The fall and the winter is awards season around USFooty. The men and women of USFooty get dressed up in the finery to find out who will be named the Most Valuable Player or Club Best and Fairest. In most clubs this award is given to the player who receives the most "votes" over the season. After each game, club officials and umpires are given the opportunities to rate the three or five best players on the field, where a 3 is given to the best, 2 to the next, and 1 to the third best. Many clubs count up the tally during the awards night, building the tension and suspense as the night wears on.
Looking down the list (FULL LIST HERE) there are some good bets. Rohan Ward had an outstanding season for 2009 MAAFL Champs, Chicago United. Ward finished 6th overall in the USFootyNews.com Goal Kicking, named in the forward pocket for the USFootyNews.com All-Star team, and won both the Chicago Best and Fairest, the Warrick Burgmann Award and the Chicago Goal Kicking, the Al MacGlashan Award. Down in North Carolina, playing coach Jason Heathcote similarly took both major club awards and was named at Center-Half Forward for the All-Star Team. Nashville's All-Star bookends, Chris Moerman and Luke Nemeth took Nashville's Goal Kicking and Best and Fairest respectively.
Portland's Best and Fairest, Martin Coventry fights for the ball against the Seattle Grizzlies.
There were some surprises. Joey Fantony became the first American to take out the MVP award in Boston's storied 12 year history. Eric Floyd shared the Louisville Kings Best and Fairest with Jack Jacobs after being named MVP in the 4th Division at the USFooty National Championships. Floyd hopes the form will follow him to Australia. Another hoping to bring his form to Australia is the Golden Gate AFL MVP Bryan Dragus, who will be trying out with the Western Magpies in the Queensland AFL (one of the minor leagues below the AFL). Another surprise was Ojas Desai, who tied with USFootyNews.com MVP and All-Star Center Half Back, Joel Daniher, for the New York Magpies MVP Award.
2009 was a big year for women's footy, and all four club MVPs represented the US Freedom in Australia. Judith Stein took both Atlanta's MVP and the club goal award with 24 goals. Suzy Thomas won the Milwaukee MVP after leading the Bombers to the 2009 National Championship, while Monica Robins and Andrea Casillas shared New York's MVP award.
