Cary-Grove’s Conner earns Gatorade award
The honors keep piling up for Cary-Grove senior Drew Conner.
Conner was recently named Gatorade’s Illinois boys high school soccer player of the year. That follows Conner’s appointment as the honorary co-captain of the Daily Herald’s All-Area boys soccer team. Conner also was an all-state first-team selection this past season.
Conner, a 6-foot, 165-pound midfielder, racked up 14 goals and 17 assists for a Cary-Grove team that went 17-3 and reached a Class 3A regional final.
“The award means a lot,” Conner told the Daily Herald from Charleston, S.C. Saturday where he’s training with his Chicago Fire Academy club team.
“I was pretty surprised when I was told. There were a lot of good players this season and over the course of my career. It’s an amazing honor. Illinois is a huge hot spot for soccer. It’s a huge soccer state. I know there are a lot of good players around the state. It’s pretty awesome to win something like this.”
The award brought some additional positive closure to Conner’s senior season.
“The way our season ended hurt a lot,” said Conner. “We had hopes to go a lot farther. Getting this award was a nice way to end the year.”
Conner has been hard at work in South Carolina with the Fire Academy.
“We’re doing a lot of training. The professional team (Chicago Fire) is here with us as well,” said Conner. “Everything is going pretty well. We just played a team from New York (New York Red Bull) and won, 3-0. There are other teams here as well. We’re training and playing games and preparing for the season.”
Conner has signed a National Letter of Intent to play at the University of Wisconsin.
“I signed my NLI at the beginning of February,” he said. “I’m fully committed to go to Wisconsin my freshman year.”
Conner added he would like to play professionally one day.
“I do have aspirations to play pro soccer,” he stated.
Conner, who did not play for Cary-Grove his junior year and instead focused on club, said his experience with the Fire Academy has brought his game to another level.
“I’ve been playing since my freshman year,” he said. “The training here is unbelievable. You are playing with some of the best players from the Midwest. You can only get better in an environment like that.”
Conner maintains a B average at Cary-Grove and founded a local charitable initiative, Boots for Bolivia, which donates soccer equipment and clothes to needy children in Bolivia, and has volunteered locally donating and wrapping holiday presents for underprivileged children.