Charles "Chugger" Adair (born August 11, 1971) is a retired American

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 and current soccer coach. He spent two seasons in the

Continental Indoor Soccer League The Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) was a professional indoor soccer league that played from 1993 to 1997. History In the summer of 1989 Dr Jerry Buss, the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and California Sports, told his executive Vice Pre ...

, two in the National Professional Soccer League and seven in the

USISL A-League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

/ USL First Division.

Early life and education

Adair grew up in Chula Vista where he played soccer as a youth. When he was five, he underwent open heart surgery. Adair attended Hilltop High School. He was inducted into the Hilltop Hall of Fame in 2001. In 1989, he entered San Diego State University where he played one seasons with the men's soccer team. He then transferred to the

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a private Roman Catholic research university in San Diego, California. Chartered in July 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University (comprising the College for Men and Schoo ...

and played with the Toreros for three seasons. In 1992, Adair's senior season, San Diego went to the NCAA championship where they fell to the

Virginia Cavaliers The Virginia Cavaliers, also known as ''Wahoos'' or ''Hoos'', are the athletic teams representing the University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers compete at the NCAA Division I level ( FBS for football), in the Atlantic C ...

. During his three seasons with USD, Adair scored 27 goals and added 23 assists in 57 games.

Playing career

On April 7, 1993, the San Diego Sockers selected Adair in the first round of the 1993

Draf]. After scoring ten goals in six games, Adair left he Sockers for a trial with Belgium club Ghent the first week of July. He spent most of his time in Belgium with Ghent's reserve team, but played one exhibition game, scoring a goal, with the first team. When Ghent did not offer him a contract, Adair returned to the Sockers in time for the playoffs. The Sockers went on to win the CISL championship. After going on a post-season tour of Switzerland with the Sockers, Adair signed with the

Wichita Wings The Wichita Wings were a professional indoor soccer franchise based in Wichita, Kansas. The Wings were admitted to the Major Indoor Soccer League as an expansion team on August 21, 1979.

of the National Professional Soccer League in January 1994. He scored fourteen goals in fourteen games then tore his anterior cruciate ligament in March, putting him out for nearly a year. In June 1995, Adair returned to playing with the Sockers. In March 1996, the Los Angeles Galaxy selected Adair in the third round (26th overall) of the 1996 MLS Supplemental Draft. The Galaxy waived him on March 25, 1996. He then signed with the Carolina Dynamo of the USISL a month later. On February 26, 1997, he signed with the Milwaukee Wave of the NPSL. In April, he moved to the Seattle Sounders (1994–2008), Seattle Sounders of the

. He had reconstructive knee surgery and lost the 1998 season. In 1999, he played for the San Diego Flash. He returned for the 2000 season, but recurring knee problems limited him to 91 minutes in five games. The Flash released him in August and he immediately signed with the Minnesota Thunder. In 2001, he was back in San Diego, this time with San Diego Flash, San Diego FC. In March 2002, he signed with the Portland Timbers (2001–2010), Portland Timbers.

Coaching career

Prior to retiring Adair began coaching. In 1996, he coached the Bonita Vista High School boys team. He was assistant coach with the

men's team, his alma-mater, from 1998 to 2000. He was then the assistant coach of both the men's and women's teams at Pacific University. In 2003, he was assistant coach of the San Diego Spirit women's professional team. Adair was associate head coach of the UC Santa Barbara women's team for two seasons. Adair was the assistant for the women's team at Virginia Tech Hokies, Virginia Tech. In 2011 he was promoted to head coach of the team.

Lawsuit over National Anthem Benching

In March 2021, Adair was sued by a former player, Kiersten Hening, for allegedly benching her, subjecting her to repeated verbal abuse, and forcing her off the team because she refused to kneel in support of the Black Lives Matter organization. The trial court denied Adair's motion for summary judgment on December 2, 2022, allowing the case to proceed to trial. In January 2023, Adair agreed to pay over $100,000 to settle the lawsuit.

References

External links

Virginia Tech biography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adair, Charles 1971 births Living people American expatriate soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Belgium American soccer coaches American men's soccer players Men's association football forwards Continental Indoor Soccer League players Expatriate footballers in Belgium LA Galaxy draft picks Milwaukee Wave players Minnesota Thunder players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players North Carolina Fusion U23 players Portland Timbers (2001–2010) players San Diego Flash players San Diego Sockers (1978–1996) indoor players San Diego Spirit non-playing staff San Diego Spirit San Diego State Aztecs men's soccer players San Diego Toreros men's soccer coaches San Diego Toreros men's soccer players Seattle Sounders (1994–2008) players Sportspeople from Chula Vista, California Soccer players from San Diego County, California UC Santa Barbara Gauchos women's soccer coaches USISL players A-League (1995–2004) players Virginia Tech Hokies women's soccer coaches Wichita Wings (NPSL) players Hilltop High School (Chula Vista, California) alumni