Gatorade National Player of the Year – Addison Halpern – Part 1

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It was an exciting and unexpected week for Addison Halpern.  She recently won the Gatorade State soccer player of the year award on Wednesday and to her surprise, she was crowned the Gatorade National soccer player of the year two days later on 6/20/2025.  Addison is one of the most accomplished youth player to win this prestigious award. She is also considered a generational talent and she definitely has a bright future ahead of her.

The New Jersey player of the year played in only 15 high school matches this season after coming back from the U.S. U-20 Women’s World Cup. She was one of just two high school players on the team and was the youngest at 17 years old. Addison also played on the U-19 team earlier in the year, and in 2022, she played with the U-16 team, which won all of their games in the UEFA Development Tournament in Ronneby, Sweden.

Her commitment to her high school team is what sets her apart from the other great contenders. She missed the first six matches while participating in the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup with the U.S. National Team. Once she returned, she was intent on helping her team compete for a third state championship. Halpern was on fire while scoring 44 goals and providing 14 assists in their remaining 15 matches. This impressive feat led the Rutgers Preparatory Argonauts to a 23-0 record and both the Prep B and Non-Public B state championships.

She is definitely one of the most decorated prep players, as her accomplishments also include the 2024 United Soccer Coaches National Player of the Year and a two-time NJ.com State Player of the Year honoree. She was also ranked as the nation’s No. 8 recruit in the Class of 2025 by prepsoccer.com. Halpern concluded her prep soccer career with 180 goals, which is the second highest in New Jersey, and 68 assists.

Aside from her athletic excellence, she has maintained a 3.86 weighted GPA and has signed on to play at the University of Virginia women’s program, a Division 1 powerhouse. She is looking forward to playing for legendary coach Steve Swanson, who has one of the highest winning percentages and has won multiple ACC Coach of the Year awards. It’s going to be awesome to see her journey with the program and on future U.S. national teams. She’s definitely an impact player, and I, like many others, will now be a fan of Virginia women’s soccer.

With the conclusion of part 1 of this series, I was able to ask Addison a few questions, and included in this segment is a question on the recruiting process. As the landscape has changed regarding roster caps and NIL deals, Part 2 will include the complete video interview.

Me – What advice would you give aspiring players on the college recruiting process?  I know it might have changed in the last when you were a sophomore, but is there anything you could give to some of our players coming up?

Addison – “Yeah definitely, I would say be patient with yourself because it’s a long process, it’s not a sprint.  You kinda have time to make your own decision and it’s where you have to spend your time for the next four years, so it’s what you want at the end of the day and talk to people, get some information on it but at the end of the day it’s where you are gonna end up.  So take your time, don’t compare yourself to anyone else’s and just enjoy it while it lasts because it really is a blast.”

Addison’s response was clear, concise, and inspiring.  I know that aspiring players, especially the class of 2027, who recently received calls from D1 and D2 schools on or after June 15th will benefit from her response.  Definitely looking forward to part 2 as I asked her about her favorite Gatorade players of the year winners as we both agreed on one of them.  She could very well be the next Alyssa Thompson or Mallory Swanson.  Again, congratulations to Addison Halpern – Gatorade 2024-2025 National Girls Soccer Player of the Year.

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