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.
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.
Winners Rookie of the Year Award (1996–2019) Season Player Position Team Draft Pick Draft Class College 1996 Midfielder Tampa Bay Mutiny 1996 MLS College Draft Florida International 1997 Defender Tampa Bay Mutiny 1996 MLS Inaugural Draft UNLV 1998 Midfielder D.C. United Project-40 Virginia 1999 Defender Miami Fusion 1999 MLS College Draft Duke 2000 Defender Chicago Fire 2000 MLS SuperDraft UCLA 2001 Forward MetroStars 2001 MLS SuperDraft Concordia College 2002 Midfielder Columbus Crew 2002 MLS SuperDraft Virginia 2003 Forward Chicago Fire 2003 MLS SuperDraft Connecticut 2004 Midfielder New England Revolution 2004 MLS SuperDraft Furman 2005 Defender New England Revolution 2005 MLS SuperDraft Wake Forest 2006 Defender Chivas USA 2006 MLS SuperDraft UCLA 2007 Midfielder Toronto FC 2007 MLS SuperDraft Maryland 2008 Defender LA Galaxy 2008 MLS SuperDraft Cal State Northridge 2009 Defender LA Galaxy 2009 MLS SuperDraft Maryland 2010 Midfielder D.C. United N/A Homegrown Player N/A 2011 Forward Sporting Kansas City 2011 MLS SuperDraft James Madison 2012 Defender Chicago Fire 2012 MLS SuperDraft Louisville 2013 Midfielder Colorado Rapids 2013 MLS SuperDraft Notre Dame 2014 Forward FC Dallas 2014 MLS SuperDraft Colorado School of Mines 2015 Forward Orlando City SC 2015 MLS SuperDraft Connecticut 2016 Forward Seattle Sounders FC Homegrown Player Stanford 2017 Midfielder Atlanta United FC 2017 MLS SuperDraft Providence College 2018 Forward Real Salt Lake Homegrown Player Stanford 2019 Forward Colorado Rapids 2019 MLS SuperDraft Denver
Young Player of the Year Award (2020–present) Season Player Position Team Age 2020 Forward Los Angeles FC 22 2021 Ricardo Pepi ForwardFC Dallas 18 2022 ForwardFC Dallas 21 2023 Midfielder Atlanta United FC 22 2024 Midfielder Real Salt Lake 21 2025 Defender Orlando City SC 21
Wins by playing position Position WinnersDefender 9Forward 9Midfielder 10Goalkeeper 0
Wins by nationality Nationality Winners 20 2 2 1 1 1 1 1
Wins by team Team WinnersChicago Fire 3FC Dallas 3Colorado Rapids 2D.C. United 2Los Angeles Galaxy 2New England Revolution 2Tampa Bay Mutiny 2Atlanta United FC 2Real Salt Lake 2Orlando City SC 2Chivas USA 1Columbus Crew 1MetroStars 1Miami Fusion 1Seattle Sounders FC 1Sporting Kansas City 1Toronto FC 1Los Angeles FC 1
References