The 2024 season was marked with many incredible moments for Habersham Central High School’s varsity girls soccer team and many of those were acknowledged Saturday at the squad’s end of season awards banquet.
Members from the junior varsity and varsity teams were honored on the night with coaches recounting bits and pieces of their respective team’s campaign.
Varsity
Lady Raiders coach Jeff LaBarbera lauded his players, bringing each up to the front of the room as every single player was acknowledged for having a grade average of 90 or above. Those earning an Academic Scholar Award were senior team captain Riley Wilson, sophomore Eden Turner, junior Annabelle Clark, senior Piper Turner, junior Grace Dooley, sophomore Meg LaBarbera, sophomore Emylie Nichols, junior Zoe Anderson, senior captain Addi Banks, junior Ansley Means, sophomore Kelsie Campbell, senior Maggie Vena, junior Hayden Barnett, junior captain Paisley Cathey, junior Abigail Hotard, sophomore Hanna Vidrine, sophomore Belle Cummings, sophomore Maddox Carroll, and junior Abigail Mize.
Freshmen are ineligible for Academic Scholar Award, but Madie Wilbanks and Emmie Kyle were honored as Region Scholar Athletes with averages of 95 or above. The two were joined by Wilson, Eden Turner, Dooley, LaBarbera, Nichols, Anderson, Banks, Means, Campbell, Vena, Barnett, Cathey, Hotard, and Cummings.
Jeff said having all 21 players having a 90-plus average and 16 of 21 having 95-plus averages “unheard of.”
“I don’t know of any team where every girl has a 90 or above. That’s just amazing…unbelievable. It’s crazy,” he said.
Banks was honored as the senior with the highest GPA on the team, boasting a 98.9344.
The Lady Raiders honor a player with the Caroline Bagwell Award, whose namesake played for the program during the 2000s and tragically passed away in a car accident shortly after graduation. When LaBarbera took over the program as head coach, he changed the Coaches Award to the Caroline Bagwell Award.
When describing the award, LaBarbera also gave a description of Bagwell: Caroline was an amazing player and person who lived life to the fullest. The recipient of this award is someone who the coaches feel did everything asked of them and always put the team first.
Meg LaBarbera was the player deemed worthy of that honor for the 2024 season.
The Most Improved Award went to Means. According to LaBarbera, Means was asked to play a new role for the squad that she wasn’t used to playing and was able to develop her left foot in the process. Her hard work in preparing for her new spot on the field caught the attention and appreciation of her coaches.
The Lady Raiders allowed just 13 goals during the regular season and only three during the playoffs. Those three goals were scored by defending state champion and 2024 state runner-up Roswell.
The defense, in LaBarbera’s words, is the best the program has ever had. So when it came to picking a Defensive MVP Award winner “it was nearly impossible,” the head coach said. Sophomore Eden Turner garnered the award.
“She was our defensive leader, she communicated unbelievably every day and she was just someone we relied on every day to secure the middle park,” LaBarbera said. “Everywhere we went it was ‘Who’s that little girl in the back? She’s phenomenal.’”
The Offensive MVP Award winner was Addi Banks. Banks ends her career as the fourth highest goal scorer and also the fourth highest in assists in program history.
“One of the hardest working forwards in our region. She never stops working and running,” LaBarbera said of Banks. “She leads by example on and off the field. She was our second leading goal scorer and everything she does is just phenomenal and she’s an example for everybody.”
The Team MVP Award wasn’t a big surprise to anyone who saw the Lady Raiders play this year. Paisley Cathey scored 40 goals this season to set a school record – among the boys and girls programs – for the single season. The previous record for the girls program was 27 and the boys was 39. She’s currently sitting at 78 career goals, also a school record for either program, with another year to add to it.
Because she broke the two school records, Cathey was also honored with the Golden Boot Award. The Golden Boot is not one that is awarded every year, but is used to mark seasons of significance for a player within the program records.
LaBarbera also handed out the game used balls Cathey broke each record with to her family.
All-Region
The Lady Raiders placed six players on the first team All-Region Team for Region 8-AAAAAA. Wilson, Eden Turner, Means, Cathey, Meg LaBarbera, and Banks were all tabbed to the first team. Hotard and Piper Turner were each honorable mentions.
Cathey was named Region Midfielder of the Year and, for the third consecutive season, Jeff LaBarbera was named Region Coach of the Year.
“Getting six girls on the first team is incredible,” LaBarbera said. “[Cathey] got hosed. She should have been the Player of the Year. That’s probably the most unjust thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I’d gladly give away my Coach of the Year for her to get Player of the Year because she deserved that. There’s seven games where she won the game for us in region. We don’t win the region title if she’s not in the team.
“Soccer’s a team sport, but it’s made up of individual moments and she had 40 individual moments. For them to snub her, that honestly broke my heart. I don’t know what anybody else could do to be region player of the year,” he continued.
On his Coach of the Year award, LaBarbera said he was taken aback to get it again because it’s generally not an award given twice in a row, much less a third time. On top of that, it’s the first time the Lady Raiders have won a region title.
“I think the other coaches just see what we’re doing here. The program we’re building, the things we do, the way we go about our business, and that we do things on the field the right way,” LaBarbera said. “They just know what it means to us here in Habersham. I think they recognize that. I didn’t think I’d get it last year or this year. Just shocking, but honored to get it.”
High marks
The Lady Raiders graduate four seniors from the program in 2024 and all four will be moving on to play at the collegiate level. Wilson will be attending Berry College, Vena will be going to Young Harris College, Piper Turner will be heading to Emmanuel University, and Banks will be going to Piedmont University.
According to LaBarbera, it’s the first time to his knowledge that a graduating class in the program has all committed to playing soccer at the next level. The four confirmed their commitments with a signing ceremony this week at the high school.
Another accomplishment for acknowledgement for the Lady Raiders is for the play of Wilson in goal. The senior now holds the record for most shutouts in a career with 22. The previous record was held by DJ Dowdy, who was in the program from 2008-2011. She had 12 shutouts over her time.
Wilson also holds the top three spots for season shutouts in program history. This year, she tied her previous record of seven shutouts during the regular season and earned another in the playoffs for a total of eight. Her other single-season mark is six.
Wilson also has two shutouts in the playoffs for the Lady Raiders with one of those coming in the first round against Paulding County High School this season.
“We’ve had some really good goalies in the past, but our program has just struggled in the past. This year, with the combination of our defense and our goalie…she did a phenomenal job,” LaBarbera said. “She didn’t really start playing soccer until 10th grade. To pick up that position that fast, to me, is mind blowing.”
Junior Varsity
The junior varsity squad honored five players with various awards for their efforts this season.
Jasmine Alvarado was named Most Improved, Adalyn Hawkins won the Defensive MVP Award and Bailee Maney won the Offensive MVP Award. Kasidee Stewart took home the Heart of the Raider Award, while Abigail Quaife was lauded as the overall Team MVP.
Middle school
Middle school coach Jordan Terrell honored his team by recounting its successes on the season, which included scoring 118 goals while only allowing 11. The team only gave up one goal and went unbeaten in region play.
