All the goals, assists and sensational two-way play Loyola Blakefield soccer standout Dan Klink provided in his fine senior year were front and center as the Dons made it two straight Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championships last fall.

Behind the scenes, Klink brought more: strong leadership on the field, quality work in the classroom and contributions in the community.

For his fine work on and off the field, Klink has been named the 2024-25 Gatorade National Boys Soccer Player of the Year.

The award recognizes outstanding athletic excellence, academic achievement and exemplary character. A selection committee evaluates the nation’s top talent and selects one winner from each of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., before selecting one recipient for the national award. Friday morning, Klink, alongside family and friends, was surprised with Gatorade’s top honor, including a video call from U.S. men’s soccer and AC Milan star Christian Pulisic.

“It’s quite an honor, it’s amazing and I feel very very fortunate and very blessed to get this incredible award,” said Klink, who graduated from Loyola early and spent the spring at the University of North Carolina for his first college semester.

A four-year varsity player, the 6-foot-5 Klink developed into a dominant and versatile player at midfield and forward.After being named The Baltimore Sun’s All-Metro Player of the Year as a junior, he earned first-team All-Metro honors this fall after finishing with 17 goals and eight assists. In repeating as MIAA A champions, the Dons finished with a 14-2-2 record.

Loyola coach Geaton Caltabiano said Klink checked off all the boxes in deserving this prestigious award.

“Dan is a special individual, probably more special off the field than on, which is saying a lot about him. His personality, he has a charisma to him that goes so much farther than all the goals he scored,” he said. “There’s a lot of kids that have that talent to put the ball in the back of the net, but his positive, upbeat personality, he was the leader and nobody had to say it, had to ask. You looked at Dan Klink and knew he was the guy.”

The founder and president of the Sports Analytics Club at Loyola, Klink has participated in the Arrupe Leaders Summit, which promotes social justice. He has also volunteered locally with Beans and Bread and the Francis X. Gallagher Services, while also donating his time with several community service initiatives through his church youth group in addition to coaching youth soccer.

“There is such a high level of talent among the nearly half a million student-athletes across the nation who compete in boys soccer, but Dan stands out for excelling in the classroom and making a difference in his community,” Gatorade Chief Brand Officer Anuj Bhasin said.

Klink becomes the fourth area player to be recognized as Gatorade’s top national boys soccer player, joining Todd Haskins (Howard, 1989-90), Chris Agorsor (McDonogh, 2007-08) and Jacob Murrell (McDonogh, 2021-22). The award was established in 1985.

“To have such an amazing soccer experience at Loyola and then combine amazing academics with teachers that really care and support you and then have the opportunity to provide service and give back to the community was so rewarding,” Klink said. “So Loyola has given me so many opportunities and I couldn’t ask for a better high school experience.”

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