AURORA — In its 39th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Marcus Von of Broomfield High School is the 2023-24 Gatorade Colorado Boys Soccer Player of the Year. Von is the fourth Gatorade Colorado Boys Soccer Player of the Year to be chosen from Broomfield High School.
The award, which celebrates the nation’s top high school athletes for excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community, distinguishes Von as Colorado’s best high school boys soccer player. From CEOs and coaches to star athletes, Gatorade Player of the Year winners showcase the power of sport, touting an all-star group of alumni that includes Lyle Yorks (1987-88, E.O. Smith High School, Conn.), Alecko Eskandarian (1999-00, Bergen Catholic High School, N.J.) and Ben Bender (2019-20, Calvert Hall College High School, Md.).
The 5-foot-11, 170-pound senior forward and midfielder led the Eagles to a 16-2-2 record and the Class 5A state championship this past season. Von scored 19 goals, passed for three assists this spring, netting his team’s lone goal in a 2-1 shootout win over Denver East High School in the state final. The Class 5A Player of the Year, he was a 2023 United Soccer Coaches High School All-American selection.
Von has volunteered locally at the Kingdom Building Foodbank, which was founded by his mother. He has also donated his time with the Broomfield High School Unified Soccer Team—serving physically and intellectually challenged youth players—as well as with Operation Christmas Child. “Marcus was Broomfield’s talisman and, while the squad had plenty of quality, it was Marcus who played at that next level,” said John Doody, head coach of Ralston Valley High Scool. “He not only scored so many important goals, but also linked the midfield and forward lines.”
Von has maintained a weighted 3.63 GPA in the classroom. He will complete a gap year during the 2024-25 academic calendar and reassess his options for a collegiate destination sometime next year.
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.
Von joins recent Gatorade Colorado Boys Soccer Players of the Year Cameron Gerber (2022-23, Boulder High School), Ben Beckman (2021-22, Grandview High School), Jeff Koch (2020-21, Liberty High School) and Thad Dewing (2019-20, Air Academy High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.