Making the Case: Onyeka Gamero for Chipotle U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year

Coming off an impressive year in which her showcased her creativity and attacking prowess for U.S. Under-17 Women’s Youth National, forward Onyeka Gamero has been nominated for the 2022 Chipotle U.S. Young Female Player of the Year award.

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.

• READ MORE: 2022 Young Female Player of the Year Nominees

 

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 Onyeka Gamero as the 2022 Chipotle U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year:

• The 16-year-old Gamero tallied a total of six goals and eight assists for the Under-17 WYNT in 2022, utilizing her full attacking arsenal of dynamic dribbling, passing vision, punishing pace and scoring touch.

• Gamero helped the U17 WYNT to a triumphant run at the 2022 Concacaf Women’s U-17 Championship where the team won all seven games by a combined margin of 58-1.

 

🎙 𝙊𝙣𝙮𝙚𝙠𝙖 𝙈𝙞𝙘'𝙙 𝙐𝙥

Fresh off three assists versus Grenada, join Onyeka Gamero for a rainy training sesh in Santo Domingo ☔️ pic.twitter.com/hwwaMpW7U4

— U.S. Soccer YNT (@USYNT) April 24, 2022

 

• She played a direct role in 11 of the USA’s 58 goals, scoring five goals and tallying six assists in that tournament, including a key score in the 3-0 semifinal victory that sent the USA to the World Cup.

• Gamero was one of the tournament’s best players at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in India, terrorizing defenders on the right wing while playing every minute of her three games. She scored in the USA’s World Cup opener against India and picked up one assist in the second group stage match against Brazil. 

• Gamero plays for Beach FC in ECNL, helping her team finish second in the U17 ECNL National Championships last year.

This is Gamero’s first nomination for Young Female Player of the Year.