The boys’ and girls’ soccer players at Bridgewater-Raritan High School have been awarded for their achievements when mixing business with pleasure.
The United Scorer Coaches announced that Bridgewater-Raritan High School was one of just 33 high schools in the United States to have both its boys’ soccer team and girls’ soccer team honored as its Academic Award Winners for the 2023-2024 school year.
The Academic Award Winners are the result of the high school teams’ exemplary performance in the classroom during that academic year.
According to the United Soccer Coaches website, a total of 292 soccer teams (116 boys and 176 girls) posted a team grade point average of 3.25 or higher, thereby earning the schools the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award for the 2023-2024 school year. Thirty-three, including Bridgewater-Raritan, had both boy and girl squads honored.
The Bridgewater-Raritan head coaches for both teams—Mark Heinbach for the boys’ team and Sean Casey for the girls’ squad–shared how proud they were of their student-athletes.
"This award truly embodies what being a student-athlete is all about. As coaches, we hope that the lessons we teach on the field will extend beyond it,” Coach Heinbach stated. “ Being a full-time student and athlete is no easy task, and this award is proof of the hard work our players put into a season. The coaching staff and I are very proud of our players for achieving this honor."
"It goes without saying that the entire coaching staff is extremely proud of the girls we have in our program. This award is just an example of how hard our students work on the field in the classroom,” Coach Casey said. It amazes me how students can balance playing a high school sport and their academics. I am happy that the girls got recognized for their hard work."
Two current seniors who were each member of the two teams last fall, boys’ soccer captain Jaskeerat Dharmi and girls’ soccer captain Grace Drumgool, spoke about how these students could balance academics and academics while playing a scholastic sport.
“Balancing sports and academics is very challenging, especially for new players or players in advanced classes. The average student-athlete performs their sport every day after school for about two to three hours, reaching home at about 6 p.m. and then completing homework and studying for tests for multiple hours, Dharmi explained. “This takes a toll on your body, but players continue to push through because they are motivated to play the sport that they love while receiving good grades in school. However, this busy workflow between academics and sports can be easily maintained with proper routine and organization.”
Drumgool agreed.
“I think the girls on the team last year being able to maintain a team average GPA over 4.0 displays their impressive time management abilities when it comes to balancing soccer and academics. Girls on the team prioritize their academics which speaks to the level of character they have,” she said.
The players recognized from the 2023 boys’ soccer team are current seniors Adrian Arias, Ramses Binns, Ethan Corrales, Andrew Childs, Ethan Danneberger, Jaskeerat Dharmi, Ryan Dzuroska, Joseph LaStella, Brad Sweet, and Jason Urena, current juniors Michael Battista and Michael Takacs, and Class of 2024 graduates Nicholas Asatiani, Vincent Cirianni, Roshan Dave, Diego Henao, Edgar Hernandez, Tyler Mendes, Logan Neno, Ryan Plant, Alexander Rahimi, Yusuf Rehman, and Brandon Sydor.
The players recognized from the 2023 girls’’ soccer team are current seniors Audrey Martinho, Gianna Callari, Grace Drumgool, Ashley Straka, Ava Marcella, Kaitlyn Winne, Audra Day, Sophia Rosato, Ashley Smith, Katie Iovine, Alexa Petrillo, current juniors Reese Reimann, Hayden Tormasi, Kayla Davidson, Juliana Imwalle, current sophomores Joanna Xu, Maddy Corbitt, Stella Grant and Class of 2024 graduates Aubrey Bartolotto, Sara Bengali, Jamie Binenstock, Julie Ferrante, Esther Guan, Madison Hou, Skylar Leung, Sophia Maslo, Sophia Mendoza, Adriana Minerva.