Maddie DiMaria of Cor Jesu (MO) Earns Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year

This is the second time DiMaria has won the award in her career

Jesus Baca

Junior Maddie DiMaria of Cor Jesu (MO) is the 2025-2026 Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year.

This is the second time DiMaria has become the Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year. She won the award during her freshman year.

Throughout her prep career, she has showed her incredible talent, scoring 142 goals. She will be heading to Japan to join the U.S. U-17 Women's National Team July camp roster. DiMaria will also be graduating early and playing her college soccer at the University of North Carolina.

Q&A with 2025-2026 Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year Maddie DiMaria

HS On SI: Congratulations on winning the Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year. This morning when you were surprised, what did that mean to you and how surprised were you?

Maddie DiMaria: I was shocked. I mean, I think I came down the stairs, and I saw my family, and my friends, and my teammates, and my coaches, and the trophy itself, and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, I just won.' It was the coolest, most surreal feeling ever. And I think shocking. I mean, it's the best surprise you could possibly get on a random Tuesday, and just any day ever. So I'm just so incredibly blessed and thankful to be among the names on the trophy, who are so incredibly awesome, and looking at it, it's crazy. So I'm so blessed and just thankful to even have the opportunity to receive the award.

Well, the crazy part is, this is not even your first time receiving this honor.

MD: It actually is crazy to think about freshman year coming in. When I won the award, I was just as shocked. I had no clue it was happening. I knew of the award, and I saw other people winning it the year before, and then Kennedy Fuller winning it the year before, and then coming in I won it, and I was like, 'My god, this is insane. I gotta soak in every moment. You may not win again, this is it.' And so I did. I soaked in every single moment, and then coming here and winning again, and closing out my high school chapter on that with that third state title, and then closing it again with this is just such a full circle moment, and I think it's the coolest thing ever, and I am genuinely so blessed, and just so excited to even be here and have this opportunity.

Junior Maddie DiMaria of Cor Jesu (MO) is the 2025-2026 Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year. | Joe Greer

You talk about a full circle moment, and you come from a super athletic family, your parents played, you play, your siblings, just looking back from when you were a little girl until now. What do you feel like is the biggest thing you learned about yourself, not only as an athlete, but as a person as well?

MD: Yeah, I think that just being a good person and keeping your love for the game are the biggest two things I've learned. As you go through life, you make so many different connections. You meet so many different people. My family has played such a big impact on me and instilled in me to be the best person you can to all those you meet. And I think that's probably the biggest takeaway that I've had. Off the field, the biggest learning is to be kind to everyone. Be such a good person that they only have kind words to say about you. So, I think that's one of the biggest things.

And then also just on the field, keeping my love for the game. I grew up watching my siblings play, and I looked at that, and I was like, 'That's what I want to do.' And so here I am playing. I have so I have so much love for the game, and I could talk about my family and the impact they've had on me all day long. They are the best people ever, and they genuinely have developed me and grown me into the person I am on and off the field, and so I owe so much credit and thanks to them.

If you family were sitting right here right now, what message would you want to tell them?

MD: I would just want to say thank you for sticking with me through and supporting me and being my biggest fans through everything. They've been with me through all my ups and downs. They've celebrated me with successes and pushed me when I was at my lowest. They've given me my reason why I love to make them proud, just see my family smile on the sidelines, cheering me on. It's the biggest blessing you can have. And so to have five best friends all rallying around me, my little support system, they keep me going, and they're my 'why' for the game. So, I'm just so incredibly blessed to have such a decorated soccer family, honestly, that everyone loves the game, everyone shares the same passion. It's awesome.

Okay, so we have to talk about 142 goals. People are lucky if they score one or two. You've scored 142. What is this like? Can you walk us through a typical training day?

MD: It is crazy number, kind of hearing all put together, but I think I owe all of it to my teammates, just the way they set me up on the field, getting me the ball, finding me the ball, me finding them the ball; we have such a good system going, and I think I would never be where I am without them and my coaches, and just all those who came to support.

I wake up and train usually, and then I'll head to the gym at some point during the day, but I try not to like overwork myself. I think a big part of it is knowing your body and making sure that you are fueling yourselves in the right way, and so that's kind of what I figured out along my years. You don't want to overwork yourself, you don't want to get injured. So I take my trainings when I'm at training super seriously, focused, get stuff done. It doesn't even have to be a long training. I'm really excited for the time in my life when this is like my full-time job.

Joe Greer

So, for the little girls out there that want to be just like you, what message do you want to tell them?

MD: Be you and just enjoy the game. Being you is the best part of it. You bring such an interesting, or such a different and intriguing, inspiring aspect to the game. I think everyone has their own talents, everyone has their own things that they bring, but I think if you can stay true to what makes you, you, and just follow your heart, and stay with it, that's the biggest thing.

Keep your love for the game, celebrate your teammates, celebrate your successes, just have so much fun, because it does go by really fast. And you'll be sitting here, and you'll be like, 'Wow, I just played 17 years of soccer, and it's all 17 years behind me.' It's such a special thing that you're on the field and able to play, and it's such a blessing.

When you got the call that you were going to head to Japan to play, what did that mean to you?

MD: Any time I'm able to put on the crest and represent my country on the highest level is truly the biggest honor. My goal in life is one day is to be on the full women's national team, so I think it's another step along the path, and I'm super excited. I've never been to Japan, so going to Japan is just unreal. I'm so excited to see everything that's there. There's no greater feeling than going out there and playing for your country and just playing for something so much bigger than yourself. And so my goal is to go get two wins while I'm there, and to really soak in every single moment I have with my teammates and my coaches, and get the most out of it. Just learn everything, soak it all in.

What type of legacy do you hope you leave behind?

MD: That everyone saw that I loved the game and that I loved high school soccer, and that it truly was one of the best things that ever happened. It's my favorite chapter yet in my life. I could talk about high school soccer and the impact it has had on me all day, but I just hope everyone sees that I truly love the game. I truly enjoyed it. It pushed me both on and off the field to be the best that I can be, and everyone should go play. It's something with your community and your team and your school, that just there's no other aspect or environment that's going to build it. So, I'm so grateful and blessed that I've had the three years, and I'm honestly super sad that I'm not going to have a fourth, but I'm really excited for my next chapter.

Well, we see your stats, we see everything that you do on the field, but Who is Maddie DiMaria off the field?

MD: Yeah, so off the field, I'm pretty normal. I would say pretty normal girl, average teenager. I love to hang out with my friends, I love to go by the pool, swim, tan. I love to bake. I'm a big baker sometimes. My specialty is I make really good chocolate chip cookies. I haven't made them in a while because my family, my brothers are very dedicated, most of them. They both don't really eat sweets, so they try to minimize it in the household. But I bake really good chocolate chip cookies, and everyone, they're gone in not even a day, so that's kind of my specialty.

I love to play outside, anything outside. What I also love to chill, like TV shows. Your relaxing time and your me time is always necessary.

Joe Greer

MG: Lastly, what do you want to say to all your fans, followers, everyone that's guided you on this journey, and the Tar Heel family?

MD: I just want to say that I'm so thankful and blessed, and I have so much gratitude for all those who have been along the journey with me and supported me along the way. All throughout my journey, my coaches have been there to push me and develop me, and they've seen the best in me since I was little, my [St. Louis Scott Gallagher SC] coaches, and also my high school coaches. So I think I owe a bunch of credit to them, and also my teammates who are out there on the field with me. It's so much fun to be on the field with them.

I just want to say, thank you to everyone who has been there to support me and push me, and I think seeing supporters and the fans and people who now want my autograph, it's just the most surreal, full circle moment. I looked up to you and now people are looking up to me, and it's the coolest thing ever, so thank you. A huge thank you.