After a pair of massively productive individual seasons, Alex Mendez (LA Galaxy) and Kate Wiesner (LAFC Slammers) are the recipients of this year’s TopDrawerSoccer.com Player of the Year honor.
This is the third year of the award. Mallory Pugh and Isaiah Young won it in 2016. Sophia Smith and Josh Sargent won the honor in 2017.
The annual award honors the two best and brightest boys and girls amateur club players in the country based off their body of work over the previous season in addition to their assessed ability by our panel of judges. That includes not only club performance but also any relevant national team duty.
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 by the July 31 deadline are not eligible for consideration.
