O’side High School Senior is Gatorade Athlete of the Year

Oceanside High School senior Charlie McKee, 17,the Sailors’ quarterback, was recently named the Gatorade New York Football Player of the Year.

The accolade recognizes an athlete’s accomplishments on and off the field. McKee finished the season with 28 touchdowns, 2,183 yards passing,with a 74 percent completion rate, and 781 yards rushing. He finished his Ocean-side football career with 94 touchdowns, 8,929 yards passing and 1,256 yards rushing.

Seated with his coach, Robert Blount, McKee said, “I knew I was up for [the award], but to be honest, I didn’t think I was going to win, so to get the news was exciting, and a lot of emotions went around.”

McKee said he has loved his time as the Sailors’ quarterback. “Being a fourth-year guy here, I’ve had a lot of guys in the past that I could lean on, but a lot of those guys graduated over the past four years. Coming up, I knew what I had to do leadership-wise. The leadership part was different this year for me, personally with being a little bit more vocal this year.”

Blount spoke of McKee’s goals going into the 2021 season. “Our goal here is to always win the county championship,” the coach said. “We’ve been in the championship game four of the last five seasons, so it’s something that that players expect. We fell short in the aspect of winning the county championship, but we did get everything we needed to do through that process, and we bumped into a very good team. But that doesn’t take away from what we’re able to accomplish throughout the season.”

The Oceanside Sailors finished the season 9-2 and won playoff games against East Meadow and Syosset before being knocked off in the Nassau Conference I championship game by Massapequa, 35-26.

“In the last four years, we never won the big one” — the county championship — “but that definitely doesn’t take away from what we’ve accomplished over the years,” McKee said.

Blount called his star player a role model. “I never had to worry about academic issues, never a bad email, phone call meeting with him,” the coach said. “It’s always good when your better players are your better students.”

He continued, “When I first coached him, he was 13 years old and still figuring things out. His ability to grow [as an athlete] throughout the last four or five years is very special. I think the best part about him [is] the humility. He’s always had a mentality that it’s about the team first and the program first, and it’s difficult when a lot of it is focused around you and there’s a lot of attention that’s given to you, and he’s done an exceptional job with that over the past four years.”

McKee said he appreciated those who helped him over the years. “Coach has done a lot for me over the past four years, and I wouldn’t be where I am without him,” he said. “Obviously, my teammates, my family, are my biggest support and a huge part of where I’m at now.”

McKee is committed to playing Division I football for Stony Brook and discussed why staying local on Long Island was a focus of his. “I’m a big family guy,” he said. “My family, my former teammates, my friends being able to come out there every single weekend to come to watch me is huge.”

McKee said he prepared for what’s to come next fall. “I want to go in there with an open mindset,” he said. “I’m going to compete and work hard and see what happens from there.”