Jags soccer players sweep Gatorade POTY honors

Spain Park High School was home to not one, but two of the best soccer players in the state in 2018, as Jasmine Greene and Brooks Rice both earned Gatorade Player of the Year honors, awarded to the top player in each state. 

Robert Starr, head coach of the girls team at Spain Park, said the award couldn’t have gone to a better person than Greene, a senior committed to Furman. 

“I was extremely happy that she did get that recognition,” Starr said. “She is a great example for our program. It’s hard for anybody to say anything but nice things about her, whether that be on the field or off the field.”

A three-year starter at forward, Greene had a tremendous season last spring. She finished with 29 goals and 15 assists and collected at least two points in 14 of 23 games. 

When Greene started playing soccer around the age of 3, she played with boys because she wanted better competition and more of a challenge. She played with boys until she was 12. Greene said that taught her how to be tough and she tries to transfer that same attitude into her game today. 

“I think playing with them molded me into some of the player I am today,” she said.

Greene’s toughness was on full display her sophomore year against Mountain Brook. With a playoff spot on the line, Greene stepped up and scored five goals to lead Spain Park to a 6-4 victory. 

“It surprised me because I was coming off of an injury. I guess I took into consideration all that was on that game. The adrenaline just kicked in,” Greene said.

Rice learned of his player of the year honors during a special part of his summer.

“I actually was at my college [University of North Carolina at Greensboro]. We were there for registration and summer orientation and I was there with my family. My uncle was there too, he happened to be in town. We were eating breakfast and I found out the news then,” Rice said. “The one day I was with my family this whole summer was when we found out, so it was kind of a blessing to have that work out. It was pretty cool.”

Rice finished his senior year with 37 goals and 11 assists. In 23 games last season, Rice had 10 multi-goal games, including four hat tricks. He finished his prep career with 84 total goals.

Boys head coach Matt Hall said Rice’s continual desire to get better makes him an exceptional player. 

“Brooks is an excellent dribbler with the ability to beat opponents and create space for an opportunity on goal but possesses a high work ethic to push his skills,” said Hall. “He is constantly spending time after practice or during off days at the field working on his game.”

Rice even spent his entire summer working on his game, as he played with semi-pro Duluth Football Club out of Duluth, Minnesota. Rice started every game for the team.