Christopher Clemence "Cle" Kooiman (born July 3, 1963) is an American former

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 ...

defender. He played professionally in both Mexico and the United States including the first Major Indoor Soccer League,

Western Soccer Alliance Western Soccer Alliance was a professional soccer league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States and Western Canada. The league began in 1985 as the Western Alliance Challenge Series. In 1986, it became the Western Soccer Alli ...

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. It ...

and

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 ...

. He earned twelve

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

, scoring one goal, with the U.S. national soccer team in 1993 and 1994. He was a member of the U.S. team at the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

Club career

College

Cle Kooiman was born in

Ontario, California Ontario is a city in southwestern San Bernardino County in the U.S. state of California, east of downtown Los Angeles and west of downtown San Bernardino, the county seat. Located in the western part of the Inland Empire metropolitan area, ...

, and attended

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

. 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 The Los Angeles Lazers were an indoor soccer team that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) from 1982 to 1989. History Jerry Buss, the owner of California Sports, the parent company of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kings and Strings of Tea ...

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 California Kickers were a soccer club based in Hollywood, California. They joined the Western Soccer Alliance in 1986. They initially played as Hollywood Kickers before changing their name for the following season. In 1990 the team name was changed ...

of the

Western Soccer League Western Soccer Alliance was a professional soccer league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States and Western Canada. The league began in 1985 as the Western Alliance Challenge Series. In 1986, it became the Western Soccer Alli ...

(WSL). That year, he was named as a league First Team All Star. He moved to the

San Diego Nomads Nomads Soccer Club (formerly San Diego Nomads) is an American soccer club based in San Diego, California. From 1986 to 1990, the club fielded a professional senior team, but has since operated as an amateur and youth club. History The Nomads wer ...

for the 1990 season. However, by that time, the WSL had merged with the American Soccer League to form the

Mexico

At the end of the 1990, Kooiman moved to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. He began with Cobras de Ciudad Juarez, of the Mexican Premier Division before moving to

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul or simply Cruz Azul () is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Because "azul" means "blue" in Spanish, the club has traditionally ...

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

Atlético Morelia Club Atlético Morelia is a Mexican Association football, football club based in Morelia, Michoacán. Founded on 4 June 1950, the club currently plays in the Liga de Expansión MX. The club play their home games at Estadio Morelos. From 1981 to ...

MLS

In 1996, the newly established

(MLS) distributed "marque" players throughout the league's teams. Kooiman was allocated to the

Tampa Bay Mutiny Tampa Bay Mutiny was a professional soccer team based in Tampa, Florida. They were a charter member of Major League Soccer (MLS) and played from 1996 to 2001. They played their home games at Tampa Stadium and then at Raymond James Stadium. The ...

. 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 1997 MLS Expansion Draft was held November 6, 1997. Two teams participated, the Chicago Fire and Miami Fusion F.C., both expansion Major League Soccer clubs starting play in the 1998 season. Format Each team in the league made ten players, in ...

. The

Miami Fusion The Miami Fusion was a professional soccer team based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They played in Major League Soccer (MLS) for four seasons, from 1998 to 2001. Announced in 1997 as one of the league's first two expansion teams, their best seas ...

selected Kooiman in the first round (14th overall) and he would play a single season for that team.

International

Kooiman earned his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

with the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exam ...

in 1993. He would eventually play 12 games with the national team, scoring a single goal and participating in the

, where he played the full 90 minutes in the U.S.'s opening game against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Personal life

Kooiman was diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer in February of 2018.

References

External links

Los Angeles Lazers stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kooiman, Cle American expatriate soccer players American people of Dutch descent Western Soccer Alliance players California Kickers players American Professional Soccer League players Nomads Soccer Club players United States men's international soccer players Association football defenders Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Los Angeles Lazers players Tampa Bay Mutiny players Miami Fusion players Cruz Azul footballers Atlético Morelia players Liga MX players American expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Expatriate footballers in Mexico 1993 Copa América players 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1994 FIFA World Cup players American soccer coaches Soccer players from California People from Ontario, California 1963 births Living people Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars American soccer players