The best players in the women's division in 2024!
December 12, 2024 by Sean Colfer in Awards
This European season was the first with a new structure and had WUC on the other side of the world dropped into the middle of the calendar. That meant some of the timings were a bit strange, and EUCF was just after many of the best players on the continent returned from Down Under. However, the season itself was extremely exciting and saw the continued rise of young stars in every division. Who were the top performers? Here are your winners in the 2024 European Player of the Year awards.
Player of the Year
Floor Keulartz (GRUT)
Keulartz becomes the first player to win Player of the Year in two divisions. It would have been understandable for her to take some time to get used to the women’s division after so long playing mixed with her GRUT teammates, but her offensive capability and athleticism downfield will play whichever division she’s in. Whenever GRUT needed a big play she seemed to respond with something made to look easier than it had any right to. Her leadership and determination were also huge parts of GRUT’s surprise run to the title. A two-goal, three-assist line in the big game drove her team on to pick up yet another well-deserved European medal.
Runner-Up
Eva Bornot (Mooncup)
Bornot is still only 21, but her maturity with the disc was extremely impressive for pretty much the whole season. A slight down game in the final couldn’t hide her ability to keep the disc moving, get free whenever her team needed something and still be able to go downfield when matchups dictated She has already played on the World Games stage once and it would be a surprise not to see her in China for another go around.
Offensive Player of the Year
Anna Gerner (jinX Midnight)
Death, taxes, and Anna Gerner being an offensive supernova. Fully recovered from her knee injury last season, Gerner was yet again central to everything jinX did on offense. We have had to write about her in this spot so many times in recent years that it’s difficult to find anything else to add – she’s still fast enough to get open against anyone, a good enough thrower to punish any defensive lapses and able to leave her feet to rescue possession whenever necessary. She’s one of Europe’s best players and will be looking to prove again that she can hang with the best in the world in China next year.
Runner-Up
Kristýna Tlustá (East Block)
Another who’s been here before. After winning last year, Tlustá slots in behind Gerner in an extremely close field this year1. She suffered an injury in the middle of the season after playing with the Tokay SuperTeam at Windmill but recovered sufficiently to continually shred defenses at EUCF. Somehow she is still only 20 despite featuring on three end-of-season podiums2!
Defensive Player of the Year
Lola Dam (GRUT)
If Gerner is inevitable on offense, Dam is the defensive version. She is the most decorated player in the history of the European awards3 and brings home yet another despite incredibly tough competition from her teammate in the runner-up spot. Dam is fast, will fly if she sniffs any chance of a block and will dominate in the air. She’s the definition of a beast: relentless defensively and will make life hell for any O line player unlucky enough to have to mark her on the turn. The 24-year-old is making a case to be one of the best players Europe has ever seen, and will hopefully only burnish that case in the coming years.
Runner-Up
Aurora Lesnik (GRUT)
One of the best stories of last season was Lesnik’s return to the sport after some years away from the elite level. She returns a different player than she left – where previously she was a young, offense-leaning athlete who paired eye-popping bids with fast disc movement, she is now a physical defender with a massive arm that takes shots downfield and may be the best puller in the division. She still makes those eye-popping bids, though. The fact that she pushed a defender of Dam’s excellence so close for this award is a sign of just how impressive her return was.
Breakout Player of the Year
Swann Lacoste-Lefevre (YAKA)
Another award with a razor-thin margin of victory, but Lacoste-Lefevre’s overall season sees her just edge the win. This season she emerged as one of YAKA’s top players through a successful regular season4, as well as an important O line player for the French mixed team that went to Australia and won bronze. She was also probably the outstanding player for the French under-20 women’s team that toppled the mighty USA to win gold in Birmingham, UK. An all-around player with a maturity far beyond her years, Lacoste-Lefevre is set for a long career at the top. With players like Amane Babikian, Chloé Ollivier and Carolina Mabekondiasson with her on the team, YAKA’s next generation looks set to be as talented as the current one.
Runner-Up
Maïwenn Le Duc (Mooncup)
If Lacoste-Lefevre’s campaign was built on impressive consistency across the whole season, Le Duc’s is built on an absolutely spectacular EUCF. After emerging onto the scene last year as a strong downfield threat, Le Duc became one of the best defenders in Europe during the biggest tournament of the season and helped propel Mooncup to a surprising finals berth despite being only 17 with just two years of experience. The layout Callahan in the final was an encapsulation of what Le Duc brings – the golden ability to create something out of nothing to lift teammates and dismay opponents. If the kind of growth we saw this season happens again, Europe should look out.
Shoutouts to Carmen La Gala, Levke Walczak, Fiona Mernagh and Elena Benghi who were all excellent this season. ↩
Offensive Player of the Year in 2023 and Breakout runner-up in 2022 as well as this one. ↩
Two Player of the Year and two Defensive Player of the Year awards in mixed alongside this one. The only year she did not take home an award since they began was last year, where she took most of the season off. ↩
And at a disappointing EUCF for the team with several tight losses, she continued to play well. ↩
