Tampa Catholic’s Marcello Valbuena and Plant’s Quinn Ryan were named Alvarez award winners as the top boys and girls soccer players, respectively, in Hillsborough County. 

The award presentation, now in its 37th year, was held during a dinner ceremony on Tuesday.

Valbuena became the first player from Tampa Catholic to win the Jose A. Alvarez award as the top boys player.

The University of Tampa signee, who decided to play high school soccer for the first time after spending years at the club level, took top honors after finishing the season with 36 goals and five assists. In the 3A state title match, the senior forward connected on two goals within an eight-minute span to give Tampa Catholic its first lead, one that would last the rest of the match to secure the Crusaders’ first state title in boys soccer.  

“Marcello is the type of person who makes players around him better and the type of player  coaches dream about coaching,” Tampa Catholic coach Kevin McCarron said. “Prior to this year he had always been a center back in a defensive role. But our team needed someone to step up and play forward this year, and he did without hesitation.”

Valbuena has already been named the 3A player of the year and Mr. Soccer, the two awards given to the top boys player in each class and the overall winner in the sport by the Florida Dairy Farmers. He also was selected as the Gatorade state player of the year. 

Ryan won the Janet Alvarez award as the top girls player. It is the first time a player from Plant took top honors since Caroline Bado won the award in 2013. 

As a senior midfielder, Ryan led the Panthers to an 18-2 record and a state semifinal appearance. The USF signee scored a team-high 33 goals, including six in the region finals, and had nine assists. 

“Quinn has vision of play like no other,” Plant coach Alex Venegas said. “She has plenty of anticipation and is quick to the ball. As a striker and forward she has proven that once she has the ball on her feet it’s a sure score and why also name top scorer for two years in the county.”

Ryan’s performance helped her receive plenty of recognition. She was selected to the Western Conference team and was named the Class 7A state player of the year by the Florida Dairy Farmers. 

The Florida High School Athletic Association released the classifications, districts and regions for boys soccer this coming season. The assignments are based on student enrollment numbers from October 2020. This is a one-year cycle that the FHSAA board of directors voted on. There likely will be a two-year cycle starting with the 2022-23 calendar year. The classifications and districts for the other sports will be released at a later date. Below is the list for area teams. For the full  boy soccer list click here.  

Class 7A, District 6

Alonso

East Lake

Palm Harbor University

Plant 

Sickles

Steinbrenner

Class 7A, District 7

Durant

Lakewood Ranch

Newsome

Plant City

Riverview

Class 6A, District 9

Gaither

Land O’ Lakes

Largo

Leto

Mitchell

Pinellas Park

Sunlake

Class 6A, District 10

Armwood

Hillsborough

Strawberry Crest

Tampa Bay Tech

Wharton

Wiregrass Ranch

Class 6A, District 11

Bloomingdale

Bradenton Manatee

East Bay

Lennard

Palmetto

Sumner

Class 5A, District 5

Belleview

Citrus

Gainesville 

Lecanto

Ocala Vanguard

Springstead

Class 5A, District 6

Cypress Creek

Fivay

Gulf

Pasco

River Ridge

Wesley Chapel

Zephyrhills

Class 5A, District 8

Blake

Brandon

Freedom

King

Middleton

Class 5A, District 9

Clearwater

Countryside

Jefferson

Jesuit

Osceola

Seminole

Class 5A, District 10

Boca Ciega

Bradenton Bayshore

Bradenton Southeast

Hollins

Northeast

St. Petersburg

Class 4A, District 9

Central

Hernando

Hudson

Nature Coast

South Sumter

Weeki Wachee

Class 4A, District 10

Anclote

Chamberlain

Dunedin

Gibbs

Lakewood

Robinson

Tarpon Springs

Class 3A, District 5

Bell Creek

Brooks DeBartolo

Carrollwood Day

Lakeland Christian

Tampa Catholic

Tampa Prep

Class 3A, District 6

Berkeley Prep

Bishop McLaughlin

Calvary Christian

Clearwater Central Catholic

St. Petersburg Catholic

Class 2A, District 9

Academy at the Lakes

Bayshore Christian

Cambridge Christian

Canterbury

Seven Rivers Christian

Shorecrest

Class 2A, District 10

Admiral Farragut

Bradenton Christian

Bradenton St. Stephens

Indian Rocks Christian

Keswick Christian

Here are the Pinellas County Athletic Conference boys soccer teams. The players are from public schools in the county. The selections were made by the coaches. 

North division

First team

GK Shane Dever, Sr., Seminole

F Fernando Vargas-Reyes, Sr., Clearwater

F Jacob Rocha, Sr., Countryside

F Feliks Muka, Sr., Palm Harbor University

MF Brennan Ortega, Sr., Clearwater

MF Michael Gomes, Sr., Seminole

MF Logan Koster, Sr., Palm Harbor University

MF Vikrame Karkare, Sr., Largo

D Jose Pena, So., Clearwater

D Peter Michael, Sr., Countryside

D Julian Zeqiri, Sr., Countryside

D Andrew Ovalle, Sr., Seminole

Second team

GK Aheron Hirsch, Sr., Palm Harbor University

F Trevor Armstrong, Largo

F PJ Slaughter, Seminole

F Emone Barazza, Countryside

MF Danylo Akymenko, Countryside

MF Junior Maye-Ocana, Sr., Clearwater

MF Rennie Crookston, Sr., Palm Harbor University

MF Adam Lim, Largo

D Sebastian Vivanco, So., Clearwater

D Ty Lim, Sr., Largo

D Luke Kennedy, Sr., Palm Harbor University

D Mihailo Poljcic, Jr., Palm Harbor University

South division

First team

GK Colin Roberts, Sr., Osceola

F Omar Chafchaouni, Jr., Northeast

F Jayden Walsh, Sr., Osceola

F Gavin Swartzwelder, Jr., Lakewood

MF Syed Haddak, Jr., Northeast

MF Riley Pinney, Sr., Northeast

MF Alex Flores, Sr., St. Petersburg

MF Owen Noyes, Sr., St. Petersburg

D George Nikolaev, Sr., Lakewood

D Landon Levering, Sr., Osceola

D Max Bernhart, Sr., Lakewood

D Tom Precious, Sr., Northeast

Second team

GK Aidan Barnes, Jr., Lakewood

F Braden Harris, Sr., Boca Ciega

F Riley Duebel, Jr., Osceola

F Jornell Channer, Sr., St. Petersburg

MF Jake Beresford, Jr., Osceola

MF Kyle Conde, So., Lakewood

MF David Silvers, Sr., Lakewood

D Luka Savic, Sr., St. Petersburg

D Javier Santander, Jr., Northeast

D Aiden Beresford, Jr., Osceola

D Caleb Fruland, Sr., St. Petersburg