CHICAGO (June 12, 2025) — In its 40th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Leo Gutierrez of Salpointe Catholic High School is the 2024-25 Gatorade Arizona Boys Soccer Player of the Year.

Gatorade Player of the Year is the top honor in high school sports, celebrating the nation’s best high school athletes for their success on the field, in the classroom and in the community. The award distinguishes Gutierrez as Arizona's best high school boys soccer player, and he joins an impressive group of alumni that spans CEOs, coaches and star athletes such as Ben Bender (2019-20, Calvert Hall College High School, M.D.) and Ransford Gyan (2022-23 & 2023-24, St. Benedict's Preparatory School, N.J.).

The 5-foot-11, 160-pound senior forward led the Lancers to a 26-2 record and a fifth straight Conference 4A state championship this past season. Gutierrez set a state single-season record with 62 goals and also passed for 16 assists. He netted eight goals and recorded six assists in his team’s four state tournament matches, including a goal and two assists in Salpointe’s 7-2 win over Saguaro High School in the state final. A three-time Conference 4A Player of the Year, he concluded his prep soccer career with a state career record 173 goals to go with 59 assists.

Gutierrez has volunteered locally on behalf of Habitat for Humanity and as a youth camp counselor. He has also donated his time to multiple community service initiatives through his church. “I just couldn’t believe Leo’s beguiling movement, his power in the air and on the ground,” said Marc Kelly, head coach of Brophy Preparatory School. “And when the chance came, he popped four on us. It became clear to me that we hadn’t seen a player like him for a while.”

Gutierrez has maintained a weighted 3.67 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a written letter of athletic aid to play soccer at Pima Community College this fall.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states across 12 different high school sports – 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 sport, 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 $5.6 million in grants to winners across more than 2,000 organizations.

To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate student - athletes, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com or follow us on social media on Instagram at instagram.com/Gatorade, Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY and X (Twitter) at x.com/Gatorade.