Throughout 2022, Sophia Smith and then Portland Thorns coach Rhian Wilkinson often talked about the growth process, noting that as successful as Smith has been she can get a lot better.
That must be a frightening prospect for defenders in the National Women’s Soccer League and around the world.
On Friday, U.S. Soccer announced Smith is its Female Player of the Year for 2022.
The 22-year-old from Windsor, Colorado was the NWSL MVP and the championship game MVP as she led the Thorns to the club’s third league title.
For the U.S. Women’s National Team, Smith scored a team-high 11 goals in 2022. She is the youngest player to win this award since Mia Hamm, who also was 22 when she won it in 1994.
— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) January 6, 2023
“Obviously this is surreal, and I’m super humbled,” Smith said in a statement released by the Thorns. “It’s been a very exciting year, and certainly there’s been some challenges, but just being able to grow and develop in the environments with the national team and the Thorns, and being surround by such amazing players, players that I have looked up to for so long, has pushed me to become a better player and person. “I’ve said many times, if you embrace these environments, you have no choice but to get better and grow, and that’s a testament to the players, coaches and all of the staff,” she continued. “I appreciate everyone holding me to such high standards day in and day out. This award wouldn’t be possible without all those people, and the best thing about it, is that it’s fun too. The journey is so much better when you are doing something so fun and something you love.”
Of five finalists for the Female Player of the Year Award, Smith garnered 50.8% of the votes followed by Alex Morgan (18.4%).
Smith scored 11 goals for the United States in 2022, including her first hat trick in an April win over Uzbekistan. Across all competitions in 2022, Smith scored 29 goals in 42 appearances (40 starts) for the Thorns and the United States with 11 goals for the USWNT and 18 goals for Portland. Smith is only the fourth player to score 10 or more goals for the USWNT and her NWSL club in a single year, joining Abby Wambach (2013), Sydney Leroux (2013) and Christen Press (2015).
Smith is the fourth player to win both the U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year Award — which she won in 2017 — and its player of the year award. The others are Tobin Heath, Julie Ertz and Lindsey Horan.
This is the second consecutive year a Thorns player won U.S. Soccer’s player of the year award. Horan, currently on loan from Portland with Olympique Lyonnais, won the award in 2021.
Votes for the U.S. Soccer awards are collected from national team coaches, players who earned a cap in 2022, members of the U.S. Soccer Board of Directors, U.S. Soccer Athletes’ Council, NWSL head coaches and select media members, administrators and college coaches. Fan votes accounted for 15% of the tally.
"As a sports fan, working in sports journalism and telling the stories of athletes and teams from the school level to the elite/professional level is rewarding. Games are fun! So is meeting and introducing readers to driven, uniquely talented and often just plain fun humans. Sports bring together communities. Often, unexpected or unique connections are made through sports. To witness and to recount myriad dramas of human competition is a hoot.”
