TDS is excited to announce the introduction of the first annual TopDrawerSoccer.com Player of the Year Award presented by IMG Academy.


The award, which aims to become the most prestigious yearly honorific for amateur youth players with U.S. ties, will honor one top girl and boy player each at the conclusion of each season. Announced each August following a July 31 cutoff, the award takes into account the player’s body of work over the previous season and will be picked by an internal panel of judges.


To be considered, a player must be eligible for a U.S. youth national team, and they must be college eligible and have retained their amateur status at the time the award is given. Players who’ve signed professional contracts or have already begun their college careers are not eligible for consideration.


The award itself will draw heavily from the TopDrawerSoccer.com ratings system, the most comprehensive and in-depth of its kind anywhere in the U.S. In addition to standout club performances, the selection panel will also take into consideration strong U.S. youth national team performances over the course of the previous season. After an in-depth assessment of those performances, the panel will pick one boy and one girl winner in August.


The award will be bestowed annually and seeks to reward two top up-and-coming youth players in the country by identifying and celebrating their accomplishments over the previous season. TopDrawerSoccer.com and IMG Academy, two of the world’s leading advocates for U.S. youth soccer, are partnering in the endeavor and will hand out the award jointly each year.