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MLS Young Player of the Year Award

Award in Major League Soccer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The MLS Young Player of the Year Award (known as the Rookie of the Year Award from 1996 to 2019) is an annual award given to the top player in Major League Soccer under the age of 22.

Tampa Bay Mutiny's Steve Ralston was the inaugural winner in 1996
In 2001, MetroStar's Rodrigo Faria became the first non-American player to win the award
In 2010, D.C. United's Andy Najar became the first homegrown player to win the award
In 2020, Los Angeles FC's Diego Rossi became the first player to win it under the under 22 format

The award was initially awarded to a rookie, or a player who no prior professional experience, usually to players that had previously played in MLS youth team academies or played college soccer. This practice is fairly common in other American sports leagues, such as the MLB Rookie of the Year (baseball), NASCAR Rookie of the Year (motorsports), NFL Rookie of the Year Award (American football), the Eddie Gottlieb Trophy (basketball), and the Calder Memorial Trophy (ice hockey).

In 2020, MLS replaced the Rookie of the Year Award with the MLS Young Player of the Year Award, given to the best player in the league aged 22 and under, regardless of prior professional playing experience.[1]

Winners

Rookie of the Year Award (1996–2019)

More information Season, Player ...
Season Player Position Team Draft
Pick		 Draft Class College
1996 United States Steve Ralston Midfielder Tampa Bay Mutiny 18 1996 MLS College Draft Florida International
1997 United States Mike Duhaney Defender Tampa Bay Mutiny 87 1996 MLS Inaugural Draft UNLV
1998 United States Ben Olsen Midfielder D.C. United N/A Project-40 Virginia
1999 United States Jay Heaps Defender Miami Fusion 2 1999 MLS College Draft Duke
2000 United States Carlos Bocanegra Defender Chicago Fire 4 2000 MLS SuperDraft UCLA
2001 Brazil Rodrigo Faria Forward MetroStars 13 2001 MLS SuperDraft Concordia College
2002 United States Kyle Martino Midfielder Columbus Crew 8 2002 MLS SuperDraft Virginia
2003 Jamaica Damani Ralph Forward Chicago Fire 18 2003 MLS SuperDraft Connecticut
2004 United States Clint Dempsey Midfielder New England Revolution 8 2004 MLS SuperDraft Furman
2005 United States Michael Parkhurst Defender New England Revolution 9 2005 MLS SuperDraft Wake Forest
2006 United States Jonathan Bornstein Defender Chivas USA 37 2006 MLS SuperDraft UCLA
2007 United States Maurice Edu Midfielder Toronto FC 1 2007 MLS SuperDraft Maryland
2008 United States Sean Franklin Defender LA Galaxy 4 2008 MLS SuperDraft Cal State Northridge
2009 United States Omar Gonzalez Defender LA Galaxy 3 2009 MLS SuperDraft Maryland
2010 Honduras Andy Najar Midfielder D.C. United N/A Homegrown Player N/A
2011 United States C. J. Sapong Forward Sporting Kansas City 10 2011 MLS SuperDraft James Madison
2012 United States Austin Berry Defender Chicago Fire 9 2012 MLS SuperDraft Louisville
2013 United States Dillon Powers Midfielder Colorado Rapids 11 2013 MLS SuperDraft Notre Dame
2014 Canada Tesho Akindele Forward FC Dallas 6 2014 MLS SuperDraft Colorado School of Mines
2015 Canada Cyle Larin Forward Orlando City SC 1 2015 MLS SuperDraft Connecticut
2016 United States Jordan Morris Forward Seattle Sounders FC N/A Homegrown Player Stanford
2017 Germany Julian Gressel Midfielder Atlanta United FC 8 2017 MLS SuperDraft Providence College
2018 United States Corey Baird Forward Real Salt Lake N/A Homegrown Player Stanford
2019 Brazil Andre Shinyashiki Forward Colorado Rapids 5 2019 MLS SuperDraft Denver
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Young Player of the Year Award (2020–present)

More information Season, Player ...
Season Player Position Team Age
2020 Uruguay Diego Rossi Forward Los Angeles FC 22
2021 United States Ricardo Pepi Forward FC Dallas 18
2022 United States Jesús Ferreira Forward FC Dallas 21
2023 Argentina Thiago Almada Midfielder Atlanta United FC 22
2024 United States Diego Luna Midfielder Real Salt Lake 21
2025 United States Alex Freeman Defender Orlando City SC 21
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Wins by playing position

More information Position, Winners ...
PositionWinners
Defender9
Forward9
Midfielder10
Goalkeeper0
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Wins by nationality

More information Nationality, Winners ...
NationalityWinners
 United States20
 Canada2
 Brazil2
 Germany1
 Honduras1
 Jamaica1
 Uruguay1
 Argentina1
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Wins by team

More information Team, Winners ...
TeamWinners
Chicago Fire3
FC Dallas3
Colorado Rapids2
D.C. United2
Los Angeles Galaxy2
New England Revolution2
Tampa Bay Mutiny2
Atlanta United FC2
Real Salt Lake2
Orlando City SC2
Chivas USA1
Columbus Crew1
MetroStars1
Miami Fusion1
Seattle Sounders FC1
Sporting Kansas City1
Toronto FC1
Los Angeles FC1
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