NWSL Rookie of the Year

The NWSL Rookie of the Year award is presented annually to the best rookie in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).

Erika Tymrak (2013), an alumna of the Florida Gators, won the first Rookie of the Year award in the NWSL's inaugural season. The most recent winner is Jenna Nighswonger (2023).

As of 2023,^[update] the Rookie of the Year award is voted upon in two rounds: in the first round, players (50%), owners/general managers/coaches (25%), and media (25%) vote to determine the nominees; in the second round, players (50%), owners/general managers/coaches (20%), media (20%), and fans (10%) vote among the nominees to determine the winner.^[1]

Winners

Season	Player	Pos.	Nationality	Club	School	Drafted	Other finalists	Ref.
2013	Erika Tymrak	MF	United States	FC Kansas City	Florida Gators	11th	Adrianna Franch, Sydney Leroux	^[2]
2014	Julie Johnston	D/MF	United States	Chicago Red Stars	Santa Clara Broncos	3rd	Crystal Dunn, Kealia Ohai	^[3]
2015	Danielle Colaprico	MF	United States	Chicago Red Stars	Virginia Cavaliers	9th	Sofia Huerta, Sam Mewis	^[4]
2016	Rocky Rodríguez	MF	Costa Rica	Sky Blue FC	Penn State Nittany Lions	2nd	Rachel Daly, Emily Sonnett	^[5]
2017	Ashley Hatch	F	United States	North Carolina Courage	BYU Cougars	2nd	Meggie Dougherty Howard, Mallory Pugh	^[6]
2018	Imani Dorsey	F/MF	United States	Sky Blue FC	Duke Blue Devils	5th	Savannah McCaskill, Andi Sullivan	^[7]
2019	Bethany Balcer	F	United States	Reign FC	Spring Arbor Cougars	Undrafted	Jordan DiBiasi, Sam Staab	^[8]
2021	Trinity Rodman	F	United States	Washington Spirit	Washington State Cougars	2nd	Emily Fox, Victoria Pickett	^[9]
2022	Naomi Girma	D	United States	San Diego Wave FC	Stanford Cardinal	1st	Sam Coffey, Diana Ordóñez	^[10]
2023	Jenna Nighswonger	D	United States	NJ/NY Gotham FC	Florida State Seminoles	4th	Messiah Bright, Alyssa Thompson	^[11]

References

^ "National Women's Soccer League Announces 2023 NWSL Award Finalists, Opens Final Voting Round". National Women's Soccer League. October 24, 2023. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
^ Kassouf, Jeff (August 21, 2013). "Erika Tymrak named NWSL Rookie of the Year". The Equalizer. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
^ Lauletta, Dan (August 22, 2014). "Johnston wins NWSL Rookie of the Year". The Equalizer. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
^ "Red Stars' Colaprico named NWSL Rookie of Year". The Equalizer. September 14, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
"Chicago's Colaprico Voted 2015 NWSL Rookie of the Year". Chicago Red Stars. September 14, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
^ "'Rocky' Rodriguez named NWSL Rookie of the Year". The Equalizer. October 3, 2016. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
^ "Ashley Hatch named 2017 NWSL Rookie of the Year". The Equalizer. October 17, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
^ Kriger, Rachael (September 26, 2018). "Paul Riley, Imani Dorsey best coach, rookie respectively". The Equalizer. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
^ VanDyke, Josh (October 30, 2019). "Bethany Balcer wins NWSL Rookie of the Year award". Retrieved June 27, 2024.
^ Hruby, Emma (November 19, 2021). "Spirit's Trinity Rodman Wins NWSL Rookie of the Year". Just Women's Sports. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
^ Lauletta, Dan (October 27, 2022). "Naomi Girma named 2022 NWSL Rookie of the Year". The Equalizer. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
^ Tonelli, Jenna (November 9, 2023). "'Nothing is going to be what you expect:' Jenna Nighswonger on winning Rookie of the Year". The Equalizer. Retrieved June 27, 2024.

[1] "National Women's Soccer League Announces 2023 NWSL Award Finalists, Opens Final Voting Round". National Women's Soccer League. October 24, 2023. Retrieved June 27, 2024.

[2] Kassouf, Jeff (August 21, 2013). "Erika Tymrak named NWSL Rookie of the Year". The Equalizer. Retrieved June 27, 2024.

[3] Lauletta, Dan (August 22, 2014). "Johnston wins NWSL Rookie of the Year". The Equalizer. Retrieved June 27, 2024.

[4] "Red Stars' Colaprico named NWSL Rookie of Year". The Equalizer. September 14, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
"Chicago's Colaprico Voted 2015 NWSL Rookie of the Year". Chicago Red Stars. September 14, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2024.

[5] "'Rocky' Rodriguez named NWSL Rookie of the Year". The Equalizer. October 3, 2016. Retrieved June 27, 2024.

[6] "Ashley Hatch named 2017 NWSL Rookie of the Year". The Equalizer. October 17, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2024.

[7] Kriger, Rachael (September 26, 2018). "Paul Riley, Imani Dorsey best coach, rookie respectively". The Equalizer. Retrieved June 27, 2024.

[8] VanDyke, Josh (October 30, 2019). "Bethany Balcer wins NWSL Rookie of the Year award". Retrieved June 27, 2024.

[9] Hruby, Emma (November 19, 2021). "Spirit's Trinity Rodman Wins NWSL Rookie of the Year". Just Women's Sports. Retrieved June 27, 2024.

[10] Lauletta, Dan (October 27, 2022). "Naomi Girma named 2022 NWSL Rookie of the Year". The Equalizer. Retrieved June 27, 2024.

[11] Tonelli, Jenna (November 9, 2023). "'Nothing is going to be what you expect:' Jenna Nighswonger on winning Rookie of the Year". The Equalizer. Retrieved June 27, 2024.

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