Last five days to vote for U.S. Soccer's 2001 Athletes of the Year

Only five days remain to vote for the U.S. Soccer's 2001 Chevy Athlete of the Year awards as the January 18 deadline approaches.

For the second year, fans are able to make their voice heard by visiting www.ussoccer.com and voting for one or all of the four annual awards.

The four prestigious annual awards are: Male Athlete of the Year, Female Athlete of the Year, Young Male Athlete of the Year and Young Female Athlete of the Year. The Chevrolet Awards are the only year-end soccer awards that honor both male and female athletes.

Online votes will be tallied and will be equivalent to 50 percent of the total votes. As in years past, 100 votes will be compiled from members of the national media and U.S. Soccer representatives (from National Team coaches to the National Board of Directors). U.S. Soccer, in conjunction with Chevrolet, will announce the winners of the four awards at a press conference at the end of January.

"We're honored to once again be involved with the Athlete of the Year awards," said Brian Boyd, Chevrolet brand promotional manager. "This year, we'll present one Chevy Cavalier to each Adult Athlete winner and donate $1,000 to the U.S. Soccer Foundation in the name of each Young Athlete winner. Chevrolet has a long history of being there, supporting aspiring athletes and our support of U.S. Soccer is one more example of this."

U.S. Soccer's Chevy Male and Female Athlete of the Year awards are the oldest and most prestigious awards of their type. The annual award, which has existed since 1984 for the men and 1985 for the women, is based on competing and excelling at the highest level of soccer offered by U.S. Soccer and the professional level for the calendar year, exhibiting decorum on and off the field which reflects well on U.S. Soccer, and contributing toward soccer's popularization, acceptance and credibility in the United States.

For their excellence both on and off the field, midfielder Chris Armas and forward Tiffeny Milbrett were selected as U.S. Soccer's 2000 Chevrolet Male and Female Athletes of the Year, respectively. U.S. MNT/Under-23 MNT forward Landon Donovan and U.S. WNT/Under-21 WNT midfielder Aly Wagner were the 2000 recipients of U.S. Soccer's Chevrolet Young Athlete of the Year award. The young player award was initiated in 1998 to highlight future stars within U.S. Soccer.

Chevrolet, the largest division of General Motors Corporation, has been a proud sponsor of U.S. Soccer, the U.S. Youth Soccer Association and state soccer associations since 1997. Chevrolet recently extended its relationship with U.S. Soccer through 2004.

With the successful final round of the U.S. MNT's World Cup qualifying and the inaugural season of WUSA, as well as youth world championships at the Under-20 and Under-17 levels, the candidates for the 2001 awards are many.

Below is a list of suggested candidates for all four awards. Mini-bios on each of the suggested candidates can be found on the U.S. Soccer website at: www.ussoccer.com.

U.S. SOCCER'S 2001 CHEVY ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Suggested Candidates for 2001 Awards

Chevrolet Male Athlete of the Year Jeff Agoos Chris Armas Brad Friedel Clint Mathis Claudio Reyna Earnie Stewart Josh Wolff

Chevrolet Female Athlete of the Year Lakeysia Beene Brandi Chastain Mia Hamm Kristine Lilly Shannon MacMillan Tiffeny Milbrett Cindy Parlow

Chevrolet Young Male Athlete of the Year DaMarcus Beasley Bobby Convey D.J. Countess Ed Johnson Mike Magee Oguchi Onyewu Santino Quaranta

Chevrolet Young Female Athlete of the Year Aleisha Cramer Jena Kluegel Jill Oakes Cat Reddick Hope Solo Abby Wambach Christie Welsh

For more information, go to the USA Soccer website.