On Thursday morning, Gatorade announced Grandview’s Ben Beckman as the 2021-22 Gatorade Colorado Boys Soccer Player of the Year.
A 5-foot-8, 145-pound senior defender led the Wolves on a Class 5A state championship run this past fall. The team finished with a 15-4-1 record, as Beckman anchored a defense that allowed just four goals over its final 12 games, a stretch throughout which the team posted a 11-0-1 record and defeated Fossil Ridge, 3-1, in the championship game.
“Ben has consistently grown into a top player with exceptional skills,” Ralston Valley head coach Jamie Scarcliff said in a press release from Gatorade. “He was a true leader and caused us the most trouble (on the field).”
In leading the Wolves to a state title, Beckman was named to the CHSAA all-state first team. He is a two-time Centennial League player of the year and was a 2021 United Soccer Coaches High School All-American selection.
In the classroom, Beckman carried a 4.50 GPA and will attend school and play soccer at St. Olaf College this coming fall. He is a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and has volunteered at the Assistance League of Denver Thrift Shop.
Beckman is the first Grandview boys soccer player selected as the Gatorade Colorado Player of the Year. He is now a finalist for the Gatorade National Boys Soccer Player of the Year award, which will be announced later in June.
Other recent Gatorade Colorado Boys Soccer Players of the Year include Jeff Koch (2020-21, Liberty High School), Thad Dewing (2019-20 & 2018-19, Air Academy High School), and Michael Mooney (2017-18, Broomfield High School).
The Gatorade Player of the Year award recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field. 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.