Gulfport soccer player wins Gatorade Player of the Year

Fresh off its 6A state championship crown, the Gulfport boys soccer team is no stranger to post-season accolades, but even for the Admirals, Ashton LeBlanc is the recent recipient of some extremely high praise.

The rising senior defender has been named the Gatorade Player of the Year for Mississippi boys soccer. LeBlanc anchored a back line that pitched a dozen shutouts this season and allowed just one goal in four post-season games.

LeBlanc was also selected to play on DC United’s U-19 Academy Team in August, not to mention a first team all-state selection, a Coast Coaches All-Star team honoree, and a 6A state champion. “We won the state championship and then we had so much recognition from that and then to get this, I just got back from that all-state banquet. And I mean it’s just one thing after another and it feels great,” said LeBlanc.

Gulfport head boys soccer Coach Henrik Madsen said, “I mean obviously, you have to be a really, really good player. But you have to be a really, really good student in the classroom as well. You have to have a certain GPA to be even considered for the award, so he does the work in the classroom and he’s a great leader in the locker room. And then obviously practice, hardest working player in practice and he works really, really hard in games so it’s a complete package when you look at Ashton.”

LeBlanc maintains a A- GPA with plans of playing college soccer upon his graduation in 2019.

LeBlanc is some elite company with other players from the Gulf Coast across all sports to win the Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year award over the past two seasons.

This year in football, it’s East Central running back Tony Brown and then last year it was Biloxi’s Trey Shaffer on the baseball diamond and OLA’s Emma Funk for volleyball.