The end of the 2016-17 club season is approaching. Which means the playoffs are nearly here, and by extension the biggest chance of the year to stamp a claim on the TDS Player of the Year Award presented by IMG.

And in the newest contenders update, we’ve got two humdingers to add to the growing pile of quality candidates for the honor once it’s handed out in August.

As a helpful reminder, As a reminder, the award, the most prestigious yearly honorific for amateur youth players with U.S. ties, will honor one top girl and boy player each at the conclusion of the season. Announced each August following a July 31 cutoff, the award takes into account the player’s body of work over the previous season and will be picked by an internal panel of judges.

Rankings: Lindsey's 2018 boys | Macario's 2017 girls
Past spotlights: Sands, Pinto make a case | Can Kunga, Tagliaferri rise to the top?

To be considered, a player must be eligible for a U.S. youth national team, and they must be college eligible and have retained their amateur status at the time the award is bestowed. Players who’ve signed professional contracts or have already begun their college careers are not eligible for consideration.

We’ve picked through a handful of some of the top candidates already, but we’re still reviewing resumes. And right now, these two players are putting up one heck of a fight.

Boys: Jaylin Lindsey, Sporting KC

Jaylin Lindsey, a 2018 North Carolina commit, perhaps doesn’t have many appreciable stats to bring to the table like some of his competitors on the attacking side of the spectrum. Part of that is because he’s spent the year in U17 residency in Bradenton, Fla. during the last gasp of the program. We’ll allow for that, of course, but we also acknowledge the eye test over stats at times. And for defenders, nothing is more important.

Lindsey’s 2016-17 season largely played out in private until the U17 MNT hit a major tournament. And it was in those instances that he so obviously shined. Even if Lindsey was viewed as a center back prospect earlier in his young career, his impact as a barnstorming right back for the U17s has been invaluable. Earlier in the cycle, Lindsey adroitly beat out a stiffly competitive field for the spot at right back, and he’s been ensconced there ever since.

It’s impressive enough to make an impression on the club level, but drilling down to impressive performances on the YNT level is an even more difficult ask. Lindsey played an integral part in the U.S. effort that dropped the Mexican U17 team in a competitive match for the first time in program history, and he has his entire career ahead. Lindsey is a 2018, so he’s largely competing against an older cohort for the award, but few are enjoying more impressive years on the whole.

Girls: Catarina Macario, San Diego Surf

One of the best players in the country, Catarina Macario was dealt a seemingly devastating injury blow a few years ago that would’ve put the brakes on a number of promising careers. Not Macario’s. The SoCal standout worked back and ultimately resumed her place as San Diego Surf’s most talented prospect, and this season she’s on typically devastating form. And while she doesn’t have any YNT experience on her resume while she awaits the possibility of U.S. eligibility, her club form speaks volumes.

Macario, the No. 3 player in the 2017 class who’ll join Stanford in the fall, has been on a scoring tear for Surf, easily brushing aside team after team with her devastating blend of physicality and skill. Perhaps her most impressive performance came earlier this month, when she put two goals past the always dangerous So Cal Blues in a mighty impressive 4-0 win.

Needless to say, with Macario leading the charge from the front, the Surf U18s are a major threat to win an ECNL title this year.

Macario’s utility also goes beyond the run of play. She’s an incredibly dangerous set piece taker, and for Stanford she should compete right away for a rotational spot as a center forward on a team desperately seeking a next level scorer. In the meantime, Macario is closing out her club career the only way she knows how; with lots (and lots) of goals.

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