Bryheem Hancock (born March 1, 1980) is an American former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for clubs in the

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

and

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

. He is the head coach at

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) is a public research university with multiple campuses throughout the Rio Grande Valley region of Texas and is the southernmost member of the University of Texas System. The University of Texas ...

Club career

Hancock was born in

Middletown, Delaware Middletown is a town in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 Census, the population of the town is 18,871. Geography and climate Middletown is located at (39.4495560, –75.7163207) with an elevation of . According t ...

. He began playing soccer during his tenure at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

. During his four-year tenure at Connecticut, Hancock's accomplishments were leading the Huskies to an NCAA Division I National Championship in 2000. In the same year he was named to the NCAA College Cup All-Tournament Team. To add to his list of achievements Hancock was named Big East Goalkeeper of the Year in 2001 as well as earning All-American status. In his senior season, he was honored with the 2001 Leadership Student-Athlete Award. Hancock even managed to break the collegiate shutout record at 15. Upon graduating from Connecticut he was drafted by the

L.A. Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pl ...

in 2002, being the first goalkeeper selected in the

2002 MLS SuperDraft The 2002 Major League Soccer SuperDraft was held on February 10, 2002 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. One month earlier, MLS had contracted two clubs: Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion. In conjunction with the contraction, the league conducted bot ...

. After failing to appear in a single match for the Galaxy, Hancock was released from his contract and signed with the

Atlanta Silverbacks The Atlanta Silverbacks FC were an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1998 as Atlanta Ruckus, the club played in many leagues over the years before folding after the 2015 season. The team played its home game ...

of the

on April 19, 2002. Hancock quickly established himself as the first choice goalkeeper for Atlanta. He managed to claim the

Southern Derby The Southern Derby is a fan-based U.S. professional soccer cup competition between USL Championship (USLC) teams based in the South-Atlantic region of the United States (North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.). It was founded in 2000. The ...

for the Silverbacks, and led them to the playoffs by finishing 3rd in the Southeast Conference. The following season Hancock led the A-League in saves with 114, and was named the Atlanta Silverback MVP while recording the team record for most saves in a season and most saves in a single game. Hancock left Atlanta in 2004 resulting in him to sign with the Toronto Lynx on March 23, 2004. He was brought in to replace

Theo Zagar Theodosis Zagar (born November 2, 1974) is a Canadian former goalkeeper, who had a notable tenure with the Toronto Lynx of the USL First Division, and played indoor soccer in the National Professional Soccer League. Playing career Before Zaga ...

, who departed to rivals

Rochester Rhinos Rochester New York FC, formerly known as the Rochester Rhinos, are an American professional soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. Founded in 1996, as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, they changed their name to Rochester Rhinos to ...

. In the earlier stages of the season he competed with Richard Goddard for the starting position, but ultimately was made the Lynx's first choice goaltender. He made his Toronto debut on April 17, 2004, in a 1–0 victory over the

Puerto Rico Islanders Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places *El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines *Puerto Colombia, Colombia *Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela *Puerto Galera, Orient ...

, where he recorded his first clean sheet of the season. Hancock managed to record four shoutouts during the season. On August 26, 2004, he was awarded the ''Toronto Lynx Best Defensive Player Award'' primarily for establishing a new team record for most saves in a season. Hancock subsequently retired from soccer after his contract expired with the Lynx. On June 6, 2009, Hancock was appointed assistant coach for the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...

, where he will primarily coach the goalkeepers.

International career

Hancock made his debut for

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in the

1997 FIFA U-17 World Championship The FIFA U-17 World Championship 1997, the seventh edition of the tournament, was held in the cities of Cairo, Ismailia, Alexandria, and Port Said in Egypt between 4 September and 21 September 1997. Players born after 1 January 1980 could particip ...

. He was the starting goalkeeper in the tournament, and made his debut against

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

. He would make another appearance, but this time against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

References

External links

Men's Soccer – 2009 Coaches
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hancock, Bryheem 1980 births Living people Men's association football goalkeepers A-League (1995–2004) players American soccer coaches American men's soccer players Atlanta Silverbacks FC players LA Galaxy players Toronto Lynx players United States men's youth international soccer players South Florida Bulls men's soccer coaches American expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada LA Galaxy draft picks People from Middletown, Delaware Sportspeople from New Castle County, Delaware Radford Highlanders men's soccer coaches UConn Huskies men's soccer players UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros men's soccer coaches