Our annual local soccer awards have survived to age 5.
There is one simple criterion: Candidates must have "a significant tie" to the local soccer community, meaning they grew up here or played college here or currently reside here. David Beckham can't win; the guy kicking you at 10 on a Tuesday night at the Mission Valley YMCA can.
The winners for 2005:
Male Player of the Year
Consider 2005 Jimmy Conrad's breakout year.
The San Diego State alum who spent a season with the A-League's San Diego Flash after college merely did this:
Was named Major League Soccer Defender of the Year for anchoring a tough Kansas City Wizards defense; was a starter in the MLS All-Star Game against English club Fulham; was a starter for the MLS Select team that played a summer exhibition at Real Madrid; was called up to the national team for the first time and made eight appearances, including starts in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final and a World Cup qualifier.
TROPHIES
Carrie Dew, Jamie Klages: They're invited to the under-20 national team training camp this month. Dew, a defender from La Costa Canyon, plays for Notre Dame; Klages, a goalkeeper from Coronado High, plays for Nebraska.
Carlos Tevez: The Argentina forward who plays for Brazilian club Corinthians is named Latin American Player of the Year for a record third straight time. And he's still 21.
RED CARDS
Claudio Reyna: Maybe U.S. coach Bruce Arena can put his captain in some sort of protective bubble until the World Cup. Reyna is injured yet again, this time looking at six weeks out with a broken ankle.
Phillippe Troussier: The much-traveled Frenchman lasts just two months as Morocco's national coach, getting fired because of "deeply diverging views." This was the seventh different country he has coached.
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Conrad, 28, is currently training with the national team ahead of a Jan. 22 friendly against Canada at USD's Torero Stadium, and some give him a reasonable shot at making the 2006 World Cup roster.
Said Kansas City coach Bob Gansler: "The drive that I've always seen Jimmy exhibit, the passion in his play, the passion to succeed, I felt that would take him to a very good level."
Female Player of the Year
USDHS alum Angie Woznuk, last year's winner, had another big year, winning the NCAA title with Portland (getting a goal and an assist in the championship game) and landing a call-up to the full national team for its current training camp.
But it's hard to ignore a 33-year-old goalkeeper who has a day job.
Lorena "Lu" Snyder played at San Diego State from 1990-93 and more recently has been in goal for the San Diego SeaLions of the semipro Women's Premier Soccer League, along with who knows how many adult indoor and outdoor leagues across the county. If you are an elite women's player in San Diego over the past decade, chances are you've had a shot (or 50) stopped by Snyder.
Snyder was named to the all-WPSL first team for the West Division, but what really separates her is everything else she does for the SeaLions. She is general manager and assistant coach, recruiting players, organizing games and practices, reserving fields, updating the team's Web site, plus all sorts of administrative duties no one ever hears about.
Coach of the Year
Howie Howver coached five teams and five different age levels last year. Number of league titles won: five.
He coached the Grossmont College women. They went 20-4 overall, a school record for wins, and won the Pacific Coast Conference by going 13-1 and allowing two goals over the 14 games.
He coached the Patrick Henry High girls. They won the Eastern League.
He coached three teams for the PQ Premier club in Rancho Peñasquitos, under-11 and under-16 girls and under-16 boys. All three won their leagues in the competitive Presidio League, posting a total record of 35-1-4 and outscoring opponents by a combined 140-26.
Boys, girls, youth, high school, college, it didn't matter. Same coach, same results.
Team of the Year
College players these days have no recollection of the glory days of San Diego State men's soccer, and there's a reason for that. It had been 17 years since the Aztecs, who once reached the NCAA final and were regulars in the polls, so much as reached the NCAA tournament.
Lev Kirshner and his team changed all that this year, restoring respect and recognition to Montezuma Mesa. The Aztecs went 9-4-6, were competitive in their first year in the Pac-10, spent most of the season in the top 20 of the various collegiate polls, and had statistically one of the stingiest defenses in the country. Junior goalkeeper Tally Hall, whose goals-allowed average of .41 ranked second nationally, was a third team All-American, the first Aztec so honored since Marcelo Balboa in 1989.
Not bad for a program that SDSU almost dropped in 2004.
Among the highlights were a 1-0 win against Cal in the final seconds; 0-0 ties on the road against nationally ranked St. John's and UCLA; a 7-0-2 record at home until an overtime loss to UCLA in the regular-season finale; and, most importantly, a return to the NCAA tournament after a 17-year absence.
Even more impressive: It came after losing seasons in 10 of the previous 11 years, including 4-13-2 in 2004. Welcome back, Aztecs.
Mark Zeigler: (619) 293-2205;
mark.zeigler@uniontrib.com
PAST WINNERS
Previous players, coaches and teams honored on the Union-Tribune soccer page:
YEAR MALE POY FEMALE POY
2004 Steve Cherundolo Angie Woznuk
2003 Sean Bowers Joy Fawcett
2002 Ryan Coiner Megan Kakadelas
2001 Steve Cherundolo Shannon MacMillan
YEAR COACH TEAM
2004 Ada Greenwood Sockers
2003 Omid Namazi Granite Hills boys
2002 David Armstrong Surf girls U-19
2001 Brian McManus Sockers/Spirit
