MLS Rookie of the Year Award

In the United States, Major League Soccer (MLS) has handed out a Rookie of the Year Award since its inception in 1996. MLS, as opposed to other American sports leagues like Major League Baseball, only designates a player as a rookie if the player has had no prior professional experience. So, for example, although Taylor Twellman finished second in MVP voting in 2002, he was ineligible for the Rookie of the Year Award because he had played on the reserve team of 1860 Munich.

Winners

Season	Player	Position	Nationality	Team	Draft Pick	Draft Class	College
1996	Ralston, SteveSteve Ralston	Midfielder	United States	Tampa Bay Mutiny	18 !18	1996 MLS College Draft	Florida International
1997	Duhaney, MikeMike Duhaney	Defender	United States	Tampa Bay Mutiny	87 !87	1996 MLS Inaugural Draft	UNLV
1998	Olsen, BenBen Olsen	Midfielder	United States	D.C. United	!N/A	Project-40	Virginia
1999	Heaps, JayJay Heaps	Defender	United States	Miami Fusion	2 !2	1999 MLS College Draft	Duke
2000	Bocanegra, CarlosCarlos Bocanegra	Defender	United States	Chicago Fire	4 !4	2000 MLS SuperDraft	UCLA
2001	Faria, RodrigoRodrigo Faria	Forward	Brazil	MetroStars	13 !13	2001 MLS SuperDraft	Concordia College
2002	Martino, KyleKyle Martino	Midfielder	United States	Columbus Crew	8 !8	2002 MLS SuperDraft	Virginia
2003	Ralph, DamaniDamani Ralph	Forward	Jamaica	Chicago Fire	18 !18	2003 MLS SuperDraft	Connecticut
2004	Dempsey, ClintClint Dempsey	Midfielder	United States	New England Revolution	8 !8	2004 MLS SuperDraft	Furman
2005	Parkhurst, MichaelMichael Parkhurst	Defender	United States	New England Revolution	9 !9	2005 MLS SuperDraft	Wake Forest
2006	Bornstein, JonathanJonathan Bornstein	Defender	United States	Chivas USA	37 !37	2006 MLS SuperDraft	UCLA
2007	Edu, MauriceMaurice Edu	Midfielder	United States	Toronto FC	1 !1	2007 MLS SuperDraft	Maryland
2008	Franklin, SeanSean Franklin	Defender	United States	Los Angeles Galaxy	4 !4	2008 MLS SuperDraft	Cal State Northridge
2009	Gonzalez, OmarOmar Gonzalez	Defender	United States	Los Angeles Galaxy	3 !3	2009 MLS SuperDraft	Maryland
2010	Najar, AndyAndy Najar	Midfielder	Honduras	D.C. United	!N/A	D.C. United Academy	N/A
2011	Sapong, C. J.C. J. Sapong	Forward	United States	Sporting Kansas City	!10	2011 MLS SuperDraft	James Madison
2012	Berry, AustinAustin Berry	Defender	United States	Chicago Fire	!9	2012 MLS SuperDraft	Louisville
2013	Powers, DillonDillon Powers	Midfielder	United States	Colorado Rapids	!11	2013 MLS SuperDraft	Notre Dame
2014	Akindele, TeshoTesho Akindele	Forward	Canada	FC Dallas	!6	2014 MLS SuperDraft	Colorado School of Mines

Wins by playing position

Wins by nationality

Nationality	Number of winners
United States	15
Brazil	1
Canada	1
Honduras	1
Jamaica	1

Wins by team