U.S. Soccer has announced the nominees for the 2020 U.S. Soccer Young Male Player of the Year award and two members of Philadelphia Union are up for the honor.
Union homegrowns Brenden Aaronson and Mark McKenzie are both in the running for the nation's top young player honor, along side Yunus Musah, Gio Reyna and Chris Richards.
Both Aaronson and McKenzie had standout 2020 campaigns, leading Philadelphia Union to the 2020 Supporters' Shield as well as Best XI honors in MLS. Aaronson led the Union with seven assists and added four goals while playing in all 23 regular season contests for the Boys in Blue. 21-year-old McKenzie rose to the challenge of stopping the opposition’s top scoring threat every game with a team-high 17 blocked shots. He played a large role on the other end of the field too, scoring his first two MLS goals while contributing three assists.
Voting for the award starts tomorrow and closes on Dec. 16, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. ET. The winners will be announced on Friday, Dec. 18.
Votes for U.S. Soccer Player of the Year awards are collected from respective National Team coaches, National Team players who have earned a cap in 2020, members of the U.S. Soccer Board of Directors, U.S. Soccer Athletes’ Council, National Women’s Soccer League head coaches (for the USWNT awards) and American soccer league (MLS and USL) head coaches (for the USMNT awards), select media members and former players and administrators. In addition, select college coaches vote for the USWNT award.
