Soccer Trophies: The Hermann Honor
May 12, 2011 by admin
Filed under Soccer Articles
The 3D’s of soccer trophy winning defense – delay the injuries, destroy the counter-attacks, develop the winning skills. This article lays out the process of selecting a Hermann Trophy recipient each year and why this specific soccer trophy is so meaningful to collegiate athletes.
Soccer – or football (futbol) – as it is called by the rest of the world outside the United States – is potentially the most popular sport in the world. Every four years, the world championship of soccer, the World Cup, is legitimately watched by billions all over the world: beating out the United States professional football’s Superbowl by far. However, many of those people may not understand the commitment and physical conditioning it takes to be a soccer player in general; let alone a stand-out player at the college level between the goals.
These stand-out collegiate soccer players are constantly running towards one soccer trophy: the Hermann Trophy. The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United State’s top male and female college soccer player. The Hermann Trophy is an exact replica of a regulation number five soccer ball and weighs ten pounds. It is prepared every year by Tyrone Crystal of County Tyrone in Northern Ireland. Being apart of and playing any collegiate sport is an honor all in its own. Yet collegiate soccer players strive for something more: a chance at making “the list,” better known as the Watch List.
The Missouri Athletic Club’s (or more commonly referred to as MAC) Hermann Trophy is the highest individual award in intercollegiate soccer. The process of selecting a receiver moves as smoothly as a follow-through kick. It starts at the beginning of the collegiate regular season when a list, “the Watch list”, of potential nominees is compiled by a nominating committee. Towards the end of the regular season, 15 players whom the committee considers the best in Division I soccer are announced as semifinalists for the award. The top 15 men are sent to the men’s head coaches, and the top 15 women are sent to the womens’ head coaches.
The list of semifinalists for the award are then voted on through an online voting process by men’s and women’s Division I soccer coaches, who are current National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) members. In early December the top three vote-getters for both the men’s and women’s soccer trophy are announced as finalists for the award. Those six individuals are invited to an annual banquet held at the Missouri Athletic Club of St. Louis. The two recipients are selected by NCAA Division I coaches who also are members of the NSCAA. During the banquet the winners of the two soccer trophy awards are finally announced.
Like many trophies this honor has the potential to stand for something much greater. Since the creation of the award Hermann Trophy winners from five different decades have gone on to represent the United States as senior internationals. Out of 39 winners since 1968, 19 have broken away and gone on to play for the US National Team. Nevertheless, the record speaks for itself. The trophy’s place in American soccer history from a National Team perspective is no doubt secure: GOOOAL!
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