Tony Shaw named to the United Soccer Coaches High School Scholar All-America Team!
Vestavia Hills 2020 Senior and former Steamer Tony Shaw was not only named Alabama Gatorade Soccer Player of the Year in 2020, but has now been selected to the prestigious United Soccer Coaches High School Scholar All-America Team!
This award is presented annually to both male and female players that are high school seniors. To become a Scholar All-America at the interscholastic level, a player must first be nominated by his or her head coach. The coach must be a United Soccer Coaches member at the high school level. To be nominated, players must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.75 or better (on a 4.0 scale) through the first semester of their senior year, must have demonstrated recognised excellence in high school soccer and must have performed community service at the local, regional, or national level. Shaw has maintained a 3.96 GPA in the classroom.
Later this fall Tony will receive and invitation and details about attending the annual United Soccer Coaches All-America Ceremony on Saturday, January 9, 2021, honouring all of the All-Americans and Scholar All-Americans for youth, high school and college soccer in 2020. The event will take place in conjunction with the annual United Soccer Coaches Convention in Anaheim, California.
Shaw has signed a National Letter of Intent to play soccer on scholarship at Syracuse University.
Congratulations to Tony Shaw on being named one of the nation’s best on the field and in the classroom for the 2019-20 academic year. Your future is bright and we are so excited for you!
Tony Shaw – Gatorade Player of the Year
Shaw, a Syracuse signee, is the fourth player from Vestavia Hills High School to win the honour of Gatorade Player of the Year! Shaw joins recent Gatorade Alabama Boys Soccer Players of the Year Logan Frost (2018-19, Briarwood Christian School), Brooks Rice (2017-18, Spain Park High School), and past VHSC soccer players Kennedy Davis (2016-17, Oak Mountain High School), JJ Williams (2015-16, Alabama Christian Academy), Eduvie Ikoba (2014-15, Bob Jones High School), and Jake Rufe (2013-14, Grissom High School) among the state’s list of former Gatorade Player of the year award winners.
The award recognises not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field. Shaw is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Soccer Player of the Year award to be announced later this month.
- Graduation Year: 2020
- Position: Midfielder
- Club Name: Vestavia Hills SC
- Jersey Number: 10
- High School: Vestavia Hills
- Region: South
- City: Vestavia Hills
- State: Alabama
A two-time first team All-State selection, Shaw concluded his prep career with 13 goals and a school-record 28 assists. He is a member of the Region 3 Olympic Development Program and helped the Gwinnett Soccer Academy to the Elite National Premier League 17U national final. Shaw is ranked as the South’s No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2020 by TopDrawerSoccer.com.
Shaw has volunteered locally feeding the homeless and coaching youth soccer players, and he has raised money to benefit pediatric cancer research.
“If I’m buying stock in a student-athlete, it would be in Tony Shaw… He’s big, strong, fast, a leader and a student of the game. Syracuse is getting a great player with lots of upside.”
Vestavia Hills Coach Leo Harlan