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CHICAGO: For their excellence at the highest levels of the sport, U.S. Soccer announced U.S. Men’s National Team forward Jozy Altidore as the 2013 Male Athlete of the Year, Abby Wambach as the 2013 Female Athlete of the Year, Wil Trapp as the 2013 Young Male Athlete of the Year, Lindsey Horan as the 2013 Young Female Athlete of the Year and Rene Renteria as the 2013 Disabled Athlete of the Year.The U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award is the highest honor awarded to soccer players in the United States. Online votes registered on ussoccer.com counted for 50 percent of the total votes, while the other 50 percent was represented by votes compiled from members of the national media and U.S. Soccer representatives, including National Team coaches and members of the U.S. Soccer Board of Directors.The Male Athlete of the Year honor is the first for Altidore. He becomes the 22nd different player to earn the award since its inception in 1984. Altidore also becomes just the second player to win both the Young Male Athlete of the Year (won in 2006) and Male Athlete of the Year honors, joining Landon Donovan who won Young Male Athlete of the Year in 2001 and earned the Male Athlete of the Year award on four occasions (2003, 2004, 2009 and 2010).
Altidore set a U.S. MNT record by scoring a goal in five consecutive matches from June 2-Aug. 14. His eight goals in 2013 were a career best and tied for a team high. Three of Altidore’s goals were game-winners during the Hexagonal. He finishes off the year with 21 goals and 66 caps in his MNT career, and is now tied for sixth on the all-time goalscoring list with Bruce Murray.
Altidore, who moved to Premier League side Sunderland in the summer, scored 31 goals in all competitions last season for Dutch club AZ Alkmaar. He signed off from Holland with a game-winning goal in the Dutch Cup final.
Wambach collects her unprecedented sixth Female Athlete of the Year award, and third in the past four years, passing Mia Hamm who was honored for five consecutive years from 1994-1998. Wambach has now won the award in 2003, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2011 and 2013. Wambach, the 2012 FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year, led the USA in scoring this year with 11 goals and tied for the team lead in assists with six. In addition, Wambach finished second in the NWSL in both goals and assists (11 and 8, respectively) and helped lead her hometown Western New York Flash into the inaugural championship game.
The highlight of Wambach’s year came on June 20 against Korea Republic in front of almost 19,000 people at Red Bull Arena. She scored four times in the opening half to push her goal total to 160 (breaking Hamm’s record of 158). Wambach is once again on the short list for the FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year.
U-20 MNT midfielder Trapp becomes the 16th player to earn the Young Male Athlete of the Year award. Trapp was named the U-20 MNT captain by head coach Tab Ramos for the USA’s 1-1 draw against eventual 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup winner France on June 24. Trapp started all five matches during the U-20 MNT’s runner-up performance at the 2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship and earned tournament Best XI honors. Trapp’s international success translated to his first professional season in Major League Soccer as he started 15 times for his home state Columbus Crew.
The 5-foot-9 Horan becomes the first professional player to win the U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year award. Horan is the first American female to forego college soccer and sign a professional contact in Europe where she has found success with Paris Saint-Germain in the French Feminine Division 1. The 19-year-old is the youngest female American professional player in the world and has scored 22 times in 27 games for the club. She made her full U.S. WNT debut this year at the Algarve Cup in March when she was 18 and is age-eligible for the 2014 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup. For the U-20s this year, she has played in four total matches, including two internationals, and scored two goals.
Renteria was named Disabled Athlete of the Year in the second year for the award. Renteria was the leading goal scorer on the U.S. Paralympic Soccer National Team in 2013, netting nine goals in 10 games. He was the team’s top scorer at the Intercontinental Cup and helped the team qualify for the 2015 World Championships.
MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
1984: Rick Davis
1985: Perry Van der Beck
1986: Paul Caligiuri
1987: Brent Goulet
1988: Peter Vermes
1989: Mike Windischmann
1990: Tab Ramos
1991: Hugo Perez
1992: Marcelo Balboa
1993: Thomas Dooley
1994: Marcelo Balboa
1995: Alexi Lalas
1996: Eric Wynalda
1997: Kasey Keller
1998: Cobi Jones
1999: Kasey Keller
2000: Chris Armas
2001: Earnie Stewart
2002: Brad Friedel
2003: Landon Donovan
2004: Landon Donovan
2005: Kasey Keller
2006: Oguchi Onyewu
2007: Clint Dempsey
2008: Tim Howard
2009: Landon Donovan
2010: Landon Donovan
2011: Clint Dempsey
2012: Clint Dempsey
2013: Jozy Altidore
FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
1985: Sharon Remer
1986: April Heinrichs
1987: Carin Jennings
1988: Joy Biefeld
1989: April Heinrichs
1990: Michelle Akers
1991: Michelle Akers
1992: Carin Gabarra
1993: Kristine Lilly
1994: Mia Hamm
1995: Mia Hamm
1996: Mia Hamm
1997: Mia Hamm
1998: Mia Hamm
1999: Michelle Akers
2000: Tiffeny Milbrett
2001: Tiffeny Milbrett
2002: Shannon MacMillan
2003: Abby Wambach
2004: Abby Wambach
2005: Kristine Lilly
2006: Kristine Lilly
2007: Abby Wambach
2008: Carli Lloyd
2009: Hope Solo
2010: Abby Wambach
2011: Abby Wambach
2012: Alex Morgan
2013: Abby Wambach
YOUNG MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
1998: Josh Wolff
1999: Ben Olsen
2000: Landon Donovan
2001: DaMarcus Beasley
2002: Bobby Convey
2003: Freddy Adu
2004: Eddie Johnson
2005: Benny Feilhaber
2006: Jozy Altidore
2007: Michael Bradley
2008: Sacha Kljestan
2009: Luis Gil
2010: Gale Agbossoumonde
2011: Brek Shea
2012: Rubio Rubin
2013: Wil Trapp
YOUNG FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
1998: Cindy Parlow
1999: Lorrie Fair
2000: Aly Wagner
2001: Aleisha Cramer
2002: Lindsay Tarpley
2003: Cat Reddick
2004: Heather O’Reilly
2005: Lori Chalupny
2006: Danesha Adams
2007: Lauren Cheney
2008: Kristie Mewis
2009: Tobin Heath
2010: Bianca Henninger
2011: Sydney Leroux
2012: Julie Johnston
2013: Lindsey Horan
DISABLED ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
2012: Felicia Schroeder
2013: Rene Renteria |
