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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

Over the course of her incredible career in a Spain Park Jaguars uniform, Tatum Ahlemeyer has established her place among the best players in the entire state of Alabama.

From her MVP performance in 2022 as a part of the Jags’ state championship season to another big season at central defensive midfielder in 2023, Ahlemeyer has just about seen it all with Spain Park.

While she earned a share of Shelby County Player of the Year in 2022 with her new Birmingham Legion WFC teammate Norah Roller, she hasn’t won the award outright. Until now.

After sharing the pitch with some of the best players that the county has ever seen, Ahlemeyer will go out on top as the 2024 Shelby County Player of the Year.

Ahlemeyer was far from the only important member of the Jags’ attack this season as Reese Oldfield, Addie Soehn, Morgan Anthony and many others racked up goals and assists during Spain Park’s big year.

However, she proved herself to be an essential piece of the Spain Park starting 11 with the ways she impacted the game at every turn.

While she didn’t play in the forward spot, she still outscored every forward in Shelby County with 30 goals, earning the second-most goals in the county to help the Jags secure big victories throughout the year.

She also empowered the rest of the offense to succeed as well with her 20 assists on the season, also the second-highest total in Shelby County.

Ahlemeyer’s excellence was recognized by coaches across the state, earning All-Metro Player of the Year honors and Super All-State First Team, Class 7A All-State First Team and All-Metro A-Division First Team selections.

As a result, Spain Park reached regular season heights that it had never seen before, entering the playoffs with a 21-0 record, the No. 1 rankings in the state of Alabama and as one of the top teams in the nation according to MaxPreps’ spring soccer rankings.

While the Jags had an early exit from the 2024 playoffs, that did nothing to diminish their accomplishments as a team during the season as a whole, and especially Ahlemeyer’s.

Just like in every season she played in, Ahlemeyer wasn’t the only player with phenomenal performances that were worthy of the Shelby County Player of the Year honor.

Briarwood Christian’s Taylor Leib beat out Ahlemeyer in the goal standings as she scored from just about everywhere on the pitch, earning 42 goals throughout the season as the Lions reached the Class 6A state championship game.

Oak Mountain’s Avery Smith established herself once again as one of the best defenders the state of Alabama has to offer by closing the book on her Eagles career with 15 clean sheets while allowing just 19 goals all season long.

In the end, it was Ahlemeyer’s dominance in every part of the offense in a flawless regular season for Spain Park that will let her go into her collegiate career at Lipscomb as the top player in all of Shelby County.