys soccer Players of the Year Cristian Barrientos (2023, Fort Payne), Jack Heaps (2022, Mountain Brook), Jackson Nabors (2021, Indian Springs) and Tony Shaw (2020, Vestavia Hills), among the state’s list of former award winners.

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.