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Atiba Hutchinson is the male selection for 2010 Canadian Players of the Year award


loyola

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Simpson in 4th is a joke. That guys is scoring more in Turkey than Simeon is in England's second division. Sorry no disrespect to Simeon but Simpson has got to be higher than him, I mean he's not even a forward. Also DeRo.... second best player of the year???

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This vote is hugely affected by exposure.

De Ro and the MLS get (relatively speaking, of course) huge exposure in Canada. Nice to see that Hutch got it, but De Ro wasn't far behind.

Like it or not, the English Championship is much more well known to most Canadian soccer people than the Turkish league is.

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Kudos to Hutch! He has raised his game another level and is playing great.

Dero played great on a mediocre team. Once again working his ass off and scoring in a dysfunctional setup. I would put him at 5th not second.

Simpson just doesn't get seen enough or enough press coverage to get the bump up. Hopefully that will change.

Johnson should be higher as well.

Cann, Attakora & Straith ... well it seems like defense just gets no respect. Maybe we need an offensive and defensive player of the year!

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Great for Atiba he really deserved it.

"This is a fantastic achievement for Atiba and well deserved," said Canadian national coach Stephen Hart. "He has worked hard for what he has achieved. He always answers the call to represent his country and he is a terrific ambassador. I wish him well and urge him to continue enjoying his soccer."

you tell em coach. We need players like Atiba to promote the nats. I always like a player that puts on his jersey with pride and represents us at all possible chances. Whether the sport be football, baseball, rugby, or hockey.

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I think the face DeRo finished second is a big statement on the soccer media voting for this award in Canada. They see DeRo play with TFC week in and week out, whereas a guy playing in Turkey gets no exposure. Club football in Canada seems to have stolen all the minimal media attention, so our national team gets next to nothing now....

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FWIW:

I asked Atiba on the call yesterday if he thought players playing in the more exotic leagues of Europe struggled to get recognition. He basically stated that there was a definite disadvantage but that there are enough mediums to follow a player nowadays, that that shouldn't really be an excuse to overlook someone.

He also stated some very positive and supportive things about Josh Simpson's performance in 2010:

“Josh has been playing very well, especially in the last two years ever since he went to Turkey and he’s done well also in Germany,” said Hutchinson. “Now he’s scoring a lot of goals and playing well for his team and he’s scoring in a lot of important matches. I think he’s a good player for the national team and hopefully he can continue to build and develop.”

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Great CBC article about Hutchinson winning the award. I never knew he trialed for so many clubs before catching on.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2010/12/17/sp-soccer-hutchinson.html

Hutchinson named Canada's top soccer player of 2010

Last Updated: Friday, December 17, 2010 | 2:29 PM ET The Canadian Press

Canada's Atiba Hutchinson, right, was named player of the year by the Canadian Soccer Association on Friday. (Mel Evans/Associated Press) Atiba Hutchinson's soccer dream has taken him around the world, with no shortage of detours along the way.

There were tryouts with Russia's Spartak Moscow and Saturn Moscow. Italy's Udinese brought him in to have a look. Sweden's Halmstads BK checked him out.

England's Southampton and Manchester City showed interest.

Schalke (Germany), MTK Budapest (Hungary) and Cagliari (Italy) gave him tryouts.

Major League Soccer's Dallas Burn, now known as FC Dallas, also had him in.

"They said he was a good trialist, but probably wasn't good enough for their standards," Barry MacLean, Hutchinson's former agent, said with a chuckle.

Today, the 27-year-old midfielder from Brampton, Ont., is riding high with PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands

And on Friday, Hutchinson was recognized at home as the Canadian Soccer Association's male player of the year, capping a bumper 2010.

"It's a very big deal for me to win this award," Hutchinson told a media conference call. "It's something at the end of your career you look back and see what you've accomplished.

"To be playing for the Canadian national team, it's always an honour to represent your country. And if you can win an award like this, I think it goes a long way."

He was chosen 2009-10 player of the year in the Danish league, where he helped FC Copenhagen win the title, before leaving for PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands to start the 2010-11 season.

"This is a fantastic achievement for Atiba and well-deserved," Canadian coach Stephen Hart said in a statement. "He has worked hard for what he has achieved. He always answers the call to represent his country and he is a terrific ambassador."

Hutchinson marked his 50th appearance for Canada in October, scoring in a 2-2 draw at Ukraine.

"I think he might end up being the best Canadian player ever," said MacLean.

"Atiba's got all the tools. He's got a great temperament, he's got a great personality. He's an athlete, he's got a good brain, great attitude. I mean, there isn't a flaw."

Hutchinson, a skinny 6-1 and 143 pounds who wears No. 13, played briefly for the Toronto Lynx before catching on with Sweden's Osters IF in 2003.

That year he was named to the all-star team at the FIFA U-20 World Championship, despite playing out of position on defence for Canada, prompting a flood of interest from bigger overseas clubs.

But without a European Union passport and with Canada's low position in the world rankings, securing a work permit was tough.

"Getting started was the hard part," Hutchinson said. "I'd say from about 17 to 20, I'd been on a lot of tryouts in different places. That was the hard part for me, just really getting my foot in the door. I couldn't really get anything concrete and most of the clubs had pretty much just turned me down.

"But in my head, there was only one thing. I just wanted to play in Europe. It didn't matter where I got started. I just wanted to get there and prove myself."

Canadian coaches had already taken notice.

At 20, he had already won six caps for the Canadian under-23 Olympic team and four for the senior side.

In 2004, then national team coach Frank Yallop called Julian de Guzman, Iain Hume and Hutchinson "the future of Canadian soccer."

After a year with Osters, Hutchinson spent two more seasons in Sweden with Helsingborgs IF before moving to Denmark and Copenhagen for the 2005-06 season.

"I started off 20 years old in Sweden with a small club (Osters) and kind of climbed the ladder, worked my way up," he said.

Hutchinson, who has played both Champions and Europa League soccer, has been forced to adapt to different styles of play along the way.

"Going from Sweden to Denmark, it's pretty similar but it's also a little in different in the way the teams play. It's a little more direct in Sweden, Denmark it's a bit more technical and Holland it's very technical — everybody plays a passing game, not many long balls."

Christine Sinclair was named top female player on Thursday for the sixth straight year.

Voting for the awards was split between Canadian media and coaches.

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Is he still 143 pounds soaking wet?

I remember years back when he was filling in for us at RB, saying something to the effect of, "buy that man a sandwich" but had no idea he still was such at a light playing weight. Funny because it's not like he gets knocked around like someone else might do at that size.

Also great analysis in comparing three leagues where Canadians have often plied their trade; interesting that Denmark is thought of as a technical league, as the matches I have watched seem quite physical, more like MLS in style and level of play.

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^^

I was surprised by this too.

I mean, given that I am practically a foot shorter than Atiba (and by no means built like a house), I doubt that I can actually weight MORE than him.

The guy is a lean machine, but THAT lean?

Anyways, will make for a funny questions during one of the press ops in Greece.

BTW - I have to agree with some of the above posters. That Neil Davidson article is fantastic. Nice to see a story being told, instead of just regurgitating the CSA release quotes. Well done, sir.

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BTW - I have to agree with some of the above posters. That Neil Davidson article is fantastic. Nice to see a story being told, instead of just regurgitating the CSA release quotes. Well done, sir.

I thought most of the article was really good. However, I would have preferred quoted reactions from his MNT teammates as opposed to his agent's comments. Apart from that, Neil did a quality job of describing the work he had to do to get where he is today.

Congratulations, Atiba!

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I thought most of the article was really good. However, I would have preferred quoted reactions from his MNT teammates as opposed to his agent's comments. Apart from that, Neil did a quality job of describing the work he had to do to get where he is today.

Congratulations, Atiba!

Never discredit how hard it can actually be to get a hold of our players. With the MLS out-of-session and the European clubs giving little respect to the Canadian media - I speak from experience in saying that it can be a lot like a wild goose chase.

But I do see your point, would have been a nice addition.

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Never discredit how hard it can actually be to get a hold of our players. With the MLS out-of-session and the European clubs giving little respect to the Canadian media - I speak from experience in saying that it can be a lot like a wild goose chase.

But I do see your point, would have been a nice addition.

Iit was good to read the nice Atiba quote about Josh Simpson current form!

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^I understand your perspective, but you'd think that other contenders for the award (like DeRo, for instance) would have been somewhat more available for contact.

They tried to get some quotes from DeRo but he only talked about himself and his second place.....

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