The KC Current's season may have been cut short, but not every aspect was disappointing for the players. At the inaugural NWSL Awards on Wednesday, Current star Temwa Chawinga was announced as the league's Most Valuable Player for the second straight year. Chawinga now stands alone in the history books as the first-ever player to be named MVP two years in a row.
“I just thank my teammates,” Chawinga said after being honored with the award. “Without my teammates, I don't achieve these things.”
Fellow Current player Bia Zaneratto was also a candidate for the award, alongside San Diego Wave forward Delphine Cascarino, Gotham FC forward Esther González, and NC Courage midfielder Manaka Matsukubo.
Chawinga also earned the NWSL's Golden Boot award, which is given to the player with the highest number of goals in a campaign. She set the pace for the league this year with 15. Chawinga also nabbed this award a year ago, too, as she set the new league record for scoring in a single season with 20.
The Malawi-born footballer joins Sam Kerr as the only two players in NWSL history to win the MVP award twice. Kerr won hers in 2017 and 2019 on top of claiming three straight Golden Boot honors within the same span.
The NWSL MVP award was determined by a weighted voting scale. The players' votes counted for 40% of the total weight, the owners, general managers, and coaches together made up 25%, the media added another 25%, and the fans' opinions were factored in for 10% of the vote.
