In 1967,
Bob Hermann, the president of the
National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the NPSL's successor, the
North American Soccer League, established a trophy to annually recognize the top men's collegiate soccer player. The trophy, which was first announced in the December 9, 1967 issue of
The Sporting News, was named the Hermann Trophy and has been awarded each year since. In 1988, a second Hermann Trophy was inaugurated to recognize the top women's collegiate player of the year. In 1986, the Missouri Athletic Club (MAC) began naming an annual player of the year as a rival to the Hermann Trophy. Then in 1996, the
National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) initiated its own annual player of the year award. These three competing awards began merging three years later when the NSCAA and MAC agreed to cooperate on naming a combined collegiate player of the year. Finally, beginning in 2002, the MAC/NSCAA and Hermann Trophy organization merged to create a unified trophy for the top college
soccer player of the year. The original Hermann Award Trophy is on display in the Hermann Atrium located in the McDonnell Athletic Center at
MICDS in Ladue, Missouri. The original trophy was donated to the school by Hermann in 2003. The current MAC Hermann Trophy is on display in the lobbies of the Missouri Athletic Club's Downtown and West County Clubhouses. ==Selection process==