Well, I've taken enough time off and I was thinking what better way to get back into the swing of things than to announce some awards? So let's get right down to it, without further ado, the 2003 a-league.com awards:
Coach of the Year
There were many solid candidates for Coach of the Year with the jobs done in Vancouver, Seattle, Montreal, Rochester, Minnesota, Syracuse, Virginia Beach, and Milwaukee. This year's winner, however, is from the Charleston Battery. In his second year with the Southeast club Chris Ramsey managed to fulfill the tremendous expectations that were laid at his doorstep when he was announced as the coach to succeed Alan Dicks at Blackbaud Stadium. In doing so he's secured his place in the hearts and minds of Battery fans everywhere by providing the plan that finally got his team over the hump.
Most Improved Player
There are a lot of very good players throughout the League at the moment and several who really raised their game a level or four. One such player is the winner of this year's Most Improved Player Commie, Thiago Martins, formerly a Pittsburgh Riverhound. He set the League alight with his scoring and tried to drag Pittsburgh into the playoffs only to lose out at the very end to Montreal and Rochester. It's a shame that the Riverhounds won't enjoy his skills again next year and it's equally disappointing that the Northeast will lose one of the teams that really looked to be an up and coming challenger to the emerging dominance of Montreal and Rochester.
Defender of the Year
This award goes to the guys in front of the goalkeeper who can go unnoticed so many times throughout a season. Players like Dustin Branan, impressive as a rookie, in Minnesota, Kyle Hughes in Toronto, or Richard Mahoney, redefining his team's defense, in Virginia Beach are all worthy candidates. In the end we had to pick one and this year's winner is Danny Jackson of Seattle. A lot of people think this guy is one major reason the Sounders accomplished what they did this year and the evidence appears hard to ignore. If he returns to the Sounders next season he could make a bid to become the next dominant defender in the League.
Rookie of the Year
This time the Rookie of the Year Commie goes to a guy that played well on a team that some would argue underachieved, spent time away with his nation's Olympic squad, and while away managed to score a 70 yard goal in limited minutes against his country's archrival Olympic squad. Of course we're referring to David Testo, the rookie out of North Carolina, who could develop into quite a force for the Richmond Kickers if he isn't snapped up by a club in another league. Still, the Kickers had him this year and he was able to parlay his year with the Kickers into a Rookie of the Year Commie and USL Rookie of the Year Award.
Goalkeeper of the Year
There were a handful of guys who had outstanding seasons in goal this year such as Joe Larson in Virginia Beach, Rich Cullen in Seattle, and Joe Warren in Minnesota, but in the end it was Dusty Hudock taking home his second Commie in a row. His solid play behind the staunch Battery defense was key in getting Charleston to the A-League championship this season. A player of his caliber who enjoys playing in the A-League and being a part of the club he plays for as much as this guy deserves all the plaudits and once again the a-league.com voters pick him as the top keeper in the League.
Player of the Year
Thiago Martins. That may be all that needs saying despite strong years from Virginia Beach's Dante Washington and Pato Aguilera. The Mariners duo may have split the vote on this one but then again the tremendous numbers Martins put up were just too hard to ignore. There were very few players this year that you almost expected to score in every match they played in and Martins was the one that came closest to actually doing it. If Martins is player number 1 in the League then Washington may very well deserve to be player 1A as it was clear all year long that he wanted to succeed in this League and worked hard to help resurrect the Mariners. Either way, Martins was nearly an irresistible force of nature while with Pittsburgh, which is why, he is the a-league.com Player of the Year as well as the USL's top player.
Match Reporter of the Year
I guess we're going to have to rename this thing the Allison Andrews Annual Award (or just AAAA for short) since, yes; once again she takes home the award as the best match reporter for a-league.com. The contributions of folks like Rob Wilson, Brendan Mcreary, Ron Stickney, Jason Kmet, and everyone else who sends in their reports for a-league.com deserve an award but I think we all sit up and take notice when you turn your vacation into one big, fun, well-written match report. If you don't know or don't remember what I'm referring to do yourself a favor and check out the travelogue and match reports from her trip East this summer. It's work like this that the rest of us are working hard to top each and every year.
Feature Story of the Year
There were many great features written for a-league.com this season including Ali N'Gone by Rob Lynch and the story that arguably blew the lid off of the turmoil and controversy that had been going on in Cincinnati but in the end it was a touching tribute to a man that meant a lot to the sport that snagged this award. Three-nil. An Evening for Clive produces yet another Commie for Allison Andrews who is making a tradition of sweeping the writer's awards. Her heartwarming tribute to Portland icon, Clive Charles, left nary a dry eye in the house while getting all of the facts straight from an amazing night for soccer in the Pacific Northwest. For the rest of us it's wait until next year.
So that's how the voting turned out for this year's a-league.com Awards. If you don't like how it turned out, get involved with us and log your vote next season as the website run by the fans, for the fans chugs along into another season.
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