Fleming Selected Honda Award Finalist
December 19, 2019 | Women's Soccer
UCLA senior midfielder Jessie Fleming has been selected as one of four finalists for the Class of 2020 Honda Sport Award for Soccer, as announced Thursday by Chris Voelz, Executive Director of THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA).
A three-year team captain, Fleming helped lead UCLA to the College Cup for the second time in four years and was a College Cup All-Tournament honoree for the second time. She earned United Soccer Coaches first-team All-America honors for the second time and was an All-American for the third time overall. Fleming has been up for every major award this season, being selected a finalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy and the Senior CLASS Award. She became just the third UCLA player ever to receive first-team All-Pac-12 acclaim four times, and she was also a four-time All-West Region honoree, earning first-team honors three times and second-team another. Playing in a defensive midfield role this season, Fleming totaled three goals and four assists and ranked fifth on the team in scoring with 10 points while helping UCLA record 13 shutouts.
Fleming made a big impact in Westwood from day one, scoring two goals in her first game and finishing her freshman year with a team-high 11 goals and 27 points. She was named the Top Drawer Soccer National Freshman of the Year. In 2017, she was a finalist for both the Honda Award and the MAC Hermann Trophy.
Fleming has been a member of the full Canadian National Team since making her debut in 2013 at the age of 15, playing for Canada at the 2019 and 2015 World Cups and winning bronze at the 2016 Olympics. She was a three-time U-20 Canadian Player of the Year, the 2014 U-17 Player of the Year and has been a nominee for Canadian Women's National Team Player of the Year the last three years.
In addition to her on-field success, Fleming has been a standout in the classroom, earning honorable mention Pac-12 All-Academic honors twice. She is a materials engineering major with an environmental science minor.
The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 44 years to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA- sanctioned sports and signifies "the best of the best in collegiate athletics". The winner of the sport award becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2020 Honda Cup which will be presented on a live telecast on CBS Sports Network on Monday, June 22, 2020, in downtown Los, Angeles.
The other finalists for the award are junior midfielder Mikayla Colohan from BYU, junior defender Emily Fox from North Carolina, and junior midfielder/forward Catarina Macario of Stanford.
The nominees were chosen by a panel of coaches representing the United Soccer Coaches Association. The Honda Sport award winner for soccer will be announced next week after voting by administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Each NCAA member institution has a vote.
Honda Sport Award winners will be presented with the honor during on-campus presentations throughout the year and all Honda Sport Award winners become a finalist for the prestigious 2020 Honda Cup award presented in June.
The CWSA, celebrating its 44th year, has honored the nation's top NCAA women athletes for their superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service. Since commencing its sponsorship in 1986, Honda has provided more than $3.4 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women's athletics programs.
