Ema Twumasi named Gatorade Connecticut Boys Soccer Player of the Year

CHICAGO (Via Gatorade) — In its 31th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, announced Ema Twumasi of Kent School as its 2015-16 Gatorade Connecticut Boys Soccer Player of the Year. Twumasi is the first Gatorade Connecticut Boys Soccer Player of the Year to be chosen from Kent School.

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Twumasi as Connecticut’s best high school boys soccer player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Soccer Player of the Year award to be announced in May, Twumasi joins an elite alumni association of past state award-winners in 12 sports, including Abby Wambach (1997-98, Our Lady of Mercy, N.Y.), Derek Jeter (1991-92, Kalamazoo HS, Mich.),

Candace Parker (2001-02, Naperville Central HS, Ill.), Alexi Lalas (1987-88, Cranbrook HS, Mich.), Heather O’Reilly (2001-02, East Brunswick HS, N.J.) and Mark Sanchez (2004-05, Mission Viejo HS, Calif.).

+Read: Ema Twumasi named Gatorade Connecticut Boys Soccer Player of the Year

The 5-foot-10, 175-pound senior forward and midfielder scored 29 goals and passed for 11 assists this past season, leading the Lions to an 8-6-3 record. A two-time First Team All-Western New England Prep School Soccer Association selection, Twumasi participated in December’s High School All-American Game in North Carolina. Rated the nation’s No. 36 recruit in the Class of 2016 by College Soccer News, he concluded his prep soccer career with 81 goals and 34 assists.

Twumasi has maintained a B average in the classroom. He has volunteered locally as a youth soccer coach.

“Ema’s got great athletic talent: he’s very good technically, he plays both sides of the ball, he can execute tactically and he has a good understanding of the game,” said Owen Finberg, head coach of South Kent School. “He’s been a dominant force for Kent the last four years.”

Twumasi has signed a National Letter of Intent to play soccer on an athletic scholarship at Wake Forest University beginning this fall.

+Read: Gatorade State Boys Soccer Players of the Year announced for fall season

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 high school sports leadership team in partnership with USA TODAY High School Sports, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

Twumasi joins recent Gatorade Connecticut Boys Soccer Players of the Year Mickey Watson (2014-15, South Kent School), Matheus Souza (2013-14, Conrad High School), Isaac Normesinu (2012-13, Hotchkiss School), Zach Zurita (2011–12, Bunnell High School), Kevin Michalak (2010–11, Farmington High School), Kofi Agyapong, (2009-10, St. Luke’s School), Colin Bradley (2008–09, Avon Old Farms School), Pat Boucher (2007-08, Cromwell High School), and Ryan Kinne (2006-07, Naugatuck High School) among the state’s list of former award winners.