# MLS Young Player of the Year Award

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 | Steve Ralston | Midfielder | Tampa Bay Mutiny | 18 | 1996 MLS College Draft | Florida International |
| 1997 | Mike Duhaney | Defender | Tampa Bay Mutiny | 87 | 1996 MLS Inaugural Draft | UNLV |
| 1998 | Ben Olsen | Midfielder | D.C. United | N/A | Project-40 | Virginia |
| 1999 | Jay Heaps | Defender | Miami Fusion | 2 | 1999 MLS College Draft | Duke |
| 2000 | Carlos Bocanegra | Defender | Chicago Fire | 4 | 2000 MLS SuperDraft | UCLA |
| 2001 | Rodrigo Faria | Forward | MetroStars | 13 | 2001 MLS SuperDraft | Concordia College |
| 2002 | Kyle Martino | Midfielder | Columbus Crew | 8 | 2002 MLS SuperDraft | Virginia |
| 2003 | Damani Ralph | Forward | Chicago Fire | 18 | 2003 MLS SuperDraft | Connecticut |
| 2004 | Clint Dempsey | Midfielder | New England Revolution | 8 | 2004 MLS SuperDraft | Furman |
| 2005 | Michael Parkhurst | Defender | New England Revolution | 9 | 2005 MLS SuperDraft | Wake Forest |
| 2006 | Jonathan Bornstein | Defender | Chivas USA | 37 | 2006 MLS SuperDraft | UCLA |
| 2007 | Maurice Edu | Midfielder | Toronto FC | 1 | 2007 MLS SuperDraft | Maryland |
| 2008 | Sean Franklin | Defender | LA Galaxy | 4 | 2008 MLS SuperDraft | Cal State Northridge |
| 2009 | Omar Gonzalez | Defender | LA Galaxy | 3 | 2009 MLS SuperDraft | Maryland |
| 2010 | Andy Najar | Midfielder | D.C. United | N/A | Homegrown Player | N/A |
| 2011 | C. J. Sapong | Forward | Sporting Kansas City | 10 | 2011 MLS SuperDraft | James Madison |
| 2012 | Austin Berry | Defender | Chicago Fire | 9 | 2012 MLS SuperDraft | Louisville |
| 2013 | Dillon Powers | Midfielder | Colorado Rapids | 11 | 2013 MLS SuperDraft | Notre Dame |
| 2014 | Tesho Akindele | Forward | FC Dallas | 6 | 2014 MLS SuperDraft | Colorado School of Mines |
| 2015 | Cyle Larin | Forward | Orlando City SC | 1 | 2015 MLS SuperDraft | Connecticut |
| 2016 | Jordan Morris | Forward | Seattle Sounders FC | N/A | Homegrown Player | Stanford |
| 2017 | Julian Gressel | Midfielder | Atlanta United FC | 8 | 2017 MLS SuperDraft | Providence College |
| 2018 | Corey Baird | Forward | Real Salt Lake | N/A | Homegrown Player | Stanford |
| 2019 | Andre Shinyashiki | Forward | Colorado Rapids | 5 | 2019 MLS SuperDraft | Denver |

### Young Player of the Year Award (2020–present)

| Season | Player | Position | Team | Age |
| 2020 | Diego Rossi | Forward | Los Angeles FC | 22 |
| 2021 | Ricardo Pepi | Forward | FC Dallas | 18 |
| 2022 | Jesús Ferreira | Forward | FC Dallas | 21 |
| 2023 | Thiago Almada | Midfielder | Atlanta United FC | 22 |
| 2024 | Diego Luna | Midfielder | Real Salt Lake | 21 |

## Wins by playing position

| Position | Number of winners |
| Defender | 8 |
| Forward | 9 |
| Midfielder | 10 |
| Goalkeeper | 0 |

## Wins by nationality

| Nationality | Number of winners |
| United States | 19 |
| Canada | 2 |
| Brazil | 2 |
| Germany | 1 |
| Honduras | 1 |
| Jamaica | 1 |
| Uruguay | 1 |
| Argentina | 1 |

## Wins by team

| Team | Number of winners |
| Chicago Fire | 3 |
| FC Dallas | 3 |
| Colorado Rapids | 2 |
| D.C. United | 2 |
| Los Angeles Galaxy | 2 |
| New England Revolution | 2 |
| Tampa Bay Mutiny | 2 |
| Atlanta United FC | 2 |
| Real Salt Lake | 2 |
| Chivas USA | 1 |
| Columbus Crew | 1 |
| MetroStars | 1 |
| Miami Fusion | 1 |
| Orlando City SC | 1 |
| Seattle Sounders FC | 1 |
| Sporting Kansas City | 1 |
| Toronto FC | 1 |
| Los Angeles FC | 1 |