The annual Rookie of the year award went to Ihor Melnyk of expansion club Toronto Atomic FC, Canadian Soccer League.
Ukrainian started his career with Torpedo Mykolaiv before moving to Kharkiv with first Metalist Kharkiv and then a short spell at Helios Kharkiv. played for both Ihroservice Simferopol and Illichivets Mariupol before moving to Azerbaijan with Gabala. Then he came back to Ukraine at the start of the 2011–12 season, signing with FC Sumy.
Now Ihor plays for Toronto Atomic FC, for which he has spent 18 matches already. During this time he scored 8 goals.
It is important to mention that Toronto Atomic is almost completely Ukrainian club. 11 Ukrainian plays for this club, and the coach is a Ukrainian expert Vasyl Ischak.