Herald-News’ Player of the Year: Logan Wright

Logan Wright always has had something extra fueling him: the desire to prove a disease won’t hold him back.

The Plainfield North senior was diagnosed with diabetes when he was 10 years old.

“Being different, having diabetes, I want to prove that it doesn’t matter,” Wright said. “I always tell my coaches that diabetes won’t stop me.”

Wright certainly has backed up that statement, becoming an All-State player and earning a scholarship to Western Michigan.

This season, the forward scored 17 goals, dished out 11 assists and led the Tigers to their first Southwest Prairie title.

He’s also earned the title of Herald-News 2013 Boys Soccer Player of the Year.

“That’s amazing,” he said. “It shows all my hard work throughout the years is paying off. It really means a lot.

“This year meant so much. It really put our program on the map. We haven’t gotten a lot of notice in the past. We all got really close as a team this year. We were like brothers.”

Wright attributes most of his success to his work ethic, bolstered by that desire to prove himself.

“I’m probably the hardest worker on any team,” he said. “I’ll be out there three or four hours every day working on soccer.”

The Tigers, who finished 15-3-3, had their season end in heartbreaking fashion with an upset loss to Oswego in a shootout in the Class 3A Geneva Regional semifinal, but there were plenty of great moments before that.

North, which went 8-10-3 in 2012, served notice this year would be different when it won the Lemont Cup title the first week of September.

The Tigers dropped their first league match with a 2-1 loss to Romeoville on Sept. 17, but went on to win their final six conference matches to take the title.

“It shows that we’re improving as a program,” Wright said. “We’re getting better players. The conference championship and the Lemont Cup championship, they meant a lot to us.”

One win on the run to the Southwest Prairie meant a little more than the others. North never had beaten rival Plainfield Central, which won the league title the previous seven seasons. The Wildcats defeated North 5-0 a year ago.

“That game probably was the most important for us coming into the season,” Wright said. “It felt great to win it and it really boosted our team’s confidence.”

Wright now can’t wait to get to college.

“I’m so excited,” he said. “I’ve been to a couple of Western Michigan games. Getting to play Division I soccer has always been a dream.”

As the first All-State player in program history, Wright has left his mark at Plainfield North.

“I just want to be remembered as a team player,” he said. “I want to be remembered as someone who was really hard-working and always pushed people to be their best.”