Cle Kooiman

Cle Kooiman

Personal information
Full name	Cle Kooiman
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Position(s)	Defender
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 7 december 2006

Cle Kooiman (born July 3, 1964 in Ontario, California) is a former United States soccer defender, currently the assistant head coach for the United States U-20 men's national soccer team.

College

Cle Kooiman attended San Diego State University. In 1982 he was named to the All Far West team.

MISL

In 1982, Kooiman began his professional career playing for the Los Angeles Lazers of the Major Indoor Soccer League. He would remain with the Lazers until 1987.

WSL/APSL

In 1989, he began his outdoor professional career with the California Kickers of the Western Soccer League (WSL). That year, he was named as a league First Team All Star. He moved to the San Diego Nomads for the 1990 season. However, by that time, the WSL had merged with the American Soccer League to form the American Professional Soccer League.

Mexico

At the end of the 1990, Kooiman moved to Mexico. He began with Cobras de Ciudad Juarez, of the Mexican Premier Division before moving to Cruz Azul in Mexican Premier League. While with Cruz Azul, he became the first U.S. citizen to captain a Mexican soccer team. In 1994, he moved to Morelia.

MLS

In 1996, the newly established Major League Soccer (MLS) distributed "marque" players throughout the league's teams. Kooiman was allocated to the Tampa Bay Mutiny. He would play two seasons with the Mutiny, but at the end of the 1997 season, the Mutiny left him exposed in the 1997 MLS Expansion Draft. The Miami Fusion selected Kooiman in the first round (14th overall) and he would play a single season for that team.

Kooiman was known throughout his career as a bruising defender. In 1997, he was second in the MLS in fouls committed with 68 in 27 games. That year he was also ejected from two games, tied for second in the league.

National team

Kooiman earned his first cap with the national team in 1993. He would eventually play 12 games with the national team, scoring a single goal and participate in the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

Coaching

Since his retirement from playing professional soccer, he has been involved as the director of coaching for Alta Loma Club in California. In 2006, he coached the U13 Arsenal FC girls team to the Super Y-League North American championship, held at Tampa's Ed Radice Complex.