Since its inception in 1998, the U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year award has served as a peek into the future stars of women’s soccer and the U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT). To win the award, a player must be under the age of 23 and have excelled across U.S. Youth National Team programs or the senior squad. Historically, this award has gone to soccer legends, with nineteen previous winners going on to represent the United States in a senior FIFA World Cup. So who are the former young USWNT Players of the Year? Let’s take a look.
The award’s history began with players who would eventually become the backbone of the USWNT’s dominance in the early 2000s. The first winner in 1998 was Cindy Parlow Cone, a powerhouse forward who helped secure the 1999 World Cup title and now serves as the President of U.S. Soccer. Following in her footsteps was Heather O’Reilly in 2004, a three-time Olympic gold medalist and one of the most capped players in USWNT history. 2008 saw Kristie Mewis with the win and by 2009, the honor went to Tobin Heath.
From 2010 through 2018, the award identified nearly every major figure who would lead the USWNT to back-to-back World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019. Julie Ertz, then known as Julie Johnston, won as a standout defender for the U-20 team before transitioning into the world-class defensive midfielder. 2013 saw the young powerhouse Lindsey Heaps (then known as Lindsey Horan) who then went on to win U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year in 2021. The mid-2010s saw the rise of teenage stars like Mallory Swanson (formerly Mallory Pugh), who won in 2015 as one of the youngest players to ever score for the senior national team. Shortly after, in 2017, Sophia Wilson (then Sophia Smith) earned the award, foreshadowing her eventual rise as an NWSL MVP and the primary scoring threat for the current national team roster.
The most recent winners represent a new era of American soccer. Trinity Rodman broke the traditional mold in 2021 by winning the award during her breakout rookie season in the NWSL. In 2022, Jaedyn Shaw made history by scoring in her first four starts for the USWNT, helping her to achieve the award at 18 years old.
The momentum continued with Ally Sentnor in 2024, a Utah Royals standout and U-20 captain and most recently, the 2025 recipient was Lilly Reale, who earned the distinction following a “locked-down” defensive performance that led Gotham FC to an NWSL Championship.
The award has become a “who’s who” in women’s soccer, and any player named to this list seems to cement their place in history. Who will 2026 choose?
Image via @lillyreale
_
GIRLS SOCCER NETWORK: YOUR SOURCE FOR GIRLS SOCCER NEWS