Mark Krikorian, whose Philadelphia Charge squad was on top in the WUSA nearly all of the regular season, was named the league's Coach of the Year on Tuesday as three days of honors commenced.
Abby Wambach, who played a pivotal role up top for the Washington Freedom, was voted Rookie of the Year.
Selections for most WUSA awards, including the coach and rookie honors, was made in balloting by media, players, coaches and general managers.
Also announced Tuesday was Carolina's Kristen Luckenbill as the Goalkeeper of the Year, San Jose's Katia for Goal of the Year, and San Jose's Sissi as Humanitarian of the Year.
Kari Seitz was voted Referee of the Year.
Several awards, including the Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year and the All-WUSA first and second teams, will be announced on Wednesday. The Most Valuable Player award will be unveiled Thursday.
Krikorian guided the second-place Charge to an 11-4-6 record in 2002, changing his system at the start of June to offset the loss of playmaker Kelly Smith, Philly's best player. His team was the league's top defensive side, marked by the emergence of central defenders Erica Iverson and Jen Tietjen — both of them Defensive Player of the Year finalists.
Washington's Jim Gabarra and Carolina's Marcia McDermott, whose teams meet in the Founders Cup II final Saturday in Atlanta, also were finalists for the coaching award.
Wambach, a big, technically gifted forward from the University of Florida, tied for fourth in the WUSA scoring race with 10 goals and nine assists (29 points). She was the critical player early in the season, when the Freedom was battling injuries, and her aggressive play up top was one of the primary elements of Washington's success.
Other finalists for the award were Carolina defender Danielle Slaton and Philadelphia midfielder Stacey Tullock.
Luckenbill led WUSA goalkeepers with 12 wins and 114 saves, playing every minute of the season for the Courage. Her phenomenal play in the early weeks of the campaign staked Carolina, struggling at the time with form, to several critical victories.
Other finalists were Philadelphia's Melissa Moore and Atlanta's Briana Scurry.
Katia was honored for a goal in a 3-1 win over San Diego on June 9. She took a chip from Pretinha on the right wing, positioning the ball while it was still airborne, then hammered a volley inside the far post.
The Humanitarian award went to Sissi for a friendship struck with a sixth-grade cancer patient in San Jose.
Seitz is currently working at the FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship in Canada.