Making the Case: Jaedyn Shaw for Chipotle U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year
Shaw Earns Nomination After Breakthrough 2022 in NWSL and with Under-20 WYNT
Forward Jaedyn Shaw has been nominated for the 2022 Chipotle U.S. Young Female Player of the Year award, closing out a memorable 2022 in which the now-18-year-old represented the USA at the Under-20 FIFA Women’s World Cup and made history in the NWSL.
As the U.S. Women’s Youth National Team programming returned from its COVID-imposed hiatus, the criteria to be eligible for the 2022 U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year returned: any player who played at least one full international match for any of the USA’s Women’s Youth National Teams is eligible for the award. With two Concacaf qualifying tournaments and both the FIFA U-17 and U-20 Women’s World Cups held in 2022, several excellent candidates emerged. Players can win the U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year Award only once.
While nominees for all awards are selected by U.S. Soccer’s technical staff, fans will once again have the opportunity to vote on select Player of the Year Awards, with the fan vote comprising 15% of the total vote. Voting for the awards starts Thursday, Dec. 15 at 11:00 a.m. ET and closes on Dec. 22 at 11:59 p.m. ET. The winners will be announced in the weeks that follow.
- VOTE NOW: Fan Voting for Player of the Year Awards
Making the Case for Jaedyn Shaw for U.S. Soccer Chipotle Young Female Player of the Year:
- Shaw, who is age-eligible for the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, closed out 2022 with seven U-20 caps and three goals, scoring against Costa Rica, Mexico and the Netherlands, the latter two to help the USA win the Sud Ladies Cup in Aubagne, France.
- While she did not participate in the qualifying campaign, Shaw made a late run to make the USA’s roster for the 2022 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica and played in all three matches for the USA at the competition, making two starts.
- A Texas native, Shaw officially signed with San Diego Wave on July 17 at the age of 17 through the NWSL Discovery Process.
- Shaw made her NWSL debut on July 30 at Soldier Field against the Chicago Red Stars and scored her first professional goal, which proved to be the game winner, just 28 minutes into the match. At just 17 years of age she became the youngest player to score in her first National Women’s Soccer League match.
Second start, second goal.@JaedynShaw11, everybody!pic.twitter.com/hna9cPcuq5
— San Diego Wave FC (@sandiegowavefc) September 10, 2022
- Remarkably, Shaw scored in three of her first four professional matches, finishing the season year with three goals -- one with her left foot, one with her right and one with her head -- in seven games spanning 378 minutes played, helping the Wave reach the NWSL semifinals.
This is Shaw’s first nomination for Young Female Player of the Year.