Carli Lloyd U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year

December 18, 2008 – For her excellence at the highest levels of the sport, U.S. Soccer named U.S. Women’s National Team midfielder Carli Lloyd as the 2008 Female Athlete of the Year.  U-17 WNT midfielder Kristie Mewis won the Young Female Awards. The U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award is the highest honor awarded to soccer players in the U.S.

The U.S. Athlete of the Year honor is the first for Lloyd who becomes the first midfielder since Shannon MacMillan in 2002 to take the award. In the five years since, forwards Abby Wambach and Kristine Lilly have traded the honor back and forth.

The U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year awards have a longer history than any major award in American soccer – more than 20 years. They join the FIFA Players of the Year as the only two awards to honor both the top male and the top female in the sport.

Lloyd took home her first Athlete of the Year award by playing a vital role in the United States’ march to a gold medal repeat at the Olympics. She started all six games in Beijing and played every minute of the tournament where she expended boundless energy and scored two of the most important goals of her career. Both goals were invaluable in the USA’s run to the gold medal. Her blast from the top of the penalty box in the USA’s 1-0 group game win over Japan kept the WNT alive in the tournament, and then her legendary strike in overtime of the gold medal game against Brazil lifted the Americans to Olympic glory.

“I’m truly honored to have won this award,” said Lloyd, who also totaled career highs in goals (9) and assists (9). “So many fantastic players have won this in the past and this year, so many players this year were deserving of the award, as it was such a great year for this team.”

We look forward to watching her play next year with the Chicago Red Stars.

Other Awards:

Best Assist: In the closest race of the 2008 “Best Of” Awards, Lindsay Tarpley just edged out teammate Abby Wambach to take the title for Best Assist. Tarpley had a career year for goals this year, but it is her intuitive one-time pass to set up Lori Chalupny against Ireland that took 25 percent of the vote and put her among the winners for this year’s “Best Of” awards.

Best Video: Tobin Heath’s juggling prowess is well known and she took to the streets again for the 2008 Best all_access Video winner. “Tobin Heath’s Walkabout” showcases the Olympic gold medalist juggling a ball around different San Diego locales as the WNT prepared for a friendly against Brazil.