A pair of first-time winners were awarded the U.S. Soccer Female Player and Young Player of the Year honors.
Tobin Heath earned the Female Player of the Year award for 2016 with 40 percent of the vote. Crystal Dunn finished second with 34 percent.
Heath, 28, racked up six goals and eight assists in 22 caps and was a key figure at the 2016 Olympics.
“It’s obviously an honor to win an award like this, especially when you look at the list of amazing players who have won it before,” Heath said. “This year was a difficult one for our team, but overall we played some great soccer so it’s humbling to be recognized individually.”
Meanwhile, Ashley Sanchez was named U.S. Soccer’s Young Female Player of the Year. The 17-year-old became the first youth national team member to score in both the U-17 and U-20 World Cups.
The 17-year-old captained the U.S. U-17 Women’s National Team and scored 21 goals in 21 matches. She added five goals in 16 games with the U-20 squad, despite being the youngest member on the roster.
Young Player was Ashley Sanchez??? How about Mallory Pugh who was 17 and playing with the full national team and doing well????
She is definitely a talented player! I appreciate your skills and love the fact that she is open about her Christian faith.
So happy that Tobin won….her talent and composure on the ball is what EVERY youth girl playing soccer should look up to. If only the men had a player with as much ball skills and such a dangerous mentality on the ball.
Well deserved!!