CHICAGO (Jan. 11, 2024) – In a year in which she was one of the USA’s best players at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and was the National Women’s Soccer League Defender of the Year, helping San Diego Wave FC win the NWSL Shield as regular season champions, defender Naomi Girma has been voted the 2023 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year.
Girma is the first pure defender to win the award in the 39 years it has been given out. Goalkeeper Hope Solo won in 2009 and defensive midfielder Julie Ertz won in 2017 and 2019, but all the other winners have been attacking-minded midfielders or forwards.
