Welcome to this year's gala event that everyone's been waiting for, that's right, it's time to find out who this year's winners are in the Second Annual a-league.com Awards! Yeah, we're giving these things out again and like any other awards show we plan on running over our allotted time to announce winners that you may or may not have already expected. We're also hoping to give you all something to talk about, whether you agree or disagree with the winners. So without further ado, it's time to hand out some Commies!
The first category to be considered is for Most Improved Player. Every year there's usually at least one player that has to come back from a bad year or finally has their breakout year. This season was no different except for the large number of candidates for this award, which included players such as McKinley Tennyson, Velko Iotov, Steve Kindel, Eduardo Sebrango, Patrice Bernier, Mark Schulte, and Joe Warren. In the end, though, the winner of the first ever Commie for Most Improved Player goes to Charleston's Ryan Trout. Trout scored 8 goals and added 5 assists for a total of 21 points while becoming an integral part of the Battery's regular season Eastern Conference title.
Most Improved Player
Ryan Trout, Charleston Battery
Next up, we take a look at what players do for their communities and the impact that they can have. The players in the A-League play such a large role to their fans and their community, whether it's coaching youth teams or participating in charitable events, that we felt it was time that some of the guys were rewarded. That's why we are handing out the first ever Commie for Most Valuable Player to Their Community.
This one proved to be tough for the panel of voters but in the end a winner was selected. Players such as Eric Otto, Jon Pickup, Robbie Aristodemo, Carlos Parra, and Ezenwa "Ezzy" Ihekoronye were worthwhile nominees but unfortunately only one could wind up winning. The winner of our first Most Valuable Player to the Community award is none other than Richmond's Rob Ukrop. The Kickers veteran means a lot, not just to his team but also, to his city. Everyone in the Richmond area knows the Ukrop name thanks to the store but Rob is leaving his own legacy that doesn't have everything to do with the store. Though there is only one winner of this award every single player in the league deserves a pat on the back for the role that they play in A-League communities.
Most Valuable Player to Their Community
Rob Ukrop, Richmond Kickers
The next award up to the podium is for Rookie of the Year. Every year we might subconsciously try to be a little different from the folks at USL headquarters when it comes to awards but many times thanks to certain rules or just flat out amazing performances we can't help but agree with the brain trust in Florida. This was another one of those situations. There was only one other nominee in the category, Mike Ueltschey from Cincinnati, but in the end the Rookie of the Year Commie went to Nick Budalic of Toronto. Budalic had an outstanding year in helping lead the Lynx back after a disastrous season in 2001 and also secures the second Rookie of the Year Commie in a row for the Lynx.
Rookie of the Year
Nick Budalic, Toronto Lynx
Next up we'll make our way towards the defensive side of the podium as we hand out the Commie for Goalkeeper of the Year. There were many strong performers this year who deserve mention such nominees as Ronnie Pascale, Dan Popik, Pat Onstad, and Mike Ueltschey. Once again, though, our panel found themselves in agreement with the league in selecting Dusty Hudock of the Charleston Battery as the recipient of the 2002 Goalkeeper of the Year Commie. Hudock was a mainstay behind one of the best defenses in the league last season that had many picking Charleston to go all the way this season.
Goalkeeper of the Year
Dusty Hudock, Charleston Battery
Now it's time to look at the sometimes hard men of the A-League whose job it is to keep the potent forwards around the league from piercing the nets, the defenders. This season there were some guys who did their job very well and helped to make their goalkeepers look good. Included in that bunch are nominees Chris Fox, Destin Makumbu, Nick Dasovic, and Jon Pickup but one player who stood out for his grit and determination to keep the offense out was Charleston's Mark Watson. The Coppertop Canadian was a cornerstone for a defense that included the likes of Terry Phelan, John Wilson, and Linval Dixon. His ability to shine amongst this group proves him to be a worthy Commie winner.
Defender of the Year
Mark Watson, Charleston Battery
So here we are now, finally at the awards that our panel came to see, the first of which is for the a-league.com Feature of the Year. This award is for what the panel felt was the best feature story to appear at a-league.com from November 2001 until October 2002. Some of the nominated stories include: Jim Gregory's "The Southern Derby; By Those Who Love the Game", a pair of interviews by Chris Harrison, namely, "Leigh Cowlishaw: The Interview" and "The Rob Ukrop Interview", "The Tim Holt Interview" by Kenn Tomasch, and "Synopsis of a season - Cincinnati Riverhawks" by Mike Senger. In the end, though, there could be only one big winner in this category and for the second year in a row the spoils go to Allison Andrews for her story "Soccer Takes Center Stage to Open up Seahawks Stadium".
Feature of the Year
Allison Andrews, Portland Timbers,
"Soccer Takes Center Stage to Open up Seahawks Stadium"
The second big award that our panelists look forward to is the Commie for Match Reporter of the Year. Last year there was no question who would win the award as Allison Andrews ran away with the inaugural award. This year there were many nominees including Chris Harrison, Ron Stickney, and newcomer to a-league.com Jason Kmet. Yet, in the end, it was the same old story as Allison Andrews, the Rochester Rhinos of the a-league.com staff, ran away with another Commie, this one as 2002 Match Reporter of the Year.
Match Reporter of the Year
Allison Andrews, Portland Timbers
We're nearing the end as we head towards emptying out the gift bag for all of our winners and as poorly organized as our presentation has been this season the nominees for this next award did an impressive job of organizing their teams out of potential chaos. Chris Ramsey, Boro Sucevic, and Bob Lilley were all nominated but only one… er, two could win this award as we wound up with yet another tie in our voting. The co-Coach of the Year Commie recipients were Brian Schmetzer from Seattle and Leigh Cowlishaw for his second time with the Kickers. Schmetzer guided his Sounders to a record setting season in the Western Conference. Meanwhile, Leigh Cowlishaw managed to win his way to a second successive Commie by masterfully piloting his Kickers to the A-League championship match.
Coach of the Year
Brian Schmetzer, Seattle Sounders
Leigh Cowlishaw, Richmond Kickers
Now it's time for our final award of 2002. The a-league.com Player of the Year award went to Paul Conway last season among many good candidates and once again this was a tough award to hand out due to the great performances around the league this season. Some of the names mentioned for this award include Fadi Afash who shared the scoring title in Portland, Eduardo Sebrango who helped Bob Lilley's Montreal Impact club get into the playoffs and nearly won their division, Simon Lowey who provided some special moments for the Cincinnati fans, Marco Ferruzzi who was remarkable all year long for Richmond, and the mercurial performance of Leighton O'Brien who poured in the goals and assists for the Sounders. In the end, though, there was little doubt as McKinley Tennyson of the Portland Timbers took home a scoring title in his first A-League season. Now he gets to take home the Commie for Player of the Year as well.
Player of the Year
McKinley Tennyson, Portland Timbers
Congratulations to all of the winners, nominees, and everyone else around the A-League. 2002 was another great year for USL soccer and our annual awards are just our way of saying thanks to everyone who laces them up in an attempt to make soccer great in North America. So that wraps it up for the 2002 season around the a-league.com offices but stay tuned as we'll continue to bring the A-League news to you deep into the long cold winter up until the first ball of spring is kicked in 2003.
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