South Elgin's Nevaeh Gyurko is the 2025 Beacon-News/Courier-News Girls Soccer Player of the Year: ‘Sky's the limit.'
At least the first time, junior forward Nevaeh Gyurko dreaded the phone call that she knew had to be made to South Elgin coach Jerzy Skowron.
The high-scoring striker was about to break the news that she was electing to skip the high school season and focus her attention instead on club.
'She called me two times, probably three months apart,' Skowron said of Gyurko. 'The first time she told me she wasn't coming back. The second time was three days before our tryouts.
'Her first words were, 'Save me a jersey.''
After erupting last spring as a sophomore with 26 goals and 12 assists, Gyurko originally felt club offered the better chance of optimizing her national visibility and recruiting profile.
The allure of school pride and close friends proved too great to turn down.
'I just couldn't see myself bypassing my junior year with all of my close friends who are on the team,' Gyurko said. 'We have some amazing players, especially our seniors.
'I'm really happy with my decision because I think this year ended up being my best season yet.'
Gyurko, the 2025 Beacon-News/Courier-News Girls Soccer Player of the Year, validated that decision with a glittering blend of athleticism, agility and power.
Using her elite 5-foot-11 size, Gyurko scored 23 goals and also added eight assists as the Storm (15-8-2, 5-0-1) went out and captured their third consecutive conference championship.
Along with West Aurora's Olivia Del Toro, a James Madison recruit, Gyurko ended up sharing the conference MVP award for the Upstate Eight West.
Her play, presence and leadership transformed the Storm, according to senior defender Ashley Gonzalez.
'Nevaeh is an amazing player who can adapt her game and also bring her teammates up with her,' Gonzalez said. 'She uses her strengths such as her intense speed and technique to beat players and make her way to scoring easier.
'She has a great finish with either foot.'
Gyurko, who also won a sportsmanship award this season, took South Elgin to a wholly different level. And not just in the way she played.
'I couldn't pay anybody enough money in the world to say anything bad about her,' Skowron said. 'She's the most athletic, dangerous player on the field. Her personality and nature are contagious.
'As she becomes a more clinical and classical finisher, the sky's the limit for her.'
Her selflessness of putting the team and friends before her own interests was evidenced by the way she played. If scoring is a privileged talent, sharing the ball is an intuitive skill.
'I've always thought of myself as a team player and I've never been afraid to pass the ball,' she said. 'I'm always going to do whatever I need to in order for the team to be successful.
'I don't really play for statistics. I take just as much reward and satisfaction in assisting others as I do scoring for myself. I have always wanted to be that person who encourages others and lifts them up when they're struggling.'
As far as her family goes, she comes by the sport pretty naturally. Her father, Mark, played soccer in college at Wisconsin-Parkside. Her mother, Stacey Dolezal, played at Boca Raton.
Gyurko's excellence on the field, however, is just one part of her multifaceted character. She's set to spend part of her summer on a church-affiliated mission to Nicaragua.
'I'm fluent in Spanish,' she said. 'I started learning in a special kindergarten to sixth grade language program. I want to be a teacher.'
The experience has only deepened her resolve to expand the parameters, efficiency and effectiveness of her game.
'I'm thankful for my talent and being tall and fast,' Gyurko said. 'I've wanted to be a part of this program since my freshman year. I also know I haven't hit my full potential.
'My best soccer is yet to come.'
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