Gatorade today announced Saint James’ Katie Brightwell as the Gatorade state girls soccer Player of the Year.

The 5-foot-6 senior forward led the Trojans to a 17-1-1 record and the Class 1A-3A state championship. Brightwell scored 71 goals and passed for 10 assists, including 12 goals in Saint James’ four-game postseason run to the title. The 1A-3A state final MVP and a three-time Super All-State First Team selection concluded her prep soccer career with a state-record 259 goals and 84 assists.

“Katie is one of the best high school players that I’ve ever seen,” said Alabama Christian coach Zac Cook. “Her skill with the ball at her feet and her ability to create space sets her apart. I know that we specifically game-planned to prevent her from scoring and she still had multiple goals against us.”

Brightwell is the first Gatorade state girls Soccer Player of the Year to be chosen from Saint James.

Brightwell has volunteered locally with Dream Court Montgomery, an adaptive tennis program. An editor of her school’s digital paper, she has also donated her time as part of multiple community service initiatives through her church.

Brightwell has maintained a weighted 4.21 GPA in the classroom and has signed a national letter of intent to play soccer on scholarship at Lipscomb University (Tenn.) this fall.

The award, which celebrates the nation’s top high school athletes for excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community, distinguishes Brightwell as Alabama’s best high school girls soccer player.

Brightwell joins recent Gatorade state girls Soccer Player of the Year winners Kierson McDonald (2023, Oak Mountain), Isabel Smith (2022, Mountain Brook), Haley Duca (2021, Chelsea) and Morgan White (2020, Westminster-Oak Mountain), among the state’s list of former award winners.