SECAUCUS, N.J. - Red Bull New York announced today the winners of their 2006 Regular Season Awards. Twelve awards were given, 10 of which went to Red Bulls players while the others went to the Red Bulls Fan of the Year and Red Bulls Youth Soccer Club of the Year.
Captain Amado Guevara took home the most hardware, as he captured the Honda Most Valuable Player, nyredbulls.com Player of the Year and the Budweiser Golden Boot. The Honduran playmaker scored a team-high eight goals in 2006 and handed out five assists. He was instrumental in the Red Bulls' playoff push, netting six goals in the Red Bulls' final four games, including a hat trick in the must-win regular season finale against the Kansas City Wizards on October 14.
"I am very honored to have won these awards," said Guevara. "But I am even more happy that the team has made the playoffs and now we are all focused on winning the MLS Cup championship."
This marks the third time Guevara has been the club's MVP having also won the award in 2003 and 2004 and it is the third consecutive year he has won the Budweiser Golden Boot, which is given to the player who scores the most goals in the regular season.
The other Red Bull who garnered multiple honors was defender Jeff Parke, who was named co-Unsung Player of the Year and Red Bulls Ironman, which is given to the player who logs the most minutes during the season. Parke started 31 games in 2006 and played the full 90 minutes in 29 of them. For the year, he played a total of 2,771 minutes.
Parke shared the Unsung Player of the Year award with Seth Stammler. The versatile Stammler, who played six different positions on the field during the regular season (left back, center back, right back, left midfield, central midfield, and right midfield), notched three goals and was tied for the team-high in assists with five.
Mineola, NY native Carlos Mendes was named the Red Bulls Defender of the Year- sponsored by MLS. Mendes started all but one of the 32 games this season and helped anchor a young backline that contributed to 10 shutouts on the season.
Goalkeeper Jon Conway captured Newcomer of the Year honors. The Rutgers University grad was acquired by New York during the offseason in exchange for a fourth round pick in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft. Conway led all MLS goalkeepers with a 1.00 goals against average this season and filed a 7-2-3 record with five shutouts.
The first overall pick in this year's MLS SuperDraft, Marvell Wynne, earned the Red Bulls Young Player of the Year award. The 20-year-old Wynne made 28 appearances in 2006, seeing action at right back and right midfield. He registered three assists in 2006.
Another rookie- 16-year-old Jozy Altidore- won the Red Bulls Play of the Year. With seven minutes remaining in a scoreless game against Columbus on September 16, Altidore uncorked a shot from 30-yards out that beat Crew 'keeper Bill Gaudette and gave the Red Bulls a pivotal 1-0 win. The blast was named Sierra Mist Goal of the Week.
Midfielder Chris Henderson won the U.S. Soccer Foundation Humanitarian of the Year award, which is presented to the player who has made the most significant off-the-field impact on the local community. In 2004, he launched the Chris Henderson Foundation- a not-for-profit organization that helps kids to learn sportsmanship, teamwork, determination and self-esteem through sports and mentoring programs implemented by the CHF. He works very closely with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in all of its programs, and this season, Chris himself invited children stricken with Leukemia to attend several Red Bulls home games at Giants Stadium.
Virginia resident Thomas Binkley was voted the Red Bulls Fan of the Year by his fellow fans. As one testimonial said, "Tom moved to Virginia in the beginning of the season and continues to drive up for every home game... even midweek matches....10 hour commutes, just for Red Bull."
The Red Bulls Youth Soccer Club of the Year Award was given to Scotch Plains Fanwood Soccer Association. Scotch Plains has taken a true leadership role in their community and has been involved in a number of charitable endeavors during the past year, including the USSF Passback initiative and their own "Golden Goal" Program. Scotch Plains- who is also one of the Red Bulls Student of the Game partners- will be honored at halftime during the first leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinal series with D.C. United on Saturday, October 21.
Of the 12 awards, seven were voted on by members of the local media (Honda Most Valuable Player, U.S. Soccer Foundation Humanitarian of the Year, Young Player of the Year, MLS Defender of the Year, Play of the Year, Unsung Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year) two were awarded by statistical analysis (Budweiser Golden Boot and Red Bulls Ironman), two were voted on by fans online at the team's website, www.nyredbulls.com
(nyredbulls.com Player of the Year and Fan of the Year) and one was voted on by the Red Bulls organization (Red Bulls Youth Club of the Year).
New York Red Bulls 2006 Regular Season Award Winners
2006 Red Bulls Honda Most Valuable Player- Amado Guevara
2006 Major League Soccer's Red Bulls Defender of the Year- Carlos Mendes
2006 Red Bulls Unsung Player of the Year- Jeff Parke/Seth Stammler
2006 Red Bulls Newcomer of the Year- Jon Conway
2006 Red Bulls Young Player of the Year- Marvell Wynne
2006 Red Bulls Play of the Year- Jozy Altidore's 83rd minute goal versus Columbus on September 16
2006 Red Bulls Budweiser Golden Boot- Amado Guevara (eight goals)
2006 Red Bulls Ironman- Jeff Parke (2,771 minutes)
2006 nyredbulls.com Player of the Year- Amado Guevara
2006 United States Soccer Foundation Humanitarian of the Year- Chris Henderson
2006 Red Bulls Fan of the Year- Thomas Binkley
2006 Red Bulls Youth Soccer Club of the Year- Scotch Plains Fanwood
